Density ducts formed by heating the Earth’s ionosphere with high-power HF radio waves

V. Frolov , V. Rapoport , G. Komrakov , A. Belov , G. Markov , Michel Parrot (1) , Jean-Louis Rauch (1) , E. Mishin

1 LPCE - Laboratoire de physique et chimie de l'environnement

The parameters of plasma disturbances at altitudes 660 and 840 km, measured by the instruments onboard the French DEMETER satellite and the US DMSP satellites passing through the magnetic flux tube footed at the region of intense modification of the F 2 ionospheric layer by the high-power HF radio waves of the Sura heating facility, are presented. The formation of artificial enhanced-density plasma ducts in the outer ionosphere is observed experimentally. Conditions facilitating the formation of such ducts are pointed out.

Domaines: Planète et Univers [physics]

V. Frolov, V. Rapoport, G. Komrakov, A. Belov, G. Markov, et al.. Density ducts formed by heating the Earth’s ionosphere with high-power HF radio waves. JETP Letters, 2008, 88 (12), pp.790-794. ⟨10.1134/S002136400824003X⟩. ⟨insu-03218332⟩