THE IONOSPHERIC CONDITIONS,
Abstract
A general analysis of ionospheric conditions has been made in the light of possible ionic reac tions occurring in the upper atmosphere. Data obtained on various parameters, such as the ionic production and recombination, show that precise knowledge of the spectral distribution of solar radiation is needed and that other experimental determinations on the dissociative recombinations are required. The altitude distribution of ions is exemplified by discussing the relative importance of various loss coeffi cients in the D, E and F regions. It is seen that molecular nitrogen ions are subject to important charge transfer processes, that nitric oxide ions are always final products destroyed only by dissociative recombination. Additional ly, the entire production of atomic oxygen ions is related to the photoionization of molecular nitrogen. In the absence of enough experimental information on ionic processes it is shown that a precise analysis of the ionospheric behavior remains highly speculative. (Author)
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Sep 10, 1963
- Accession Number
- AD0417236
Entities
People
- Marcel Nicolet
- William Swider Jr.
Organizations
- Pennsylvania State University