EFFECTS OF SPATIAL VARIATIONS IN CORONAL ELECTRON AND ION TEMPERATURES ON TYPE III BURSTS. II. VARIATIONS IN ION TEMPERATURE

Abstract

Quasilinear-based simulations are presented for the effects on coronal type III bursts of spatially varying ion temperature Ti in the corona. The simulations use a newly developed method for integrating spatial variations of coronal temperatures into our previous simulations for constant temperatures. The effects are simulated for monotonic Ti variations and/or for spatially localized enhancements in Ti . Generally, a localized enhancement in Ti has stronger effects on type III bursts than a corresponding monotonic variation in Ti . A localized Ti enhancement causes modulations to the dynamic spectra of fp and 2fp emission at frequencies corresponding to the disturbance: a narrowband slowly drifting intensification for both fp and 2fp emission and a narrowband suppression for 2fp emission. The fp emission may become observable due to the disturbance, although still much weaker than the 2fp emission. Signatures of the Ti enhancement are found in the 2fp spectral characteristics, e.g., the maximum flux and frequency drift rate. Importantly, these signatures are distinct from those of localized disturbances in electron temperature Te . The results indicate that coronal type III bursts provide a new tool to probe and distinguish localized disturbances in Ti or Te in the corona. Additionally, the presence of multiple spatially confined Ti enhancements at different heights may produce some observed fine structures in type III bursts; e.g., stria bursts and associated flux modulations in type IIIb bursts, and flux modulations in type IIIs whose beams traverse coronal shocks.