Nonlinear propagation of Rossby-Khantadze electromagnetic planetary waves in the ionospheric E-layer
Nonlinear vortex propagation of electromagnetic coupled Rossby and Khantadze planetary waves in the weakly ionized ionospheric E-layer is investigated with numerical simulations. Large scale, finite amplitude vortex structures are launched as initial conditions at low, mid, and high latitudes. For each k-vector the linear dispersion relation has two eigenmodes corresponding to the slow magnetized Rossby wave and the fast magnetic Khantadze wave. Both waves propagate westward with local speeds of the order of 10–20 m/s for the slow wave and of the order of 500–1000 km/s for the fast wave. We show that for finite amplitudes there are dipole solitary structures emitted from the initial conditions. These structures are neutrally stable, nonlinear states that avoid radiating waves by propagating faster than the corresponding linear wave speeds. The condition for these coherent structures to occur is that their amplitudes are such that the nonlinear convection around the core of the disturbance is faster than the linear wave speed for the corresponding dominant Fourier components of the initial disturbance. The presence of the solitary vortex states is indicative of an initial strong disturbance such as that from a solar storm or a tectonic plate movement. We show that for generic, large amplitude initial disturbances both slow and fast vortex structures propagate out of the initial structure.