Excitation of ion waves by charged dust beams in ionospheric aerosol release experiments

Ion waves excited by charged dust beams streaming across or along the geomagnetic field in the ionosphere may be generated by plasma instabilities during aerosol release experiments. The injection speed of the dust and gas is comparable to or larger than the ion thermal speed in the background plasma. The dust grains can get charged by plasma collection from the ambient ionosphere, and can thus act as a charged beam that excites instabilities in the background plasma. The theory is applied to relatively early time scales of the order of ∼0.1–1s in the dust–gas cloud expansion, with wave frequencies that are larger than the ion gyrofrequency, and collisions with neutrals are included.

Research highlights
► Ion waves may be excited by charged dust beams in aerosol release experiments in the ionosphere.
► Theory considers wave frequencies larger than the ion gyrofrequency and includes collisions with neutrals.
► Unstable waves may create irregularities that could reflect radar waves or be detected using in situ electric field probes.