Augmentation of High-Energy Beam-Induced Ionospheric Modication Experiment
Abstract
The understanding of MeV electron beam propagation in the Earth's atmosphere and ionosphere has progressed substantially due to the completion of the author's doctoral research under the AASERT program, and a summary of results is presented in this report. A model based on several established analytical computational techniques has been developed to study the interactions of relativistic electron beams with the Earth's upper atmosphere and ionosphere. The emphasis is on the analysis of active experiments involving beams launched from a satellite in Low Earth Orbit or from a suborbital sounding rockets. The Beam-Atmosphere Interaction forms a subset of physical phenomena associated with the injection of charged particle beams from a spacecraft. The present study extends the analysis of the BAI from the keV range of past experiments, and it is motivated in part by the recent advances in technology which allow MeV electron beams to be launched from spacecraft. The model is designed to accept beam and environmental parameters as input, such as beam current, energy, and mean divergence, and to compute quantities of interest resulting from the relativistic BAI as output, such as ionization and bremsstrahlung emissions.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Aug 31, 1998
- Accession Number
- ADA384401
Entities
People
- Linda H. Krause
Organizations
- University of Michigan