Abstract
Powerful high-frequency (HF) radio waves can be used to efficiently modify
the upper-ionospheric plasmas of the F region. The pressure gradient induced by
modulated electron heating at ultralow-frequency (ULF) drives a local
oscillating diamagnetic ring current source perpendicular to the ambient
magnetic field, which can act as an antenna radiating ULF waves. In this
paper, utilizing the HF heating model and the model of ULF wave generation
and propagation, we investigate the effects of both the background
ionospheric profiles at different latitudes in the daytime and nighttime
ionosphere and the modulation frequency on the process of the HF modulated
heating and the subsequent generation and propagation of artificial ULF
waves. Firstly, based on a relation among the radiation efficiency of the
ring current source, the size of the spatial distribution of the modulated
electron temperature and the wavelength of ULF waves, we discuss the
possibility of the effects of the background ionospheric parameters and the
modulation frequency. Then the numerical simulations with both models are
performed to demonstrate the prediction. Six different background parameters
are used in the simulation, and they are from the International Reference
Ionosphere (IRI-2012) model and the neutral atmosphere model (NRLMSISE-00),
including the High Frequency Active Auroral Research Program (HAARP; 62.39° N, 145.15° W), Wuhan
(30.52° N, 114.32° E) and Jicamarca (11.95° S,
76.87° W) at 02:00 and 14:00 LT. A modulation
frequency sweep is also used in the simulation. Finally, by analyzing the
numerical results, we come to the following conclusions: in the nighttime
ionosphere, the size of the spatial distribution of the modulated electron
temperature and the ground magnitude of the magnetic field of ULF wave are
larger, while the propagation loss due to Joule heating is smaller compared
to the daytime ionosphere; the amplitude of the electron temperature
oscillation decreases with latitude in the daytime ionosphere, while it increases
with latitude in the nighttime ionosphere; both the electron temperature
oscillation amplitude and the ground ULF wave magnitude decreases as the
modulation frequency increases; when the electron temperature oscillation
is fixed as input, the radiation efficiency of the ring current source is
higher in the nighttime ionosphere than in the daytime
ionosphere.
Citation
ID:
200409
Ref Key:
xu2016annalesnumerical