Modulational excitation of inhomogeneities in dusty ionospheric plasma

Abstract

The mechanism for the formation of inhomogeneities of the electron and ion densities in dusty ionospheric plasma as a result of the modulational instability of a pump electromagnetic wave caused by the excitation of dust acoustic perturbations is considered. The inhomogeneities of the electron density produced by the monochromatic radiation of heating facilities at altitudes of 80 and 100 km are estimated numerically. The possibility of excitation of relatively large inhomogeneities of the electron and ion densities δn e(i)/n e(i) ≈ 0.05 at altitudes of 80–100 km as a result of modulational interaction is demonstrated. The applicability domains of the method presented in this work are determined.