Comment on "Parametric Instability Induced by X-Mode Wave Heating at EISCAT" by Wang et al. (2016)

In their recent article Wang et al. (2016) analyzed observations from EISCAT (European Incoherent Scatter) Scientific Association Russian X-mode heating experiments and claimed to explain the potential mechanisms for the parametric decay instability (PDI) and oscillating two-stream instability (OTSI). Wang et al. (2016) claim that they cannot separate the HF-enhanced plasma and ion lines excited by O or X mode in the EISCAT UHF radar spectra. Because of this they distinguished the parametric instability excited by O-/X-mode heating waves according to their different excitation heights. Their reflection heights were determined from ionosonde records, which provide a rough measure of excitation altitudes and cannot be used for the separation of the O- and X-mode effects. The serious limitation in their analysis is the use of a 30 s integration time of the UHF radar data. There are also serious disagreements between their analysis and the real observational facts. The fact is that it is the radical difference in the behavior of the X- and O-mode plasma and ion line spectra derived with a 5 s resolution, which provides the correct separation of the X- and O-mode effects. It is not discussed and explained how the parallel component of the electric field under X-mode heating is generated. Apart from the leakage to the O mode, results by Wang et al. (2016) do not explain the potential mechanisms for PDI and OTSI and add nothing to understanding the physical factors accounting for the parametric instability generated by an X-mode HF pump wave

First observations of electron gyro-harmonic effects under X-mode HF pumping the high latitude ionospheric F-region

We provide the first experimental evidence of the sensitivity of phenomena induced by extraordinary (X-mode) polarized HF high power radio waves to pump frequency stepping across the fifth electron gyro-harmonic (5fce) from below to above. The results were obtained at the EISCAT (European Incoherent Scatter Scientific Association) HF heater facility near Tromsø under effective radiated powers of 456–715 MW, when the HF pump wave was transmitted into the magnetic zenith. We have analyzed the behavior and intensities of various spectral lines in the narrowband stimulated electromagnetic emission (SEE) spectra observed far from the heater, HF-enhanced plasma and ion lines (HFPL and HFIL) from EISCAT UHF incoherent scatter radar spectra, and artificial field-aligned irregularities from CUTLASS (Co-operative UK Twin Located Auroral Sounding System) observations, depending on the frequency offset of the pump field relative to the 5fce. At pump frequencies below 5fce the narrowband SEE spectra exhibited very intense so-called stimulated ion Bernstein scatter (SIBS), accompanied by other spectral components, associated with stimulated Brillouin scatter (SBS), which are greatly suppressed and disappeared in the vicinity of 5fce and did not reappear at fH>5fce. As the pump frequency reached 5fce, the abrupt enhancements of the HFPL and HFIL power, the appearance of cascade lines in the plasma line spectra, and the onset of increasing CUTLASS backscatter power occurred. That is opposite to the ordinary mode (O-mode) effects in the vicinity of 5fce. The X-mode pumping at frequencies below and in the vicinity of the fifth electron gyro-harmonic clearly demonstrated an ascending altitude of generation of induced plasma and ion lines from the initial interaction height, whereas for O-mode heating the region of interaction descended. The observations are consistent with the coexistence of the electron acceleration along and across the geomagnetic field at fH<5fce, while only very strong electron acceleration along the magnetic field was observed at fH≥5fce

Modification of the high latitude ionosphere F region by X-mode powerful HF radio waves: Experimental results from multi-instrument diagnostics

We present experimental results concentrating on a variety of phenomena in the high latitude ionosphere F2 layer induced by an extraordinary (X-mode) HF pump wave at high heater frequencies (f[Subscript: H]=6.2–8.0 MHz), depending on the pump frequency proximity to the ordinary and extraordinary mode critical frequencies, foF2 and fxF2. The experiments were carried out at the EISCAT HF heating facility with an effective radiated power of 450–650 MW in October 2012 and October–November 2013. Their distinctive feature is a wide diapason of critical frequency changes, when the f[Subscript: H]/foF2 ratio was varied through a wide range from 0.9 to 1.35. It provides both a proper comparison of X-mode HF-induced phenomena excited under different ratios of f[Subscript: H]/foF2 and an estimation of the frequency range above foF2 in which such X-mode phenomena are still possible. It was shown that the HF-enhanced ion and plasma lines are excited above foF2 when the HF pump frequency is lying in range between the foF2 and fxF2, foF2≤f[Subscript: H]≤fxF2, whereas small-scale field-aligned irregularities continued to be generated even when f[Subscript: H] exceeded fxF2 by up to 1 MHz and an X-polarized pump wave cannot be reflected from the ionosphere. Another parameter of importance is the magnetic zenith effect (HF beam/radar angle direction) which is typical for X-mode phenomena under f[Subscript: H]/foF2 >1 as well as f[Subscript: H]/foF2 ≤1. We have shown for the first time that an X-mode HF pump wave is able to generate strong narrowband spectral components in the SEE spectra (within 1 kHz of pump frequency) in the ionosphere F region, which were recorded at distance of 1200 km from the HF heating facility. The observed spectral lines can be associated with the ion acoustic, electrostatic ion cyclotron, and electrostatic ion cyclotron harmonic waves (otherwise known as neutralized ion Bernstein waves). The comparison between the O- and X-mode SEE spectra recorded at distance far from HF heating facility clearly demonstrated that variety of the narrowband spectral structures were only observed under X-mode HF pumping. The potential generation mechanisms of the different narrowband spectral components are discussed

Plasma modifications induced by an X-mode HF heater wave in the high latitude F region of the ionosphere

We presented experimental results of strong plasma modifications induced by X-mode powerful HF radio waves injected towards the magnetic zenith into the high latitude F region of the ionosphere. The experiments were conducted in 2009–2011 using the EISCAT Heating facility, UHF incoherent scatter radar and the EISCAT ionosonde at Tromsø, Norway; and the CUTLASS SuperDARN HF coherent radar at Hankasalmi, Finland. The results showed that the X-mode HF pump wave can generate strong smallscale artificial field aligned irregularities (AFAIs) in the F region of the high-latitude ionosphere. These irregularities, with spatial scales across the geomagnetic field of the order of 9–15 m, were excited when the heater frequency (fH) was above the ordinary-mode critical frequency (foF2) by 0.1–1.2 MHz. It was found that the X-mode AFAIs appeared between 10 s and 4 min after the heater is turned on. Their decay time varied over a wide range between 3 min and 30 min. The excitation of X-mode AFAIs was accompanied by electron temperature (Te) enhancements and an increase in the electron density (Ne) depending on the effective radiated power (ERP). Under ERPs of about 75–180 MW the Te enhances up to 50% above the background level and an increase in Ne of up to 30% were observed. Dramatic changes in the Te and Ne behavior occurred at effective radiated powers of about 370– 840 MW, when the Ne and Te values increased up to 100% above the background ones. It was found that AFAIs, Ne and Te enhancements occurred, when the extraordinary-mode critical frequency (fxF2) lied in the frequency range fH–fce/2rfxF2rfHþfce/2, where fce is the electron gyrofrequency. The strong Ne enhancements were observed only in the magnetic field-aligned direction in a wide altitude range up to the upper limit of the UHF radar measurements. In addition, the maximum value of Ne is about 50 km higher than the Te enhancement peak. Such electron density enhancements (artificial ducts) cannot be explained by temperature-dependent reaction rates. They can be attributed to HF-induced ionization production by accelerated electrons. The possible mechanisms for plasma modifications induced by powerful X-mode HF radio waves were discussed