Ionospheric disturbance caused by artificial plasma clouds under different release conditions

Abstract

The generation and evolution of artificial plasma clouds is a complicated process that is strongly dependent on the background environment and release conditions. In this paper, based on a three-dimensional two-species fluid model, the evolution characteristics of artificial plasma clouds under various release conditions were analyzed numerically. In particular, the effect of ionospheric density gradient and ambient horizontal wind field was taken into account in our simulation. The results show that an asymmetric plasma cloud structure occurs in the vertical direction when a nonuniform ionosphere is assumed. The density, volume, and expansion velocity of the artificial plasma cloud vary with the release altitude, mass, and initial ionization rate. The initial release velocity can change the cloud's movement and overall distribution. With an initial velocity perpendicular to the magnetic field, an O+ density cavity and two bumps exist. When there is an initial velocity parallel to the magnetic field, the generated plasma cloud is bulb-shaped, and only one O+ density cavity and one density bump are created. Compared to the cesium case, barium clouds expand more rapidly. Moreover, Cs+ clouds have a higher density than Ba+ clouds, and the snowplow effect of Cs+ is also stronger.