Deriving improved plasma fluid equations from collisional kinetic theory

Abstract: Developing a quantitative understanding of wave plasma processes in the lower ionosphere requires a reasonably accurate theoretical description of the underlying physical processes. For such highly collisional plasma environment as the E-region ionosphere, kinetic theory represents the most accurate theoretical description of wave processes. For the analytical treatment, however, the collisional kinetic theory is extremely complicated and succeeds only in a limited number of physical problems. To date, most research applied oversimplified fluid models that lack a number of critical kinetic aspects, so that the coefficients in the corresponding fluid equations are often accurate only to an order of magnitude. This paper presents the derivation for the highly collisional, partially magnetized case relevant to E-region conditions. It provides a more accurate reduction of the ion and, especially, electron kinetic equations to the corresponding 5-moment fluid equations by using a new set of analytic approximations. This derivation results in more accurate fluid-model set of equations appropriate for most E-region problems. The results of this paper could be used for a routine practical analysis when working with actual data. The improved equations can also serve as a basis for more accurate plasma fluid computer simulations.