Possible ion-acoustic soliton formation in the ionospheric perturbations observed on DEMETER before the 2007 Pu’er earthquake

Abstract

The data of ionospheric perturbations observed on DEMETER before the 2007 Pu’er earthquake are analyzed. The three-component plasma (ions, electrons and heavy ions) is studied in the fluid concept. The linear dispersion relation for ion-acoustic wave is found in the presence of heavy ions. The nonlinear dynamics is studied for arbitrary amplitude of the wave. The Sagdeev potential is calculated, which shows that solitary structure exists for Mach number within a range defined by the presence of heavy ions. The developed ion-acoustic solitons may be used as precursor for earthquake prediction.