The electrical Environment of the Earth's Atmosphere: A Review

The study of the electrical environment of the Earth's atmosphere has rapidly advanced during the past century. Great strides have been made towards the understanding of lightning and thunderstorms and in relating them to the global electric circuit. The electromagnetic fields and currents connect different parts of the Earth's environment, and any type of perturbation in one region affects another region. Starting from the traditional views in which the electrodynamics of one region has been studied in isolation from the neighboring regions, the modern theory of the global electrical circuit has been discussed briefly. Interconnection and electrodynamic coupling of various regions of the Earth's environment can be easily studied by using the global electric circuit model. Deficiencies in the model and the possibility of improvement in it have been suggested. Application of the global electric circuit model to the understanding of the Earth's changes of climate has been indicated.     

The role of radial perpendicular diffusion and latitude dependent acceleration along the solar wind termination shock

A numerical model, based on Parker’s transport equation, describing the modulation of anomalous cosmic rays and containing diffusive shock acceleration is applied. The role of radial perpendicular diffusion at the solar wind termination shock, and as the dominant diffusion coefficient in the outer heliosphere, is studied, in particular the role it plays in the effectiveness of the acceleration of anomalous protons and helium when its latitude dependence is changed. It is found that the latitudinal enhancement of radial perpendicular diffusion towards the heliospheric poles and along the termination shock has a prominent effect on the acceleration of these particles. It results in a ‘break’ in the energy spectrum for anomalous protons at ∼6.0 MeV, causing the spectral index to change from E^−1.38 to E^−2.23, but for anomalous helium at ∼3.0 MeV, changing the spectral index from E^−1.38 to E^−2.30. When approaching the simulated TS, the changes in the modulated spectra as they unfold to a ‘steady’ power law shape at energies below 50 MeV are much less prominent as a function of radial distances when radial perpendicular diffusion is increased with heliolatitude.     

NEWSKY - Concept for NEtWorking the SKY for Civil Aeronautical Communications

In this paper, an overview of the NEWSKY project is given. This project is funded by the European Commission within the 6^th framework program and is scheduled to start in early 2007. The NEWSKY project is a feasibility study to clarify if it is possible to establish a heterogeneous network for aeronautical communications which is capable of integrating different communications systems as well as different applications into a single global aeronautical network. The envisaged applications comprise not only air traffic control and management but also airline and passenger communications     

Attractive forces inside a thin nonuniform meteor ring

Attractive forces inside a thin nonuniform meteor ring are found and their features are revealed.     

Super-elite plasma rings and the orbits of planets and satellites isomorphic to the orbits of electrons in the Bohr’s model of the hydrogen atom

This paper continues the series of papers [1–5] and generalizes the previous results to a proto-ring of magnetized plasma whose density decreases in the radial direction. The problem of quantization of the sector and orbital velocities, and of the radii and periods of revolution of elite plasma rings is considered. A new concept of super-elite rings is introduced. Their isomorphism with the orbits of the planets and planetary satellites in the Solar System is proved. This isomorphism also extends to the orbits of electrons in the Bohr’s model of the hydrogen atom.     

Modeling of ionospheric parameter variations in East Asia during the moderate geomagnetic disturbances

The results of modeling of ionospheric disturbances observed in the East Asian region during moderate storms are presented. The numerical model for ionosphere–plasmasphere coupling developed at the ISTP SB RAS is used to interpret the data of observations at ionospheric stations located in the longitudinal sector of 90–130°E at latitudes from auroral zone to equator. There is obtained a reasonable agreement between measurements and modeling results for winter and equinox. In the summer ionosphere, at the background of high ionization by the solar EUV radiation in the quiet geomagnetic period the meridional thermospheric wind strongly impacts the electron concentration in the middle and auroral ionosphere. The consistent calculations of the thermospheric wind permit to obtain the model results which are closer to summer observations. The actual information about the space-time variations of thermosphere and magnetosphere parameters should be taken into account during storms.     

Ionospheric Irregularities Initiated by Planetary Waves

The nonstationary process of the accumulation of ions of meteoric origin, which is caused by propagation of planetary waves at altitudes of the lower ionosphere, is considered. Based on horizontal and vertical ion drift in planetary waves, a possibility of plasma density increases by a factor of 10–20 in comparison with the background concentration is demonstrated. This process takes place in areas of cyclonic motion with a scale of the order of 1500 km. The connection of this process with subsequent formation of midlatitude sporadic layers and irregularities producing radio reflections is considered. It is shown that the action of planetary waves on ions of meteoric origin is a necessary element in the scheme of the occurrence of midlatitude sporadic layers.     

Optimization of moisture content for wheat seedling germination in a cellulose acetate medium for a space flight experiment.

The Porous Tube Plant Nutrient Delivery System (PTPNDS), a hydrophilic, microporous ceramic tube hydroponic system designed for microgravity, will be tested in a middeck locker of the Space Shuttle. The flight experiment will focus on hardware operation and assess its ability to support seed germination and early seedling growth in microgravity. The water controlling system of the PTPNDS hardware has been successfully tested during the parabolic flight of the KC-135. One challenge to the development of the space flight experiment was to devise a method of holding seeds to the cylindrical porous tube. The seed-holder must provide water and air to the seed, absorb water from the porous tube, withstand sterilization, provide a clear path for shoots and roots to emerge, and be composed of flight qualified materials. In preparation for the flight experiment, a wheat seed-holder has been designed that utilizes a cellulose acetate plug to facilitate imbibition and to hold the wheat seeds in contact with the porous tube in the correct orientation during the vibration of launch and the microgravity environment of orbit. Germination and growth studies with wheat at a range of temperatures showed that optimal moisture was 78% (by weight) in the cellulose acetate seed holders. These and other design considerations are discussed.     

Theory of magnetic reconnection in three dimensions

Magnetic reconnection in traditional, two-dimensional theory can be closely associated with topological properties of the magnetic field, separatrices, neutral lines, or separators. Such well-defined topological properties may no longer exist, or become hopelessly complicated, in more general three-dimensional configurations, that otherwise behave physically quite similarly to the two-dimensional configurations. We discuss generalized definitions of reconnection applied to such situations and illustrate typical properties with simulations of three-dimensional reconnection in the magnetotail.     

Transition radio emission of mildly relativistic particles

We report new calculations of transition radiation spectra which are correct for arbitrary energy of a particle at all frequencies down to plasma frequency. The importance of the emission mechanism for solar flares are discussed.