A FORTRAN II CODE FOR THE CALCULATION OF ELECTROMAGNETIC BLACKOUT FOLLOWING A HIGH-ALTITUDE NUCLEAR DETONATION

Abstract

A program is considered which computes, as functions of time, altitude, and range, the electron concentration and resulting electromagnetic absorption for specified detonation and debris histories. The computation includes initial ionization due to x rays, gamma rays, neutrons, and debris, as well as delayed ionization due to the continuing beta and gamma radiation from the debris. It computes the transient recombination and quasi-equilibrium solutions for electron concentrations and the incremental electromagnetic wave absorption (decibels/kilometer) at the required altitudes for up to three specified frequencies. From these, the altitudes of specific electron concentration contours are interpolated and the one-way vertical absorption is obtained by trapezoidal integration. The computation is carried out for an atmosphere which approximates the 1959 ARDC atmosphere and includes the curvature of the earth. Atmospheric reaction rates are assumed to be those of the ambient air, except in the close-in, very disturbed regions, where approximate corrections appropriate to early times have been included. (Author)

Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
Dec 29, 1961
Accession Number
AD0288113

Entities

People

  • P.g. Fischer
  • R.h. Christian
  • R.w. Hendrick

Organizations

  • General Electric

Tags

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

  • Absorption
  • Altitude
  • Atmospheres
  • Computations
  • Detonations
  • Electromagnetic Radiation
  • Electrons
  • Frequency
  • Frequency Shift
  • Gamma Rays
  • High Altitude
  • Ionization
  • Ionizing Radiation
  • Nuclear Radiation
  • Radiation
  • X Rays

Fields of Study

  • Physics

Readers

  • Finite Element Method (FEM) for solving Partial Differential Equations (PDEs)
  • Plasma Physics / Magnetohydrodynamics
  • Plasma Physics.

Technology Areas

  • Microelectronics