INTERACTION OF ATMOSPHERIC GRAVITY SOLITARY WAVES WITH ION-ACOUSTIC SOLITARY WAVES IN THE IONOSPHERIC F-REGION

The interaction of atmospheric gravity waves with ion acoustic waves in the ionospheric F-region is studied in this paper. A coupled pair of Korteweg de Vries (KdV) equations for the waves is derived and the properties of the equations are discussed. It is shown that the atmospheric gravity solitary waves and the ion acoustic solitary waves can be excited and coupled through ion-neutral collisions. It is demonstrated that ionospheric solitary disturbances are generated by three mechanisms as follows: ion acoustic waves, the ionospheric response to atmospheric gravity waves, and ion acoustic waves triggered by coupling with atmospheric gravity waves. The theoretical predictions can be used to explain the isolated ionospheric irregularities observed.