Manifestations of severe nighttime equatorial ionospheric disturbances have been observed for decades. It is generally accepted that the phenomena are caused by large depletions, referred to as equatorial plasma bubbles (EPBs), which are initiated on the rising unstable bottom side of the nighttime F layer. Physics-based simulations have enhanced our understanding of the EPB phenomenon. However, until very recently, stochastic structure smaller than ∼ 10 km was not well resolved. Recent high-resolution EPB simulations have extended the resolution to hundreds of meters, which provides a unique opportunity to characterize intermediate-scale EPB structure.This paper presents a summary analysis of simulated high-resolution intermediate-scale EPB structure. Estimation of altitude-dependent power law spectral density function parameters provides an altitude versus time history of the intermediate-scale structure development. Local structure onset is associated with successive bifurcation of rising EPBs. Developed structure characterized by a two-component power law spectral density function ultimately subtends several hundred kilometers in altitude.Two-component inverse power-law structure was first observed in early in situ rocket measurements. It has been observed in diagnostic measurements of beacon-satellite and GPS scintillation data as well as in situ measurements from Atmospheric Explorer and C/NOFS satellites. The EPB simulation data fully support the reported EPB diagnostics as well as a correlation between the turbulent strength and the large-scale spectral index parameter estimates. However, recent analyses have shown that the correlation is an intrinsic property of power-law parameter estimation.

中文翻译：

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高分辨率模拟赤道等离子体气泡的动态光谱特征

数十年来一直观察到严重的夜间赤道电离层干扰现象。通常认为，这种现象是由称为赤道等离子体气泡（EPB）的大量耗尽引起的，该耗尽是在夜间F层上升的不稳定底部开始的。基于物理的模拟增强了我们对EPB现象的理解。然而，直到最近，小于10 km的随机结构仍未得到很好的解决。最近的高分辨率EPB仿真将分辨率扩展到数百米，这为表征中等规模EPB结构提供了独特的机会。本文对模拟的高分辨率中等规模EPB结构进行了总结分析。海拔高度相关的幂律谱密度函数参数的估计提供了中等规模结构发展的海拔高度与时间的关系。局部结构的发作与上升的EPB的连续分叉有关。发达的结构具有二分量幂律谱密度函数的特征，最终可以在几百公里的高度对峙。在早期原位火箭测量中，首先观察到了二分量逆幂律结构。在信标卫星和GPS闪烁数据的诊断测量以及Atmospheric Explorer和C / NOFS卫星的现场测量中都观察到了这一点。EPB仿真数据完全支持已报告的EPB诊断以及湍流强度与大规模光谱指数参数估计值之间的相关性。