Rocket borne electron accelerator results pertaining to the beam plasma discharge

Three flights of rocket borne electron accelerators have yielded some results concerning the Beam Plasma Discharge (BPD). The first flight, E||B, from Churchill carrying an accelerator of 2 and 4 keV electrons, produced a spectrum of whistler mode waves which was identical with that produced in a large vacuum chamber, and which we know to be an indicator of BPD. The second, Echo V, launched from Poker Flat, Alaska, carrying an accelerator of 25–35 keV electrons, produced wave emissions at 3–3.5 MHz observed on the ground. Our interpretation is that BPD was not or was weakly produced. In the third flight, NB³-II launched from Churchill with an accelerator of 2, 4 and 8 keV electrons, wave emissions well above the ambient plasma frequency were observed from a separated payload, but very close to the beam, and are interpreted as demonstrating BPD.     

Energy deposition in the upper atmosphere in the EXCEDE III experiment

The EXCEDE III sounding rocket flight of April 27, 1990 used a 18 Ampere 2.5 keV electron beam to produce an artificial aurora in the region 90 to 115 km. A “daughter” sensor payload remotely monitored the low-energy X-ray spectrum while scanning photometers measured the spatial profile of prompt emissions of N₂⁺ (1N) and N₂ (2P) transitions (3914Å and 3805Å, respectively). Two Ebert-Fastie spectrometers measured the spectral region from 1800 to 8000Å. On the “mother” accelerator payload, the return current electron differential energy spectra were monitored by an electrostatic analyzer (up to 10 keV) and by a retarding potential analyzer (0 eV to 100 eV). We present an overview of the results from this experiment.     

Satellite launch vehicle effect on the Earth’s lower ionosphere: A case study

The effect of the rocket exhaust products on the D-region of the ionosphere is investigated with the help of Very low frequency (VLF) electromagnetic wave propagation characteristics within the Earth-ionosphere waveguide. The changes in the electron density profile are computed from the observed VLF signal amplitude perturbations about 3 dB during the rocket launch. We find a localized electron depletion in the lower ionosphere at an altitude of around 58 km, that is thought to be originated by the attachment of ionospheric ion and molecular hydrogen along with water molecule in the exhaust product of first stage burn of Geosynchronous Launch Vehicle (GSLV) rocket at the time of GSLV launched from Sriharikota, India, on 27 August 2015 at 11:22 UT (16:52 IST). The ionospheric depletion perturbed the navigational VLF signal (VTX = 17 kHz) 134 s after the launch of the GSLV rocket.     

Peculiarities of the environment disturbance during the electron beam injection from the rocket

The paper presents some results obtained when a beam of electrons (energy 2 to 3.5 keV, current 0.2 to 0.4A) was injected from aboard the rocket at 100 to 150 km.At the moments the beam was injected perturbations of the near-rocket region are observed with a cross-section of about 500 m, it is much larger than the region over which the injected beam is extended.The appearance of the above region can be explained by the interaction of accelerated ions with the surroundings; the ions are generated during the positive rocket charge neutralization owing to discharge mechanisms. It is confirmed by direct measurements of the rocket potential which is about 2 kV near the apogee.     

Cometary kilometric radio waves and plasma waves correlated with ion pick-up effect at comet Halley

From the discrete spectra of the emissions from the comet in the frequency range from 30 to 195 kHz named CKR (Cometary Kilometric Radiation), movements of the bow shock at comet Halley are concluded, i.e., the observed CKR emissions can be interpreted as being generated and propagating from the moving shock. The motion of the shocks are possibly associated with time variation of the solar wind and of the cometary outgassings. By in-situ plasma waves observations using PWP (Plasma Wave Probe) onboard the Sakigake spacecraft, the characteristic spectra of the electrostatic electron plasma waves, the electron cyclotron harmonic waves, and the ion sound waves have been detected during the interval of the Halley's comet fly-by. Compared with the results of a Faraday cup observation and a magnetometer, it is concluded that these plasma wave phenomena are the manifestation of the ion pick-up processes. The ion pick-up processes are taking place even in the remote region within a distance range from 7×10⁶ to 10⁷ km from the cometary nucleus.     

Appearance of VLF and ELF-noises in topside ionosphere under the action of high power radio wave from data of satellite intercosmos-24

Results of a satellite experiment are presented on detection of VLF and ELF-waves excited by irradiation of the night ionosphere F-region by the field of a nonmodulated high-power radio wave. The excited VLF and ELF-waves have been detected at the topside ionosphere heights h=500–1000 km in the frequency bands 8 kHz相似文献   

Broadband electrostatic noise and low-frequency waves in the Earth’s magnetosphere

Broadband electrostatic noise (BEN) is commonly observed in different regions of the Earth’s magnetosphere, eg., auroral region, plasma sheet boundary layer, etc. The frequency of these BENs lies in the range from lower hybrid to the local electron plasma frequency and sometimes even higher. Spacecraft observations suggest that the high and low-frequency parts of BEN appear to be two different wave modes. There is a well established theory for the high-frequency part which can be explained by electrostatic solitary waves, however, low-frequency part is yet to be fully understood. The linear theory of low-frequency waves is developed in a four-component magnetized plasma consisting of three types of electrons, namely cold background electron, warm electrons, warm electron beam and ions. The electrostatic dispersion relation is solved, both analytically and numerically. For the parameters relevant to the auroral region, our analysis predict excitation of electron acoustic waves in the frequency range of 17 Hz to 2.6 kHz with transverse wavelengths in range of (1–70) km. The results from this model may be applied to explain some features of the low-frequency part of the broadband electrostatic noise observed in other regions of the magnetosphere.     

Electron beam experiments in Japanese satellites and rockets

Electron beam experiments in space that have been done and planned in Japan are reviewed. 200eV, 1mA electron beam is emitted from a satellite and several types of wave excitation such as UHF and ω_ce have been observed. The satellite potential and the energy spectrum of returning electrons are measured by Langmuir probes and electrostatic energy analyser. In rocket experiments of K-10-11, K-10-12, K-9M-57, K-9M-58, K-9M-61 and K-9M-66, several types of electron guns were used whose power ranges from 1mW to 1KW. The rocket potential was measured by Langmuir probes and floating probes and optical line emission measurement and wave measurements were also done. The rocket potential was not so high as expected from the balance with ionospheric plasma but strongly affected by the plasma production by the emitted electron beam and return electrons.     

磁层中哨声波与电子的相互作用

哨声波与磁层中电子的非线性相互作用,导致电子投掷角降低,沉降到低电离层,引起局部电离增强,而诱发Trimpi效应。本文讨论波-粒子相互作用的过程,并利用超粒子法进行了计算机模拟。计算结果指出共振不仅与电子的速度有关,而且与电子初始拉莫尔相位角有关;计算得到了相互作用时共振电子相位聚焦效应、非共振电子相位聚束效应及电子速度-相位空间中的不均匀振荡等一些结果。同时,也给出了波-电子相互作用引起的沉降电子能量通量随时间的变化和沉降电子的能量分布。      

Rocket potential measurements during electron beam injection into the ionosphere

The results of measurements made by the retarding potential analyzer of electron fluxes recorded during electron beam injection ～0.5A current pulses and energy 15 or 27 keV during the ARAKS experiment are analyzed. The relatively low rocket potential (～150 V) observed is explained by the formation of a highly conducting region near the rocket. Such a region can be formed via intense plasma waves generated by the beam. This mechanism also explains the heating of the electrons near the rocket. Measurements of electron fluxes with energies of 1 to 3 keV and estimate based on the beam plasma discharge theory agree very well.     

低纬地区夜间电离层底部电子浓度与磁扰的关系

本文利用100kHz的低频无线电波资料,计算分析了1986—1987年期间,几种不同磁扰情况下,低纬地区夜间电离层中100km以下区域积分电子浓度及其变化的起因.结果表明:该区域电子浓度的变化与地磁扰动关系密切.在磁静日期间,其值较小,且随磁扰而变化,但比磁扰滞后1到2天.在磁暴后,其值较大,会出现几次剧烈起伏.该区域积分电子浓度的起伏可大于一个量级.沉降电子产生的动致辐射可能是引起该区域电子浓度变化的主要原因之      

Study of correlations between waves and particle fluxes measured on board the DEMETER satellite

The topic of relativistic electron dynamics in the outer radiation belt has received considerable attention for many years. Nevertheless, the problem of understanding the physical phenomenon involved is far from being resolved. In this paper, we use DEMETER observations to examine the variations of the energetic electron fluxes and ELF/VLF wave intensities in the inner magnetosphere during the intense 8 November 2004 magnetic storm. Electron flux spectra and associated wave intensity spectra are analysed throughout the magnetic storm and common characteristics or differences to other storm events are retained. The overall objective of this study is to identify and derive parameters that are relevant for particle flux modelling; the time constant characterizing the persistent decay after particle enhancement was found to be one of these important model parameters.The analysis of the 8 November 2004 event reveals that for L-shell parameter higher than 4, an electron flux dropout is observed during the storm’s main phase for electrons in the energy range 0.1–1 MeV, as has been reported from other measurements. Characteristic wave spectra accompanying this phase are analysed. They show a typical enhancement in the frequency range 0.3–10 kHz at onset for all L-shell values under consideration (2 < L < 5). During the first stage of the recovery phase, the electron fluxes are increased to a level higher than the pre-storm level, whereas the level of wave intensity in the frequency range observed below 300 Hz is at its highest. In the second stage, the particle flux decrease goes hand in hand with a global wave activity decline, the relaxation time of the latter being smaller than the former’s one. In some other cases, long-lasting electron enhancement associated with constant wave activity has been observed during this latter stage. For the above mentioned storm, while at low L values the decay time constants are higher for low energy electrons than for high energy electrons, this order is reversed at high L values. At about L = 3.6 the time constant is independent of electron energy.     

Hard X-ray and metric/decimetric spatially resolvedobservations of the 10 April 2002 solar flare

The GOES M8.2 flare on 10 April 2002 at 1230 UT was observed at X-ray wavelengths by RHESSI and atmetric/decimetric wavelengths by the Nançay Radioheliograph (NRH). We discuss the temporal evolution of X-ray sources together with the evolution of the radio emission sites observed at different coronal heights by the NRH. While the first strong HXR peak at energies above 50 keV arises from energy release in compact magnetic structures (with spatial scales of a few 10⁴ km) and is not associated with strong radio emission, the second one leads to energy release in magnetic structures with scales larger than 10⁵ km and is associated with intense decimetric/metric and dekametric emissions. We discuss these observations in the context of the acceleration sites of energetic electrons interacting at the Sun and of escaping ones.     

赤道反向电射流中不均匀性的对流放大特性及对某些观测特性的解释

本文分析了反向赤道电射流条件下的不均匀性的对流放大特性。根据电射流不稳定性的线性理论,对一个分层均匀的电射流的模式的数值计算表明:在反向电射流条件下,电射流不均匀性有如下的特性:在波的传播过程中,在上电射流区内,波矢向下旋转,在下电射流区内,波矢向上旋转;在驱动电场E_D数值相同的情况下,反向电射流条件下的射线路径积分增长率r比正常电射流情况的要小得多。这是由于波的群速度方向是向下的,而电子密度梯度起稳定化作用。对于电子密度的特征长度L_N=6km和│E_D│=0.8mV/m,波长λ=10m,高度h≥105km,有r<20。在这一高度范围,波可能是不饱和的,增大L_N,使波在h=105km饱和的临界电场│E_D│值减小。上述计算结果可解释某些在反向电射流条件下,在Addis-Ababa观测到的10m波长雷达回波的特性。      

Analysis of the turbulence observed in the outer cusp turbulent boundary layer

One of the prominent features of the cusp Turbulent Boundary Layer (TBL) is a persistent low frequency electromagnetic turbulence that extends from <1Hz up to the electron cyclotron frequency, accompanied by what appears to be purely electrostatic noise above this frequency range. The Plasma Wave Instrument onboard Polar obtained plasma wave measurements in the cusp TBL in the form of waveform captures simultaneously from 6 different sensors (3 each orthogonal electric and magnetic) in the frequency range 1 Hz up to 25 kHz. This allowed us to directly calculate the phase velocity from the measured ratio of |dE| to |dB| and compare it to theoretical values for various modes. Using this technique, we have gained some insight into the mode of the electromagnetic turbulence that extends in frequency from 1 Hz up to the electron cyclotron frequency (several hundred Hz to a few kHz) in the TBL. The whistler and kinetic Alfvén wave modes are discussed as the possible modes of this turbulence. By analyzing the high time resolution waveforms, we isolate and identify some of these modes. The electrostatic turbulence above the electron cyclotron frequency is associated with pulses and quasi-sinusoidal waveforms observed in the measured time series. These do not fit any known mode, although work is continuing in this area to show that some of them may be associated with electron holes or with downshifted Langmuir waves produced through a two-stream instability.     

New aspects of whistler waves driven by an electron beam studied by a 3-D electromagnetic code

We have restudied electron beam driven whistler waves with a 3-D electromagnetic particle code. In the initialisation of the beam-plasma system, “quiet start” conditions were approached by including the poloidal magnetic field due to the current carried by beam electrons streaming along a background magnetic field. The simulation results show electromagnetic whistler wave emissions and electrostatic beam modes like those observed in the Spacelab 2 electron beam experiment. It has been suggested in the past that the spatial bunching of beam electrons associated with the beam mode may directly generate whistler waves. However, the simulation results indicate several inconsistencies with this picture: (1) the parallel (to the background magnetic field) wavelength of the whistler wave is longer than that of the beam instability, (2) the parallel phase velocity of the whistler wave is smaller than that of the beam mode, and (3) whistler waves continue to be generated even after the beam mode space charge modulation looses its coherence. The complex structure of the whistler waves in the vicinity of the beam suggest that the transverse motion (gyration) of the beam and background electrons is involved in the generation of the whistler waves.     

Ion beam produced plasma waves observed by the δn/n plasma wave receiver during the porcupine experiment

The Porcupine sounding rocket consisted of a central instrumented payload with 4 smaller payloads ejected in the radial direction. One of the smaller payloads contained a xenon ion gun which directed a 200eV Xe+ ion beam roughly perpendicular to the magnetic field. During the ion gun exercises a variety of plasma waves were observed by the δn/n experiment on the central spacecraft. For small separations betwen the ion gun and the plasma wave receivers, intense and very narrow band emissions were observed just above harmonics of the hydrogen gyrofrequency extending from n=1 to at least n=11 and perhaps to much higher harmonics. Additional structure at the helium gyrofrequency was also observed and the width of each spectral line was the order of the oxygen gyrofrequency. The fastest growing modes were at n=5 or 6. For larger separations between the ion gun and plasma wave receiver, band limited emissions were observed between the NO+ and O+ lower hybrid frequencies. The intense ion cyclotron harmonic waves observed for short separations are very similar to plasma waves observed at high altitudes in ion conics by the S3-3 satellite. In those examples, natural ion beams, which were nearly perpendicular to the magnetic field, produced plasma waves between harmonics of the hydrogen gyrofrequency and the most intense waves occurred between n=3 and n=7. Hence the ion beam experiment is directly applicable to understanding ion beams within the magnetosphere.     

Voyager 2 plasma wave observations at Uranus

At Uranus, the Voyager 2 plasma wave investigation observed very significant phenomena related to radio emissions, dust impacts and magnetospheric wave-particle interactions. On January 19, 1986 (R= 270R_U) the plasma wave investigation detected an intense radio burst at 31 and 56 kHz, and this provided the first indication that Uranus had a magnetosphere. During the encounter we observed more of these sporadic bursts, along with relatively continuous radio emissions extending down to 10 kHz, and a sporadic narrowband radio signal with f near 5 kHz. As Voyager passed through the ring plane, the plasma wave investigation recorded a large number of dust impacts. The dust ring was relatively diffuse (thickness of several thousand kilometers) and the peak impact rate was near 50 hits/second. The Voyager 2 plasma wave instrument also detected many strong electromagnetic and electrostatic plasma waves, with intensity peaks in the region within 12 Uranus adii. These waves have characteristics that can interact strongly with the local plasma and with the trapped energetic particles, leading to precipitation into the atmosphere, charged particle acceleration, and charged particle diffusion. In addition we detected strong wave activity in the region of the bow shock and moderate levels in the magnetic tail.     

Impulsive plasma waves observed by DE-1 in the magnetosphere

Impulsive plasma waves (1–9 kHz) with durations less than 100 msec have been found in DE-1 wide-band electric field data (650 Hz – 40 kHz) received at Kashima, Japan. The waves are associated with a strong narrow-band ELF hiss, and were observed at geocentric distances from 3.1 to 4.9 Re (earth's radius) in the low-latitude nightside magnetosphere. Local electron densities and plasmapause locations estimated suggest that the waves were observed outside the nightside plasmapause. The waves are discussed in terms of Landau resonant trapping of magnetospheric electrons by the associated whistler-mode ELF hiss.     

Wave measurements in active experiments on plasma beam injection

The paper presents the results and discussion of VLF wave measurements carried out in the course of two rocket experiments on injection of a dense cesium ion beam into the ionosphere at the heights of 165–240 km. The injection was accompanied by enhancement of the broad-band noise by several orders of magnitude. The wave measurements in the frequency range of 1–11 kHz revealed two pronounced frequencies somewhat exceeding that of the lower-hybrid resonance oscillations in the background plasma and the cesium beam. The oscillations were modulated by frequencies close to the ion-cyclotron frequencies of the background plasma.