Topside observation of electron density variations (G-condition) at times of low magnetic activity

1969 ◽  
Vol 47 (23) ◽  
pp. 2683-2689 ◽  
Author(s):  
L. Herzberg ◽  
G. L. Nelms ◽  
P. L. Dyson

The so-called G-condition of the ionosphere (foF2 < foF1, with normal foF1) is investigated from the topside with the Alouette II satellite. In the absence of a severe magnetic disturbance, the condition is occasionally observed over a path length of the order of a thousand kilometers. In this case, one observes a characteristic development: in the F2 region at the levels below about 1000 km there is a systematic decrease of electron density to about one-half the original value, followed by a gradual increase to normal, and at the levels above about 1000 km there is a corresponding increase, followed by a decrease back to normal. This variation in electron density is accompanied, at levels below 2000 km, by significant increases in scale height. Cylindrical electrostatic probes carried on the satellite show, at the same time, increases in electron temperature. Possible interpretations of the observational data are discussed.

1996 ◽  
Vol 152 ◽  
pp. 531-536
Author(s):  
F.P. Keenan ◽  
R.J. Thomas ◽  
W.M. Neupert ◽  
V.J. Foster ◽  
C.J. Greer ◽  
...  

Abstract.Theoretical electron density sensitive emission line ratios involving transitions in the 186–383 Å wavelength range are compared with observational data for a solar active region and a subflare, obtained by the Solar EUV Rocket Telescope and Spectrograph (SERTS). Electron densities derived from the majority of the ratios are consistent with one another, and are also in good agreement with the values of density estimated from diagnostic lines in other species formed at similar temperatures to Fe XII. These results provide observational support for the general accuracy of the diagnostic calculations. In addition, our analysis indicates that a line at 283.70 Å in the active region spectrum is the 3s23p32D3/2−3s3p42P1/2 transition in Fe XII, the first time (to the best of our knowledge) that this line has been identified in the solar spectrum. Several of the line ratios considered are predicted to be relatively insensitive to the adopted electron temperature and density, and the generally good agreement found between theory and observation for these provides evidence for the reliability of the SERTS instrument calibration. The application of the Fe XII diagnostics to EUVE observations of the F5 subgiant Procyon is briefly discussed.


2000 ◽  
Vol 18 (7) ◽  
pp. 789-798 ◽  
Author(s):  
G.J. Bailey ◽  
Y. Z. Su ◽  
K.-I. Oyama

Abstract. Observations made by the Hinotori satellite have been analysed to determine the yearly variations of the electron density and electron temperature in the low-latitude topside ionosphere. The observations reveal the existence of an equinoctial asymmetry in the topside electron density at low latitudes, i.e. the density is higher at one equinox than at the other. The asymmetry is hemisphere-dependent with the higher electron density occurring at the March equinox in the Northern Hemisphere and at the September equinox in the Southern Hemisphere. The asymmetry becomes stronger with increasing latitude in both hemispheres. The behaviour of the asymmetry has no significant longitudinal and magnetic activity variations. A mechanism for the equinoctial asymmetry has been investigated using CTIP (coupled thermosphere ionosphere plasmasphere model). The model results reproduce the observed equinoctial asymmetry and suggest that the asymmetry is caused by the north-south imbalance of the thermosphere and ionosphere at the equinoxes due to the slow response of the thermosphere arising from the effects of the global thermospheric circulation. The observations also show that the relationship between the electron density and electron temperature is different for daytime and nighttime. During daytime the yearly variation of the electron temperature has negative correlation with the electron density, except at magnetic latitudes lower than 10°. At night, the correlation is positive.Key words: Ionosphere (equatorial ionosphere; ionosphere-atmosphere interactions; plasma temperature and density)


1992 ◽  
Vol 70 (7) ◽  
pp. 582-594 ◽  
Author(s):  
M. Förster ◽  
M. N. Fatkullin ◽  
N. A. Gasilov ◽  
U. Schwarz

Data obtained aboard the INTERCOSMOS-10 satellite during different phases of the geomagnetic storm in the last week of January, 1974, are used for the investigation of medium-scale wave-like irregularities of electron density and electron temperature in the upper ionosphere (altitudes from about 800 to about 1400 km) for high and subauroral latitudes. Daytime and nighttime conditions are analysed in detail. It is shown that independent of local time and of the degree of magnetic disturbance the spectra of medium-scale electron-density and electron-temperature fluctuations reveal equal characteristic wavelengths of l ≈ 130–150, 150–200, 210–240, 250–320, 340–400 km and so on. During nighttime conditions in the region of the main ionospheric trough the fluctuations of electron density (at the equatorward wall of the trough) and of electron temperature at the bottom of the trough) are separated in space. Later on it is shown that the intensity of the fluctuations of electron density and electron temperature at high and subauroral latitudes is dependent on the phase of magnetic storm.


1993 ◽  
Vol 155 ◽  
pp. 188-188
Author(s):  
Ruth Gruenwald ◽  
Sueli M. Viegas

For planetary nebulae, empirical abundances can be obtained from the observed emission-lines as long as the electron density, the electron temperature, and the ionization corrections factor are determined. However, due to temperature fluctuations in the emitting gas, the evaluation of the temperature from the observational data is strongly dependent on the method used. The temperature fluctuation is usually characterized by the mean square temperature fluctuation, t2 (Peimbert and Costero, 1969 — PC).


2000 ◽  
Vol 18 (10) ◽  
pp. 1257-1262 ◽  
Author(s):  
A. V. Pavlov ◽  
T. Abe ◽  
K.-I. Oyama

Abstract. We present a comparison of the electron density and temperature behaviour in the ionosphere and plasmasphere measured by the Millstone Hill incoherent-scatter radar and the instruments on board of the EXOS-D satellite with numerical model calculations from a time-dependent mathematical model of the Earth's ionosphere and plasmasphere during the geomagnetically quiet and storm period on 20–30 January, 1993. We have evaluated the value of the additional heating rate that should be added to the normal photoelectron heating in the electron energy equation in the daytime plasmasphere region above 5000 km along the magnetic field line to explain the high electron temperature measured by the instruments on board of the EXOS-D satellite within the Millstone Hill magnetic field flux tube in the Northern Hemisphere. The additional heating brings the measured and modelled electron temperatures into agreement in the plasmasphere and into very large disagreement in the ionosphere if the classical electron heat flux along magnetic field line is used in the model. A new approach, based on a new effective electron thermal conductivity coefficient along the magnetic field line, is presented to model the electron temperature in the ionosphere and plasmasphere. This new approach leads to a heat flux which is less than that given by the classical Spitzer-Harm theory. The evaluated additional heating of electrons in the plasmasphere and the decrease of the thermal conductivity in the topside ionosphere and the greater part of the plasmasphere found for the first time here allow the model to accurately reproduce the electron temperatures observed by the instruments on board the EXOS-D satellite in the plasmasphere and the Millstone Hill incoherent-scatter radar in the ionosphere. The effects of the daytime additional plasmaspheric heating of electrons on the electron temperature and density are small at the F-region altitudes if the modified electron heat flux is used. The deviations from the Boltzmann distribution for the first five vibrational levels of N2(v) and O2(v) were calculated. The present study suggests that these deviations are not significant at the first vibrational levels of N2 and O2 and the second level of O2, and the calculated distributions of N2(v) and O2(v) are highly non-Boltzmann at vibrational levels v > 2. The resulting effect of N2(v > 0) and O2(v > 0) on NmF2 is the decrease of the calculated daytime NmF2 up to a factor of 1.5. The modelled electron temperature is very sensitive to the electron density, and this decrease in electron density results in the increase of the calculated daytime electron temperature up to about 580 K at the F2 peak altitude giving closer agreement between the measured and modelled electron temperatures. Both the daytime and night-time densities are not reproduced by the model without N2(v > 0) and O2(v > 0), and inclusion of vibrationally excited N2 and O2 brings the model and data into better agreement.Key words: Ionosphere (ionospheric disturbances; ionosphere-magnetosphere interactions; plasma temperature and density)  


1992 ◽  
Vol 70 (7) ◽  
pp. 569-574 ◽  
Author(s):  
M. Förster ◽  
N. Jakowski ◽  
A. Best ◽  
J. Smilauer

Langmuir probe data obtained during the storm period March 20–23, 1990, on board the MAGION-2 subsatellite of the ACTIVNY experiment are analyzed to study the plasmaspheric and ionospheric response to a magnetic storm. The data indicate a well-pronounced equatorward edge of the electron density trough in the afternoon (18:15 LT) at about 800 km height that moves towards lower latitudes during the course of the storm. It is interesting to note that the electron density inside the plasmasphere is increased by more than 20% in the morning shortly after sunrise (07:30 LT). This is due to enhanced O+ densities in the lower plasmasphere during the growth phase of the geomagnetic storm as measured by the ion mass spectrometer NAM-5 onboard the main satellite. It is suggested that the source for the increased density is thermospheric Joule heating at auroral latitudes with a commensurate increase in thermospheric pressure. This increased pressure causes the local thermosphere to expand both upward and equatorward. The increased atomic-oxygen scale height coupled with equatorward motion of fhermospheric perturbations results in an increased O density and resulting O+ density within the lower plasmasphere. The observations indicate a storm-induced compression of the plasmasphere that favourizes an enhanced outflow of plasma into the ionosphere leading to an increased nighttime F2-layer ionization and a depletion of the plasmasphere during the following hours.


2007 ◽  
Vol 25 (9) ◽  
pp. 2019-2027 ◽  
Author(s):  
L. Liu ◽  
W. Wan ◽  
M.-L. Zhang ◽  
B. Ning ◽  
S.-R. Zhang ◽  
...  

Abstract. A 30-day incoherent scatter radar (ISR) experiment was conducted at Millstone Hill (288.5° E, 42.6° N) from 4 October to 4 November 2002. The altitude profiles of electron density Ne, ion and electron temperature (Ti and Te), and line-of-sight velocity during this experiment were processed to deduce the topside plasma scale height Hp, vertical scale height VSH, Chapman scale height Hm, ion velocity, and the relative altitude gradient of plasma temperature (dTp/dh)/Tp, as well as the F2 layer electron density (NmF2) and height (hmF2). These data are analyzed to explore the variations of the ionosphere over Millstone Hill under geomagnetically quiet and disturbed conditions. Results show that ionospheric parameters generally follow their median behavior under geomagnetically quiet conditions, while the main feature of the scale heights, as well as other parameters, deviated significantly from their median behaviors under disturbed conditions. The enhanced variability of ionospheric scale heights during the storm-times suggests that the geomagnetic activity has a major impact on the behavior of ionospheric scale heights, as well as the shape of the topside electron density profiles. Over Millstone Hill, the diurnal behaviors of the median VSH and Hm are very similar to each other and are not so tightly correlated with that of the plasma scale height Hp or the plasma temperature. The present study confirms the sensitivity of the ionospheric scale heights over Millstone Hill to thermal structure and dynamics. The values of VSH/Hp tend to decrease as (dTp/dh)/Tp becomes larger or the dynamic processes become enhanced.


Coatings ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (10) ◽  
pp. 1221
Author(s):  
Jun-Hyoung Park ◽  
Ji-Ho Cho ◽  
Jung-Sik Yoon ◽  
Jung-Ho Song

We present a non-invasive approach for monitoring plasma parameters such as the electron temperature and density inside a radio-frequency (RF) plasma nitridation device using optical emission spectroscopy (OES) in conjunction with multivariate data analysis. Instead of relying on a theoretical model of the plasma emission to extract plasma parameters from the OES, an empirical correlation was established on the basis of simultaneous OES and other diagnostics. Additionally, we developed a machine learning (ML)-based virtual metrology model for real-time Te and ne monitoring in plasma nitridation processes using an in situ OES sensor. The results showed that the prediction accuracy of electron density was 97% and that of electron temperature was 90%. This method is especially useful in plasma processing because it provides in-situ and real-time analysis without disturbing the plasma or interfering with the process.


2019 ◽  
Vol 13 (27) ◽  
pp. 76-82
Author(s):  
Kadhim A. Aadim

Low-pressure capacitively coupled RF discharge Ar plasma has been studied using Langmuir probe. The electron temperature, electron density and Debay length were calculated under different pressures and electrode gap. In this work the RF Langmuir probe is designed using 4MHz filter as compensation circuit and I-V probe characteristic have been investigated. The pressure varied from 0.07 mbar to 0.1 mbar while electrode gap varied from 2-5 cm. The plasma was generated using power supply at 4MHz frequency with power 300 W. The flowmeter is used to control Argon gas flow in the range of 600 standard cubic centimeters per minute (sccm). The electron temperature drops slowly with pressure and it's gradually decreased when expanding the electrode gap. As the gas pressure increases, the plasma density rises slightly at low gas pressure while it drops little at higher gas pressure. The electron density decreases rapidly with expand distances between electrodes.


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