AGS-PRF: High-Order Simulations of E-region Turbulence and Large Scale Structuring

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This award supports the PI as a postdoctoral researcher at Boston University under the supervision of Dr. Meers Oppenheim. The objective of this project is to improve understanding of turbulent processes in the E-region ionosphere through simulation. This work will produce 3-D kinetic simulations of plasma turbulence in the E-region. Turbulence affects trans-ionospheric communication and over-the-horizon radars. Models of space weather will be improved using the project results.Based on earlier work by both the host and the PI, a new code will be developed to simulate the coupling of Farley-Buneman and gradient drift waves in the E-region. The simulation of coupled Farley-Buneman/gradient drift waves will determine the spectrum and mechanism associated with the turbulent cascade of energy from large to small scales, will test if this coupling explains "squared-off" electric field measurements by rockets, will determine how E-region turbulence changes from the equatorial region to the enormously varying auroral region, will see if there are any fundamental E-region instability processes that have been overlooked, particularly in the "medium-scale", and will determine how anomalous electron heating associated with fully 3-D turbulence changes with altitude and latitude. Simulation results will be directly comparable to observations by radars, rockets, and spacecraft and the results will also guide future experiments. Another goal is to use these simulations to determine a physical mechanism responsible for the 150 km echoes that have been observed by radars for decades.