ALBERT

Description: We investigated the relationship between post-midnight F-region field aligned irregularities (FAIs) and F-layer altitude by analyzing data of a 30.8-MHz radar installed 5at Kototabang, Indonesia (0.2°S, 100.3°E; geomagnetic latitude 10.4°S) and an ionosonde installed at Chumphon, Thailand (10.7°N, 99.4°E; geomagnetic latitude 3.3°N). Chumphon is located near the geomagnetic equator on approximately the same meridian as Kototabang. Case studies show that the altitude of the F-layer rose at Chumphon a half hour before the post-midnight FAIs appeared at Kototabang. The Doppler velocity of the E-region FAIs observed simultaneously by the 30.8-MHz radar was downward, indicating that the F-layer uplift was not caused by the electric field. We also investigated seasonal variations of the post-midnight FAI occurrence and the F-layer altitude. Both the post-midnight FAIs and the uplift of the F-layer were frequently seen around midnight between May and August. The seasonal variation of the midnight F-layer uplift around the geomagnetic equator coincided with that of the post-midnight FAI occurrence at Kototabang. These results suggest that the uplift of the F-layer would play an important role in the generation of post-midnight FAIs. We evaluated the linear growth rate of the Rayleigh-Taylor instability based on the altitude of the F-layer observed at Chumphon. The result shows that the uplift of the F-layer can enhance the growth rate because gravity-driven eastward electric current increases. Therefore, we interpret that the observed FAIs were accompanied by plasma bubble, the growth rate of which was reinforced by the uplifted F-layer.