@Article{AdebayoPimeNyas:2023:MeBiDu,
author = "Adebayo, Oluwasegun Micheal and Pimenta, Alexandre Alvares and
Nyassor, Prosper Kwamla",
affiliation = "{Instituto Nacional de Pesquisas Espaciais (INPE)} and {Instituto
Nacional de Pesquisas Espaciais (INPE)} and {Instituto Nacional de
Pesquisas Espaciais (INPE)}",
title = "Airglow Imaging Observations of Plasma Blobs: Merging and
Bifurcation during Solar Minimum over Tropical Region",
journal = "Atmosphere",
year = "2023",
volume = "14",
number = "3",
pages = "e514",
month = "Mar.",
keywords = "all-sky imager, bifurcation, merging, plasma blobs, plasma
bubbles, solar minimum, thermospheric winds.",
abstract = "Plasma blobs are night-time ionospheric irregularities whose
generation mechanism is still under investigation. A large number
of observations highlighted several aspects of their morphology
and dynamics. However, the plasma blobs have not been attributed
convincingly to a known mechanism. We analyzed the OI 630.0 nm
emission images during March and October of 2019 and 2020 (minimum
solar activity) using the ground-based all-sky imager at ZF-2
(2.58° S, 60.22° W) in the Amazon region of Brazil. The novelties
of the present study are the rarely reported observation of both
plasma blob merging and bifurcation. We studied the evolutional
dynamics of plasma blobs and observed that blobs are distinct
phenomena with unique properties. We attribute the merging of
plasma blobs to the wind reversion effect (WRE) mechanism caused
by a change in the direction of the zonal thermospheric wind from
east to west. In some cases, the slower-drifting plasma blobs may
merge with the faster ones. Moreover, blobs were observed
initially bifurcating at the topside and later divided into two.
The activity of the polarized electric field inside the plasma
bubble mapping along the magnetic field lines is possibly
responsible for the blobs bifurcation. Subjecting the two features
of ionospheric plasma blobs to simulation may reveal further the
physics of blobs merging and bifurcation.",
doi = "10.3390/atmos14030514",
url = "http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/atmos14030514",
issn = "2073-4433",
language = "en",
targetfile = "atmosphere-14-00514-v2.pdf",
urlaccessdate = "15 jun. 2024"
}