Linear coupling of planetary scale waves in ionospheric zonal shear winds: Generation of fast magnetic waves

Abstract

Our goal is to gain new insight into the physics of wave dynamics in ionospheric zonal shear flows. We study the shear flow non-normality induced linear coupling of planetary scale (slow) modified Rossby waves and westward propagating fast magnetized (Khantadze) waves using an approach different from the existing one to the linear wave dynamics. The performed analysis allows us to separate from each other different physical processes, grasp their interplay, and, by this way, construct the basic physics of the linear coupling of the slow and fast waves in an ionospheric zonal flow with linear shear of mean velocity, U0=(Sy,0). It should be noted from the beginning that we consider incompressible flow and the classified “slow” and “fast” waves are not connected with the similarly labeled magnetosonic waves in compressible heliosphere. We show that: the modified Rossby waves generate fast magnetized waves due to the coupling for a quite wide range of ionospheric and shear flow parameters; the linear transient processes are highly anisotropic in wavenumber plane; the generation of the magnetized waves/oscillations is most efficient/optimal for S≃0.1 (S is the shear rate normalized to the combination of the angular velocity and latitude, Ω0 cos θ0); the streamwise wave number of the optimally generated magnetized wave harmonics decreases (the length scale increases) with increasing the Hall parameter, α. At the end, we discuss nonlinear consequences of the described anisotropic linear dynamics—they should lead to an anisotropy of nonlinear cascade processes (in wavenumber plane). In turn, an interplay of the analyzed quite strong transient growth of the fast magnetic waves with anisotropic nonlinear processes should ensure self-sustenance of (stochastic or regular) magnetic perturbations.