A Novel Population of Slow Magnetosonic Waves and a Method for the Observation of the Roots of Plasma Bubbles in the Lower Ionosphere

Abstract

AbstractUsing data from the Van Allen Probe and Swarm‐Bravo satellites, evidence for a persistent population of slow magnetosonic waves in the ionosphere is presented. Dispersion relations from two‐fluid analyses of waves in warm plasma are used to interpret and explicate these observations. These waves appear to be continuously present and globally distributed. Their amplitudes systematically decrease with increasing altitude. The amplitudes are also correlated with longitude in a manner consistent with the global distribution of lightning strikes. Evidence for narrow resonances in the Swarm data consistent with doppler shifted Schumann resonance frequencies is presented. In addition, nearly dispersionless fast magnetosonic waves are sometimes also seen. A new method for the analysis of these waves suggests they show the existence of “foamy” plasma bubble “roots” at the base of the ionosphere.