First Kinetic 3‐D Simulations of the High‐Latitude Electrojet Spanning an Entire Turbulent Flux Tube

Abstract Radar and rocket observations of the terrestrial ionosphere frequently measure turbulent plasma waves, especially during geospace storms. The non‐linear behavior of these waves remains poorly characterized. This paper presents the first fully kinetic 3‐D particle‐in‐cell simulations of Farley–Buneman (FB) turbulence spanning an entire high‐latitude ionospheric column from strongly collisional to nearly collisionless altitudes. These waves initially develop coherent density perturbations spanning kilometers along , having dominant flow angles that increase with altitude. As the FB turbulence saturates, energy cascades to longer wavelengths and spreads in ‐space. These simulations show turbulence‐driven electron heating and anomalous electron transport with a 21% enhancement in height‐integrated conductance for a system driven by an mV/m external field. Simulations like these will improve interpretations of observations and modeling of turbulence‐modified conductivities for space‐weather simulations.