Abstract

We show that atmospheric gravity waves can generate plasma ducts and irregularities in the plasmasphere using the coupled SAMI3/WACCM-X model. We find the equatorial electron density is irregular as a function of longitude which is consistent with CRRES measurements (Clilverd et al., 2007, ). We ... Show moreWe show that atmospheric gravity waves can generate plasma ducts and irregularities in the plasmasphere using the coupled SAMI3/WACCM-X model. We find the equatorial electron density is irregular as a function of longitude which is consistent with CRRES measurements (Clilverd et al., 2007, ). We also find that plasma ducts can be generated for L-shells in the range 1.5-3.0 with lifetimes of similar to 0.5 hr; this is in line with observations of ducted VLF wave propagation with lifetimes of 0.5-2.0 hr (Clilverd et al., 2008, ; Singh et al., 1998, ). Show less