Meteor Ablation as Origin for the D-region Ledge in Electrical Conductivity

Abstract:

The ledge in electron density and electrical conductivity in the 80-90 km altitude range has been a consistent feature in rocket and electromagnetic observations of the D-region for half a century. Most conspicuous at nighttime and at low latitudes, the abrupt increase in electron density with altitude near 85 km often shows a scale height of less than 1 km. This observed behavior is a marked departure from the Wait-Spies exponential profile that is often used to model the D-region. Calculations show that the conduction current and displacement current are matched at the height of the observed ledge over a wide range of VLF frequencies, pinning this altitude as the sharp boundary for the global VLF waveguide. Meteor ablation involves the abrupt transformation in altitude of faint sub-millimeter-sized meteoroids to nanometer-sized dust, when the meteor boiling temperature near 2100K is attained. The ablation dust can reach concentrations comparable to electron density near the ledge height and in the polluted continental boundary layer. The electron affinity of this silicate mineral dust together with the suppression of negative molecular ions (e.g., O₂^- ) by monatomic O (Plane et al., 2014), serves to reduce the free electron concentration to form the ledge in conductivity. Calculations with the classical model for meteor ablation require a mean incoming meteor speed of 15 km/s. with rapid decline at higher speeds, to produce a ledge height at 85 km altitude. The key role for meteor ablation in this ionosphere context has likely not received due recognition because neither the meteoric dust nor the meteors that create it are readily detectable by remote sensing, and in situ observations of the mesosphere are scarce.