Modeling studies of equatorial plasma fountain and equatorial anomaly

Abstract

The importance of diffusion, electrodynamic drift, and neutral wind on the generation and modulation of the equatorial plasma fountain of the Earth's ionosphere is studied using the Sheffield University Plasmasphere-Ionosphere Model (SUPIM) for the ionosphere above Jicamarca (77°W) under magnetically quiet (Ap = 4) equinoctial conditions (day 264) at medium solar activity (F10.7 = 145). The study also investigates the effects of the fountain, which include the equatorial anomaly. The F-region vertical E × B drift velocity measured at the equatorial station Jicamarca is used to represent the electrodynamic drift. The neutral wind is obtained from the HWM90 thermospheric wind model. As expected, the F-region electrodynamic drift generates the plasma fountain and the anomaly, which are symmetric with respect to the equator. The neutral wind makes the fountain and the anomaly asymmetric, with larger plasma flow (towards the hemisphere of stronger poleward wind) and stronger anomaly crest occurring in opposite hemispheres. The paper also addresses many important (some new) features which are related to the fountain. The features are: (1) the possibility of existence of an additional layer (called the G-layer) in the equatorial ionosphere, (2) the reverse plasma fountain, (3) the equatorial anomaly in vertical ionospheric electron content (IEC), (4) the presence (in Nmax) and absence (in IEC) of noon bite-out, (5) the occurrence of nighttime increase in ionization, and (6) plasma bubbles and spread-F.