Modification of the ionospheric electron velocity distribution function due to resonant absorption of HF waves

Abstract

The nonlinear modification of the electron distribution function caused by the interaction with a resonant electrostatic field is studied analytically using a perturbation analysis. This interaction produces tail heating and for a limited range of parameter values can form a bump in the distribution, which may lead to emission of secondary waves. These results are applied to the ionosphere's F and upper E regions in the context of ionospheric modification experiments using ground‐based powerful HF transmitters.