Introduction to Ionospheric Physics

S. Buchert
Swedish Institute of Space Physics, Uppsala, Sweden

August 30, 2007, Mariehamn, Finnland

History

Structure in the Ionosphere

Physics of the Ionosphere Ionization, Recombination, and Chemical Processes Electrodynamics

Outlook

Electrical Currents above the Earth

Discoveries of ionospheric currents (as we know by now) are: Olof Petrus Hiorter (16961750) found in Uppsala that a compass needle changes direction when he sees Northern Lights Carl Friedrich Gauss (17771855) postulates that electrical currents ow in Northern Lights In 1889 Sir Arthur Schuster (1851-1934) publishes about daily geomagnetic variations (Sq currents) ... research on ionospheric currents continues until today.

Electrical Currents above the Earth

Discoveries of ionospheric currents (as we know by now) are: Olof Petrus Hiorter (16961750) found in Uppsala that a compass needle changes direction when he sees Northern Lights Carl Friedrich Gauss (17771855) postulates that electrical currents ow in Northern Lights In 1889 Sir Arthur Schuster (1851-1934) publishes about daily geomagnetic variations (Sq currents) ... research on ionospheric currents continues until today.

Electrical Currents above the Earth

Discoveries of ionospheric currents (as we know by now) are: Olof Petrus Hiorter (16961750) found in Uppsala that a compass needle changes direction when he sees Northern Lights Carl Friedrich Gauss (17771855) postulates that electrical currents ow in Northern Lights In 1889 Sir Arthur Schuster (1851-1934) publishes about daily geomagnetic variations (Sq currents) ... research on ionospheric currents continues until today.

Radio Wave Reection

In 1901 Guglielmo Marconi received the rst trans-Atlantic radio signal. In 1902 O. Heaviside and A. E. Kenelly proposed (independently) the so-called Kenelly-Heaviside layer. In 1912 US Congress limited radio amateurs to using useless frequencies above 1.5 MHz, resulting in frequent transcontinental radio communication among them. In 1924 Appleton and Barnett conrmed experimentally the Kenelly-Heaviside layer. In 1926, Robert Watson-Watt introduced the term ionosphere

Radio Wave Reection

In 1901 Guglielmo Marconi received the rst trans-Atlantic radio signal. In 1902 O. Heaviside and A. E. Kenelly proposed (independently) the so-called Kenelly-Heaviside layer. In 1912 US Congress limited radio amateurs to using useless frequencies above 1.5 MHz, resulting in frequent transcontinental radio communication among them. In 1924 Appleton and Barnett conrmed experimentally the Kenelly-Heaviside layer. In 1926, Robert Watson-Watt introduced the term ionosphere

Vertical Structure of the Atmosphere

is primarily according to its temperature Tn . Troposphere: Tn decreases with height (adiabatic lapse rate), there is turbulence including vertical motion; Stratosphere: Tn increases with height due to absorption of UV, particularly 290320 nm (UVB); Mesosphere: Tn decreases with height, turbulence, no signicant absorption of radiation; Thermosphere: Tn increases with height due to absorption of UV and X-rays
Source http://des.memphis.edu/lurbano/Geog1010/Fall05/chapter_03/chapter_03.html

Vertical Structure of the Atmosphere

is primarily according to its temperature Tn . Homosphere: Motions and turbulence mix the atmosphere, suciently, constant composition up to the turbopause ( mesopause), hydrostatic equilibrium according to mean atomic/molecular mass. Heterosphere: Hydrostatic equilibria according to each species atomic/molecular mass, dissociation of molecules by radiation, relative increase of atoms and light species with height.
Source http://des.memphis.edu/lurbano/Geog1010/Fall05/chapter_03/chapter_03.html

Ionosphere Regions

According to the Encyclopaedia Britannica D region at about 7090 km height E region at about 90160 km height F region above 160 km height

Figure from http://www.ion.le.ac.uk/ionosphere/profile.html (Educational tutorial)

Horizontal Structure in the Ionosphere

The strong geomagnetic eld inuences charged particles. As a result the ionospheric plasma is very anisotropic. Therefore the ionosphere in the equatorial mid-latitude high-latitude zones exhibit quite dierent phenomena (M. C Kelley, The Earths Ionosphere, Academic Press)

Ionization, Recombination, and Chemical Processes: Basic equation

The basic equation is the conservation of mass or continuity equation. For an ion species s additonal source and loss terms, Ps and Ls , describe ionization, recombination, and chemical processes ns + (ns us ) = Ps Ls (1) t ns number density, us velocity of ion species s the transport term ionosphere (ns us ) is negligible in the lower part of the

Absorption of Radiation
The goal is to derive an expression for the plasma density in the ionosphere. The intensity I of monochromatic radiation decreases when penetrating a horizontally stratied atmosphere with density n (z) at the zenith angle , absorption cross section is a : dI (s) = I (s) n (z) a sec dz Using n (z) = n (z0 ) exp [ (z z0 ) /H] , H is the scale height, and assuming constant a and (at Earth), integrating (2) from z to innity gives I (z, ) = I exp [Hn (z) a sec ] (3) (2)

Chapman Layer

The probability of photon absorption is p. Then the production rate due to (3) Pc (z, ) = I (z, ) a n (z) = I exp [Hn (z) a sec ] pa n (z)

Recombination is proportional to ion and e densities which are equal: dNe 2 = Pc Ne 0, dt is the recombination coecient. With Pc0 as the peak production rate the Chapman layer is Ne (z, ) = Pc0 1/2 exp 1 z z0 z z0 1 exp 2 H H sec

This is Mars!

Ionization by Particle Impact

Ionization by particle impact (precipitation) is important at high latitudes (aurora!) One ionization in the Earths atmosphere eectively takes an energy about 35 eV Altitude dependent ionization rates are similarly modeled as photoionization, but no analytic expression seems to be available. For known particle ux (z, E ) at height z and energy E the production rate of ion species s and state l

Psl (z, Esl ) = ns (z)

Esl

(z, E ) s (E ) ps (E , Esl ) dE

(4)

Total rates are obtained by summing (4) over species s and states l.

Chemical Processes
Examples: + Ionization O2 + h O2 + e
+ Recombination O2 + e O + O + Reactions C + CO2 CO + + CO

Why is there a D region? Collisions become very frequent at low altitude and negative ions may form, eg
O2 + O2 + e O2 + O2 .

They may be lost by

photodetachment O2 + h O2 + e associative detachment O2 + O O3 + e

or more complex ions may form. Also positive cluster ions form.

Recombination of Atoms and F Layer

The E layer is explained by Chapman production, the D layer by chemistry. Communication by radio waves is rarely possible with these layers: when there is no sun, they quickly disappear, when there is, the D layer absorbs radio waves. So why could Marconi et al. do it?

The direct recombination of atoms O + + e O + h is extremely slow. Two steps, via dissociative recombination is faster: O + + NO NO + + O NO + + e N + O Still the recombination rate of atoms dominating above about 200 km height is low, and therefore the F layer forms.

F Layer
Ion density 1012 m3 , about 1 ion per 10000 neutral particles; Ion-neutral collision frequency 1 s, but the recombination time is tens of minutes up to hours; Convection and dynamical processes can move ions far before they recombine or react, an example are polar patches; We must consider the full continuity equations like Ne + t EISCAT observations of patches (Moen et al., Ann. Geophys., 2006) (Ne ve ) = Pe Le

plus dynamical equations

Momentum Equations
for electrons and ions: me ne dve dt dvi mi ne dt = ne (E + ve B) = ne (E + vi B) pe me ne en (ve u) 0 (5) pi + mi ne g mi ne in (vi u) (6)

me,i , ve,i , and pe,i electron and ion masses, velocities, and thermal pressures; e,in electron-neutral and ion-neutral collision frequencies; E and B electric and magnetic elds; u neutral velocity; g gravitational acceleration; and the inertia operator d/dt denotes /t + v . Normally negligible are electron inertia (except for high frequency waves) gravity on electrons ion-electron collisions

Conductivities and Ohms Law

Consider E given and slowly varying, i.e. neglect ion inertia, neglect also pressure gradients and gravity, then solve (5) and (6) for ve,i in the frame where u = 0 An Ohms law j = Ne (vi ve ) = P E + H b E + E

Example of conductivities calculated from the International Reference Ionosphere http://swdcwww.kugi.kyoto-u.ac.jp/ionocond/index.html

is obtained. P is the Pedersen and H the Hall conductivity. and denote components perpendicular and parallel to B. P,H maximize in a current layer. Above about 90 km P,H .

Pedersen and Hall Conductivities

Above 150 km electrons and ions drift to B with E B/B 2 no net current; Pedersen currents ow mainly where in ion gyrofrequency i , Hall currents where in > i and en < e . Dene e,i = e,i /e,in . 2 E E B e,i + 2 B 1 + e,i B 2

ve,i = If en

e,i 1 + 2 e,i

e , i.e. above about 80 km: P H = = N e e i B 1 + 2 i Ne e 1 B 1 + 2 i

Ionospheric Convection at High Altitude and Latitude

Above 150 km height ion-neutral collisions become negligible. The ion momentum equation becomes E + vi B = 0 Over long times and large spatial scales the high short-circuits any E , E maps along B. Ionospheric ow over the polar caps from the dayside to the nightside reects the solar wind (magnetosheath) ow over the cusps. This leads often to a tongue of ionization (TOI) stretching from the dayside sub-auroral zone into the polar cap. Pulsed ow, ow bursts may cause polar patches, i. e. structure the TOI (according to Moen et al.,

Convection and Currents in the Auroral Zone

Energy Transfer into the Ionosphere and Atmosphere

Field-aligned (Birkeland) and closing Pedersen currents involve a B and convergent Poynting ux: E B/0 = JP E Electromagnetic energy is converted, mainly to heat, and also to mechanical energy (neutral gas accelerates). This powers Joule, Ohmic or frictional (all are the same) heating, as well as electron heating in the auroral electrojet.

Neutral Atmosphere Dynamics

In the D and E regions the ionospheric plasma is dragged by the neutral gas because of frequent ion-neutral collisions. The ionosphere lets us study neutral atmosphere dynamics. Examples: Polar Mesospheric Summer Echoes are believed to be caused by a certain type of turbulence in the neutral atmosphere.

Atmospheric Tides

A major driver of atmospheric tides is the absoprtion of solar UV in the stratosphere strong diurnal component. The neutral dynamo drives magnetic variations called Sq (solar quiet). Plasma velocities in the lower E region measured with EISCAT also reveal characteristics of tides (and planetary waves).

Altitude proles mean wind, diurnal and semidiurnal tidal amplitude observed at Troms and Longyearbyen (Nozawa et al., JGR, 2005).

Omitted Topics
or only supercially covered

Equatorial fountain and Appleton anomaly; Electrojet irregularities; Auroral arcs; Time dependent magnetosphere-ionosphere interaction, Alfven waves; Ion upow, outow, and polar wind; TIDs and gravity waves; etc

Future Opportunities
EISCAT 3-D ...

SWARM: 3 satellites in low orbit, magnetometers, CEFIs (ions/electric eld and Langmuir probe), measure E/vi , ion temperature, electron density and temperature, ve , with a spatial resolution 1 km!