In recent years, a number of experiments have actually been carried out to modify the ionosphere in some controlled manner to investigate the possibility of a beneficial result. For detailed discussions of these operations see the following papers: (1) Ionospheric Modification Theory; G. Meltz and F. W. Perkins; (2) The Platteville High Power Facility; Carrol et al.; (3) Arecibo Heating Experiments; W. E. Gordon and H. C. Carlson, Jr.; and (4) Ionospheric Heating by Powerful Radio Waves; Meltz et al., all published in Radio Science, Vol. 9, No. 11, November, 1974, at pages 885-888; 889-894; 1041-1047; and 1049-1063, respectively, all of which are incorporated herein by reference. In such experiments, certain regions of the ionosphere are heated to change the electron density and temperature within these regions. This is accomplished by transmitting from earth-based antennae high frequency electromagnetic radiation at a substantial angle to, not parallel to, the ionospheres magnetic field to heat the ionospheric particles primarily by ohmic heating. The electron temperature of the ionosphere has been raised by hundreds of degrees in these experiments, and electrons with several electron volts of energy have been produced in numbers sufficient to enhance airglow. Electron concentrations have been reduced by a few percent, due to expansion of the plasma as a result of increased temperature.
Posted on: Sat, 13 Sep 2014 22:21:57 +0000
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