Polarization, Steepening and Striation in Barium Clouds
Abstract
Numerical results are presented for the diffusive growth in time of a barium cloud in a highly (but not infinitely) conducting ionosphere. Polarization effects produce steepening of the backside and a thinning and indentation on the front side. A crude estimate of the time required for appreciable distortion is given. Numerical results are also given for the linearized equations of motion about an ellipsoidal gaussian equilibrium distribution. A new numerical method yields the fastest growing eigenvalue and eigenfunction and has been pushed to 49 x 49 size grids covering the cloud. The resultant eigenfunctions (in the plane perpendicular to the B field) are concentrated in the rear of the cloud and are elongated parallel to the cloud drift velocity. Finally, it is shown that results already available in the original E x B instability paper can be used to obtain an estimate of the striation scale size and onset time.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Sep 01, 1971
- Accession Number
- AD0736776
Entities
People
- Albert Simon
- Arthur M. Sleeper
Organizations
- University of Rochester