@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 = "12 maio 2024"
}