Unipolar Induction Effects in the Nonuniformly Rotating Inhomogeneous Layer of the Ionosphere of the Magnetized Planet

Abstract

Self-consistent axisymmetric problem of stationary configurations of an inhomogeneous anisotropically conducting plasma envelope around a rotating magnetized spherical body is considered as a model of the inner planetary magnetosphere. The conductivity-tensor components are assumed to be known functions of height. The main attention is focused on description of the unipolar-induction effect under conditions of strongly inhomogeneous anisotropic conductivity. The system of equations is analyzed under the assumption that the mass velocity of weakly ionized plasma has only the azimuthal component. A partial solution having the simplest latitudinal dependence is found. The distributions of angular velocity, conductivity-current density, magnetic-field perturbations, and plasma density are considered for specific profiles of the conductivity-tensor components, obtained by approximating the experimental data for the daytime and nighttime Earth's ionosphere in the height interval 70–160 km. A solution is found in the form of a nonuniformly rotating narrow layer in which the conduction-current density and magnetic-field perturbations are concentrated. The considered model problem is used for the interpretation of some phenomena in the Earth's atmosphere.