Parametric study of density cavities caused by ion outflow in the topside ionosphere

Plasma density cavities are correlated with heavy ion outflow where ions are heated transversely by wave particle interactions (WPIs). This paper presents the first result of a 3D ionospheric fluid model that incorporates plasma temperature anisotropies and a phenomenological treatment of WPIs, leading to transversely accelerated ions (TAIs). It is demonstrated that O+ outflow can generate density cavities in the topside ionosphere. With the empirical heating rate applied in a designated heating region on the dayside, the O+ species in the heating region is accelerated upward by the mirror force. The O+ species below the heating region upflows under the parallel pressure gradient force and the parallel electric force. As the O+ species flows upward, the plasma is eroded both below and inside the heating region. Parametric modeling studies show that the depth of density cavities in the upper ionosphere increases as the heating rate increases. The percent change in the density of the cavity relative to the local background density is practically independent of the low-altitude cutoff of the heating region, but the altitude of the relative density minimum moves upward with the increasing altitude of cutoff. The O+ flux is insensitive to the change of the heating rate, while depends strongly on the altitude of cutoff. Using empirical values of the initial heating rate and the height of the low-altitude boundary as input, the ranges of the modeled electron density and the O+ outflow moments are in reasonable agreement with observations of a storm-time density cavity observed by the FAST satellite. The 3D ionospheric model has the potential to be coupled to magnetospheric models for magnetosphere-ionosphere (MI) coupling.