Multiscale equatorial electrojet turbulence: Energy conservation, coupling, and cascades in a baseline 2‐D fluid model

Abstract

AbstractProgress in understanding the coupling between plasma instabilities in the equatorial electrojet based on a unified fluid model is reported. Simulations with parameters set to various ionospheric background conditions revealed properties of the gradient‐drift and Farley‐Buneman instabilities. Notably, sharper density gradients increase linear growth rates at all scales, whereas variations in cross‐field E × B drift velocity only affect small‐scale instabilities. A formalism defining turbulent fluctuation energy for the system is introduced, and the turbulence is analyzed within this framework. This exercise serves as a useful verification test of the numerical simulations and also elucidates the physics underlying the ionospheric turbulence. Various physical mechanisms involved in the energetics are categorized as sources, sinks, nonlinear transfer, and cross‐field coupling. The physics of the nonlinear transfer terms is studied to identify their roles in producing energy cascades, which explain the generation of small‐scale structures that are stable in the linear regime. The theory of two‐step energy cascading to generate the 3 m plasma irregularities in the equatorial electrojet is verified for the first time in the fluid regime. In addition, the nonlinearity of the system allows the possibility of an inverse energy cascade, potentially responsible for generating large‐scale plasma structures at the top of the electrojet as found in different rocket and radar observations.