A Simulation of Artificial Neutral Gas-Dust Plasma in the Ionosphere

Dusty plasma is generally defined as a plasma system containing a large number of nano- or micron-sized dust particles. Its plasma properties and propagation properties of wave travel through it is of great scientific significance to the understanding of many fundamental problems in space physics and astrophysics. Based on previous studies on rocket exhaust and Polar Mesosphere Summer Echoes, fluid mechanics and dust microphysics are combined to simulate the ionospheric plasma structure generated by neutral gases and charged aerosols using fluid theory and kinetic theory. The Total Electron Content of the in-situ detection beacon is simulated and compared with the experimental phenomenon given in Charged Aerosol Release Experiment by Bernhardt et al. The ray tracing algorithm is used to simulate the path deflection of the radio wave when it passes through the artificial disturbance area generated by the gas-solid mixture, and the simulation results of ionosonde and analysis are given. Since the neutral gas expands substantially isotropically after being released, the resulting depleted structure is an approximately isotropic sphere, or an acorn-like structure. The solid particles are constrained by the nozzle, and particles will distribute within a spray angle, and the depletion structure will appear as a "broom-like" or "cone-like" structure. If the size of dust particles is small enough, the particle movement will be restricted by the geomagnetic field, resulting in a "squid-like" ionospheric structure. Because of the fishtail-like sharp boundary, radio waves passing through it are deflected in a specific path, which is markedly different from the effect of pure neutral gas injected into the ionosphere. Plain Language Summary Many studies have focused on ionospheric disturbances caused by natural dust of polar mesospheric clouds or by ionospheric pollutants. However, practical physical scenarios usually have both neutral gases and charged aerosols, whose total contribution to the plasma after injection into the ionosphere and wave propagation through the disturbance have rarely been studied. In this paper, the fluid theory and kinetic theory are used to simulate the ionospheric plasma disturbance structure by combining the fluid mechanics and the dust microphysics. The Total Electron Content of the in-situ detection, the path of radio waves through the disturbance and the vertical ionogram produced by the injection of neutral gas and dust particles are also simulated.