Full text

Turn on search term navigation

Copyright Copernicus GmbH 2015

Abstract

Ionospheric blobs are localized plasma density enhancements, which are mainly produced by the transportation process of plasma. To understand the deformation process of a blob, observations of plasma parameters with good spatial-temporal resolution are desirable. Thus, we conducted the European Incoherent Scatter radar observations with high-speed meridional scans (60-80 s) during October and December 2013, and observed the temporal evolution of a blob during a substorm on 4 December 2013. This paper is the first report of direct observations of blob deformation during a substorm. The blob deformation arose from an enhanced plasma flow shear during the substorm expansion phase, and then the blob split into two smaller-scale blobs, whose scale sizes were more than ~100 km in latitude. Our analysis indicates that the Kelvin-Helmholtz instability and dissociative recombination could have deformed the blob structure.

Details

Title
Direct observations of blob deformation during a substorm
Author
Ishida, T; Ogawa, Y; Kadokura, A; Hosokawa, K; Otsuka, Y
First page
525
Publication year
2015
Publication date
2015
Publisher
Copernicus GmbH
ISSN
0992-7689
e-ISSN
14320576
Source type
Scholarly Journal
Language of publication
English
ProQuest document ID
1679427518
Copyright
Copyright Copernicus GmbH 2015