Collisional interchange instability. II - A comparison of the numerical simulations with the in situ experimental data
A two-dimensional model applicable to F region ionosphere plasma instabilities has been developed and described in a companion paper. Here the model is applied to equatorial F region irregularities and is tested against rocket and satellite data. As a diagnostic, simulated data sets are created which are similar to the one-dimensional measurements of plasma density performed by space probes and the Fourier transform of these data is taken in the same manner and used by the space experimentors. Unlike previous simulations of this phenomenon, an inherent anisotropy is found in the instability development which is mirrored in the in situ data. Evidence that the shallow spectral slopes which often characterize spread F rocket spectra near the F peak may be due to a change in the angle between the rocket velocity vector and the characteristic directions in the medium is presented.