Ionization Below 100 KM Due to Radioactive Clouds

Abstract

The ionization produced by radioactive clouds located in the stratosphere is examined. As an example, a cloud of 3 x 10 to the 12th power curies activity centered at 30 km height and emitting 1-Mev beta and gamma radiation is considered. Contours for the rate of electron production are derived and converted into contours of equal electron density using appropriate values for detachment, attachment, and recombination coefficients. Immediately above the cloud, electron densities exceeding 100,000 (1/cc) are found for heights up to 75 km; there is also a lateral spread of the contours which is most pronounced at 70 km. The effects in absorption upon a frequency of 18 Mc are deduced. It is also shown that at night the width--usually 90 km--of the waveguide controlling VLF propagation is reduced over a horizontal distance of 400 km to a minimum of only 30 km.

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Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
Mar 01, 1961
Accession Number
AD0482927

Entities

People

  • E. T. Pierce

Organizations

  • SRI International

Tags

Communities of Interest

  • Energy and Power Technologies

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

  • Absorption Coefficients
  • Attachment
  • Boundaries
  • Electromagnetic Metamaterials
  • Electromagnetic Radiation
  • Electromagnetic Wave Propagation
  • Electron Density
  • Electrons
  • Explosions
  • Frequency
  • Gamma Rays
  • Ionization
  • Ionosphere
  • Magnetic Fields
  • Metamaterial Absorbers
  • Nuclear Explosions
  • Radio Frequency

Readers

  • Atmospheric Science/Meteorology
  • Nuclear and Radiation Engineering.
  • Plasma Physics.

Technology Areas

  • Microelectronics
  • Space