Effect of charged dust on Hall current instabilities in the E region

The effect of charged dust on Hall current instabilities in the ion frequency regime is investigated for plasma parameters representative of the lower E region of the ionosphere above about 95 km. Linear kinetic theory is used, and both the longer wavelength Farley-Buneman two-stream instability and the shorter wavelength, higher frequency Hall current instability are considered. Under daytime conditions, it is found that the presence of negatively (positively) charged dust can increase (decrease) the critical drift for the Farley-Buneman instability. In addition, the presence of positively charged dust can increase the critical drift for the shorter wavelength, higher frequency instability. Possible application to dusty regions such as meteor trails is briefly discussed.