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Letter

Nature Geoscience 1, 101–105 (1 February 2008) | doi:10.1038/ngeo109

Lightning-induced plasma turbulence and|[nbsp]|ion heating in equatorial ionospheric|[nbsp]|depletions

Jean-Jacques Berthelier , Michel Malingre , Robert Pfaff , Elena Seran , Raymond Pottelette , John Jasperse , Jean-Pierre Lebreton & Michel Parrot

A wide range of plasma instabilities exist in various regions of the terrestrial ionosphere, leading to the development of plasma turbulence, in particular close to the lower-hybrid frequency—the frequency of a longitudinal oscillation of ions and electrons in a magnetized plasma that must be near perpendicular to the magnetic field. Most observations have been carried out in the auroral regions, where intense lower-hybrid emissions are frequently observed, possibly producing solitary structures and ion heating.