Investigation of the temperature gradient instability as the source of midlatitude quiet time decameter‐scale ionospheric irregularities: 2. Linear analysis

Abstract

AbstractPrevious joint measurements by the Millstone Hill incoherent scatter radar and the Super Dual Auroral Radar Network (SuperDARN) HF radar located at Wallops Island, Virginia, have identified the presence of opposed meridional electron density and temperature gradients in the region of decameter‐scale electron density irregularities that have been proposed to be responsible for low‐velocity Sub‐Auroral Ionospheric Scatter observed by SuperDARN radars. The temperature gradient instability (TGI) and the gradient drift instability (GDI) have been extended into the kinetic regime appropriate for SuperDARN radar frequencies and investigated as the causes of these irregularities. A time series for the growth rate of both TGI and GDI has been developed for midlatitude ionospheric irregularities observed by SuperDARN Greenwald et al. (2006). The time series is computed for both perpendicular and meridional density and temperature gradients. This growth rate comparison shows that the TGI is the most likely generation mechanism for the irregularities observed during the experiment and the GDI is expected to play a relatively minor role in irregularity generation.