Magnetic-Field-Aligned Characteristics of Plasma Bubbles in the Nighttime Equatorial Ionosphere.
Abstract
During the past three years, the Defense Nuclear Agency (DNA) has conducted a series of rocket experiments from the Kwajalein Atoll, Marshall Islands, to investigate the character of intense, scintillation-producing irregularities that occur in the nighttime equatorial ionosphere. Because the source mechanism of equatorial irregularities, believed to be the Rayleigh-Taylor instability, is analogous to that which generates plasma-density striations in a nuclear-induced environment, there is considerable interest in the underlying physics that controls the characteristics of these irregularities. A primary objective of ALTAIR investigations of equatorial irregularities is to seek an understanding of the underlying physics by establishing the relationship between meter-scale irregularities (detected by ALTAIR), and large-scale plasma depletions (or 'bubbles') that contain the kilometer-scale, scintillation-producing irregularities. An important application of this relationship has been the use of ALTAIR as a real-time locator of intense irregularities for the purpose of rocket launch criteria.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Jul 01, 1979
- Accession Number
- ADA088365
Entities
People
- Roland T. Tsunoda
Organizations
- SRI International