Modulational excitation of low-frequency dust acoustic waves in the Earth’s lower ionosphere

During the observation of Perseid, Leonid, Gemenid, and Orionid meteor showers, stable low-frequency lines in the frequency range of 20–60 Hz were recorded against the radio-frequency noise background. A physical mechanism for this effect is proposed, and it is established that the effect itself is related to the modulational interaction between electromagnetic and dust acoustic waves. The dynamics of the components of a complex (dusty) ionospheric plasma with dust produced from the evolution of meteoric material is described. The conditions for the existence of dust acoustic waves in the ionosphere are considered, and the waves are shown to dissipate energy mainly in collisions of neutral particles with charged dust grains. The modulational instability of electromagnetic waves in a complex (dusty) ionospheric plasma is analyzed and is found to be driven by the nonlinear Joule heating, the ponderomotive force, and the processes governing dust charging and dynamics. The conditions for the onset of the modulational instability of electromagnetic waves, as well as its growth rate and threshold, are determined for both daytime and nighttime. It is shown that low-frequency perturbations generated in the modulational interaction are related to dust acoustic waves.