Poloidal-compressional MHD Modes of the Earth's Ionosphere

Abstract

Large-scale MHD modes supported by the Earth’s ionosphere are considered. The ionosphere plasma and the static Earth’s geomagnetic field are considered in a quasi-dipole box system, where the static magnetic field varies both in direction and in magnitude. A basic wave equation for function E (electric field) is derived for poloidal-compressional MHD modes and subsequently solved taking into account the magnetic field magnitude changes. Resonance frequencies, amplitude profiles and polarization features of the poloidal-compressional MHD modes of the ionosphere are pointed out.