A saturation mechanism for the Farley-Buneman instability

Studies with a reduced-mode two-fluid model have revealed a promising candidate for the saturation mech- anism of the Farley-Buneman instability in the daytime equatorial electrojet. The mechanism operates by redis- tributing the zero-order electron E B flow eld. Sec- ondary waves generated nonlinearly by the instability are responsible for the flow eld modication. Saturation oc- curs because the modied flow reduces the principal charge transport responsible for the growth of the primary wave. Two-dimensional particle simulations of the instability ex- hibit saturation via the same mechanism.