Whistler mode propagation in the ionosphere in the presence of a longitudinal static electric field

Abstract

The effect of a longitudinal electrostatic field on whistler mode propagation has been studied in a region of the ionosphere where the influence of particle collisions and ion motion may be significant. As an illustration, the propagation in two cases of interest has been considered; one deals with the E-region in the neighborhood of 100 km height, and the other with the F-region in the neighborhood of 250 km.It is shown that the presence of a weak static electric field E0 tends to reduce the attenuation of the forward whistler mode when the magnetostatic field B0 and the electrostatic field E0 are in the same direction. Moreover for a sufficiently large value of E0the whistler mode may experience an amplification. On the other hand, when E0 and B0 are in opposite directions an increase in |E0| tends to increase the attenuation of the wave. The variation of the attenuation constant, phase constant, and the phase velocity of the whistler mode with the signal frequency and with the electrostatic field is also discussed in detail.