Self‐consistent generation of MSTIDs within the SAMI3 numerical model

Abstract

Abstract In this study, we use the three‐dimensional, physics‐based numerical model, SAMI3 (Sami3 is Another Model of the Ionosphere), to self‐consistently generate nighttime, electrified, medium‐scale traveling ionospheric disturbances (MSTIDs) at midlatitudes. These are the first numerical simulations to use the fundamental, physics‐based equations in a full flux tube model for the self‐consistent generation of MSTIDs. We show that a random perturbation results in the development of modes consistent with the Perkins instability and that the growth rate of a specified k perturbation agrees well with linear theory. We also present synthetic observations of MSTIDs: total electron content, integrated 630.0 nm airglow emission, E × B drift, and electron density. The modeling results show the signature of the instability in the geomagnetic conjugate hemisphere, which has been previously observed experimentally. The qualitative descriptions of the E × B drift and electron density profiles of the MSTIDs provided by SAMI3 are found to be consistent with experimental studies of MSTIDs found in the literature.