Small-scale instability and nonlinear structures in current-carrying atmospheric plasma in the D region of the ionosphere

It is shown that the electric field may cause instability of low-frequency potential oscillations with a period of about 1 min in the D region of the ionosphere. This is related to the fact that the attachment rate of electrons to molecules is a nonmonotonic function of the temperature: it increases at low temperatures and decreases at high temperatures. The temperature corresponding to the maximum attachment rate is about 1000 K. The development of instability can result in the formation of quasi-steady layers of the electron density with a characteristic spatial period of several tens of meters. Such inhomogeneities can affect the propagation of radio waves with wavelengths on the order of or shorter than 10 m.