REACTION PARAMETERS FOR ‘O+ + N2 ' COLLISION RESPONSE TO SOLAR ECLIPSE

Abstract

The ionosphere is the part of the earth's atmosphere that extends from about 75 km to 1000 km. The sun is the main factor in shaping and dividing the ionosphere according to electron density. Therefore, the investigation and examination of solar-induced events is of great importance in understanding the structure of the ionosphere. The solar eclipses are one of the most important solar-induced events that cause sudden and medium-scale changes on the ionosphere. The solar eclipse of 29 March 2006 was observed as a total eclipse in some places and as a partial eclipse in some places. One of the regions recorded as a partial eclipse is Kharkov/Ukraine. In this study, the variations of reaction dynamics such as rate constant and cross section of the ‘O+ + N2’ collision, which is one of the ionosphere reaction processes, were investigated according to altitude (187 km) and local time during the 29 March 2006 solar eclipse over the city of Kharkov. The findings revealed that the changes in the reaction rate constant were similar to the changes in temperature, but the same similarities were not observed in the collision cross-section changes. According to another result obtained from this study, it has been determined that the use of experimental-based sources such as Kharkov incoherent scatter radar will give more effective results in investigating the effects of solar eclipses on the ionosphere.