Laboratory modeling of physical processes in the ionosphere modified by powerful radio emission

Abstract

We present the results of the laboratory modeling of physical processes occurring in the ionosphere during active experiments on the ionospheric modificaton by powerful radio emission. The process of nonuniform thermo-diffusion of a magnetoplasma due to local electron heating is studied under the conditions modeling the ionospheric F layer. It is revealed by direct measurements that thermo-diffusion and diffusion are accompanied by excitation of macroscopic eddy currents. In this case, electrons and ions diffuse along and across the magnetic field, respectively, and the eddy current is carried by particles of the background plasma. As a result, a magnetic-field-aligned density depletion rapidly forms in the plasma. The possibility of trapping and guided propagation of Langmuir waves in such a plasma inhomogeneity is demonstrated. Conditions are found under which the wave trapping and the formation of the inhomogeneity occur in a self-consistent regime, i.e., Langmuir waves are trapped in a small-scale inhomogeneity which, in turn, is formed due to local plasma heating by the field of the trapped waves. Such nonlinear wave trapping takes place only above a certain threshold, which significantly increases in the vicinity of gyroharmonics.