Propagation of nonplanar ion acoustic waves in a plasma composed of negative and positive ions and nonthermally distributed electrons is investigated using reductive perturbation theory. The spherical Kadomtsev-Petviashvili (SKP) equation which describes the dynamics of the nonlinear spherical ion acoustic waves is derived. It is found that compressive and rarefactive ion-acoustic solitary wave characteristics significantly depend on the density and mass ratios of the positive to negative ions, the nonthermal electron parameter, and the geometry factor. The possible regions for the existence of spherical ion acoustic waves are defined precisely for typical parameters of (H+, O-2(-)) and (H+, H-) plasmas in the D and F-regions of the Earth's ionosphere, as well as for laboratory plasma (Ar+, F-).
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