Numerical simulation of a Zakharov‐Boussinesq system of equations to study Langmuir turbulence in the ionosphere

Abstract

This paper presents the numerical study of a one‐dimensional driven and damped Zakharov‐Boussinesq system of equations (ZBSE) to study Langmuir turbulence in the ionosphere. In ZBSE, the high‐frequency wave dynamics is identical to the Zakharov system of equations (ZSE), but the ion acoustic wave equation is modified by taking into account ion wave spatial dispersion and ion nonlinearity. The two models, namely, ZBSE and ZSE, have been compared in order to study the effect of ion wave spatial dispersion and ion nonlinearity on the saturated state of Langmuir and ion acoustic turbulence. The turbulent state in the wave number as well as frequency domain has been studied at different heights for ionospheric F layer parameters corresponding to the European Incoherent Scatter (EISCAT) VHF radar case. We find that in some cases, at low driver strength, these terms affect the wave number spectra. The frequency spectra are affected not only at low, but also at higher driver strengths.