Post Stabilization Ionization Level Predictions, Volume III of the Calendar Year 1974 Annual Report to the Defense Nuclear Agency.
Abstract
Atmospheric ionization due to radioactive debris at altitudes of 50 to 100 km can have a deleterious effect on communication systems for many hours after a nuclear detonation. Prediction of the geographical extent and degree of this ionization requires an accurate model of the atmospheric velocity field as a function of space and time, as well as a detailed description of the debris cloud and its interaction with the ambient atmosphere, including turbulent mixing, beta emission and absorption, and chemical processes. A simple debris could advection code based on the CIRA 1972 empirical wind field model shows that the cloud development (cloud position and shape as a function of time) is a strong function of the burst time, latitude, and altitude, and that present cloud development models are hopelessly inadequate. The results also reveal weaknesses in the empirical wind field model itself, so an effort has been made to find accurate numerical models for the mesospheric circulation. The results of two reasonably complete 2-D linear models are presented, one for the mean circulation, and one for the semidiurnal solar tide. Both give reasonable agreement with observations. In addition a non-linear, 3-D numerical model of the upper atmosphere is shown to agree well with linear analytic results for diurnal and semidiurnal solar tides when run in its linear mode. (Author)
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Sep 01, 1975
- Accession Number
- ADA017491
Entities
Organizations
- United States Naval Research Laboratory