Ionospheric Heating Experiments Research Articles

The Extending of Observing Altitudes of Plasma and Ion Lines During Ionospheric Heating

AbstractThe ultrahigh‐frequency observation during an ionospheric heating experiment on 11 March 2014 at the European Incoherent Scatter Scientific Association Tromsø site illustrated a remarkable extension of observing altitudes of the enhanced plasma line and the ion line, implying that the enhanced ion acoustic wave and Langmuir wave should satisfy the Bragg condition within the extending altitude range. An analysis shows that the dependence of the wave number of the traveling ion acoustic wave on the profiles of enhanced electron temperature and ion mass, as are expected from the dispersion relation of the ion acoustic wave, leads to the extension of observing altitudes of the enhanced ion line. In addition, the altitude extension of the enhanced plasma line is dependent mainly on the profile of the electron density, although it is not independent of the profile of the electron temperature. Considering a small gradient profile of electron density, however, the enhanced electron temperature, as well as the thermal conduction along the magnetic field, may lead to the altitude extension of the enhanced plasma line.

Altitude and intensity characteristics of parametric instability excited by an HF pump wave near the fifth electron harmonic

An ionospheric heating experiment involving an O mode pump wave was carried out at European Incoherent Scatter Scientific Association site in Tromsø. The observation of the ultra high frequency radar illustrates the systematic variations of the enhanced ion line and plasma line in altitude and intensity as a function of the pump frequency. The analysis shows that those altitude variations are due to the thermal effect, and the intensity variations of the enhanced ion line are dependent on whether or not the enhanced ion acoustic wave satisfy the Bragg condition of radar. Moreover, a prediction that if the enhancement in electron temperature is suppressed, those systematic variations will be absent, is given.

Aspect dependence of Langmuir parametric instability excitation observed by EISCAT

AbstractRecent studies of X‐mode wave heating experiments observed by EISCAT (European Incoherent Scatter Scientific Association UHF radar indicate that parametric instability (PI) can be excited unexpectedly. In this paper, we reinvestigate the ionospheric heating experiment on 21 and 22 October 2012 in details. The observed HF‐enhanced ion lines (HFILs) and HF‐enhanced plasma lines (HFPLs) observed during the experiments present dependence on the heating incidence angles. The observational evidence and numerical calculation that the parallel electric field of X‐mode heating wave can exceed the PI excitation threshold at certain angles indicate the decisive role of parallel electric field for the PI excitation. The excited HFPLs and HFILs during X‐mode heating cycles also present the evidence for the non‐Maxwellian distribution of the electrons in the heated region.

Analysis of incoherent scatter during ionospheric heating near the fifth electron gyrofrequency

The observation of ultra-high frequency radar during an ionospheric heating experiment carried out at Tromsø site of European Incoherent Scatter Scientific Association, Norway, is analyzed. When pump is operating slightly above the fifth electron gyrofrequency, some strong enhancements in radar echo and electron density occur in a wide altitude range and are in sync with the shifting and spread of plasma line around the reflection altitude, which may be due to the focusing or collimating of radar wave by irregularities. While some strong enhancements in electron density and radar echo around the reflection altitude do not correspond to the true increase in electron density, but due to the enhanced ion acoustic wave by parametric decay instability and oscillation two stream instability. In addition, the different heating rates and cooling rates at the pump frequencies below, around and above fifth gyrofrequency respectively result in the dependence of the enhancements in electron temperature on the pump frequency.

Ionospheric plasma disturbances generated by naturally occurring large-scale anomalous heat sources

We report the findings from our investigation on the possibility of large-scale anomalous thermal gradients to generate acoustic-gravity waves (AGWs) and traveling ionospheric disturbances (TIDs). In particular, here we consider the case of summer 2006 North American heat wave event as a concrete example of such large-scale natural thermal gradients. This special scenario of AGW/TID generation was formulated based on the results of our experiments at the Arecibo Observatory in July 2006, followed by a systematic monitoring/surveillance of total electron content (TEC) fluctuations over North America in 2005–2007 using the MIT Haystack Observatory's Madrigal database. The data from our Arecibo experiments indicate a continual occurrence of intense AGW/TID over the Caribbean on 21–24 July 2006, and the Madrigal TEC data analysis shows that the overall level of TID activity over North America had increased by ∼0.2 TECU during the summer 2006 heat wave event. Our proposed scenario is in agreement with these empirical observations, and is generally consistent with a number of past ionospheric HF heating experiments related to AGW/TID generation.

Theoretical analysis of effects on high frequency vertical sounding by artificial field-aligned irregularities

Ionospheric heating experiments have been conducted widely at high power heating stations, such as Arecibo, Platteville, HAARP, etc. It has been found that once high-power high-frequency (HF) radio wave is injected into the ionosphere, the electron temperature and density in the illuminated region of the ionosphere can be disturbed, and furthermore, a large number of nonlinear phenomena may be triggered because of the complicated instabilities. One of the most interesting heating effects is the generation of the artificial field-aligned irregularities (AFAI), which has profound influences on electromagnetic wave propagation. Many diagnostic methods have been used for studying the characteristics of AFAI, such as the HF vertical/oblique sounding, HF/VHF coherent radar, etc. During the heating experiments, traces spreading on frequency or height are observed from the HF vertical sounding ionograms, which suggests that the propagation of the sounding wave will be affected by AFAI. In the ionosphere F region, the electron diffusion and thermal conductivity rate are greater along the geomagnetic field lines than across the field line, leading to a stretch of AFAI along the geomagnetic field line. For the special structure, the AFAI will scatter the incident wave in a cone with the axis parallel to the geomagnetic field direction, which is called artificial field-aligned scattering (AFAS). Because of the high sensitivity to the geomagnetic field of AFAS, we try to study different effects on the HF vertical sounding of AFAI generated at different latitudes, by constructing a propagation model and performing a simulation, in order to seek the potential applications in HF transmission. Based on the special scattering feature of AFAI and the ray tracing technique, a propagation model for HF vertical sounding scattered by AFAI is proposed. With this model the ray paths of the sounding waves with AFAI are simulated in amid-latitude region, and a new kind of artificial spread trace is found to start from the heating frequency and spread to higher band. Taking account of the strong dependence of the AFAS on the geomagnetic field, the influences of AFAI on the HF vertical sounding at different latitudes are analyzed theoretically. It is indicated that the artificial spread traces will appear only when the following two conditions are satisfied: 1) the sounding wave can reach the AFAI height; 2) the sounding wave is incident perpendicularly to the AFAI. It is also shown that the spread trace becomes shorter with the latitude and the inclination increasing. Furthermore, the simulations from different heating stations suggest that artificial spread traces do not exist when HF vertical sounding is located just below the AFAI, which explains why such phenomena cannot be observed at high latitudes. Nevertheless, if the HF vertical sounding moves outside the heating station toward the south, the spread traces will be apparent for Arecibo, limited for Platteville and still unavailable for HAARP. Finally, if the AFAI is assumed to be present, apparent artificial spread traces of the mid-low latitude are predicted, and the important valuable applications of AFAI in HF transmission are proposed.

Parametric instability induced byX‐mode wave heating at EISCAT

AbstractIn this paper, we present results of parametric instability induced byX‐mode wave heating observed by EISCAT (European Incoherent Scatter Scientific Association) radar at Tromsø, Norway. Three typicalX‐mode ionospheric heating experiments on 22 October 2013, 19 October 2012, and 21 February 2013 are investigated in details. Both parametric decay instability (PDI) and oscillating two‐stream instability are observed during theX‐mode heating period. We suggest that the full dispersion relationship of the Langmuir wave can be employed to analyze theX‐mode parametric instability excitation. A modified kinetic electron distribution is proposed and analyzed, which is able to satisfy the matching condition of parametric instability excitation. Parallel electric field component ofX‐mode heating wave can also exceed the parametric instability excitation threshold under certain conditions.

Laboratory modeling of ionospheric heating experiments

AbstractTurbulent plasma processes, such as those which occur in the Earth's ionosphere during ionospheric heating by powerful radio waves, were studied under laboratory conditions, and new physical models of small‐scale ionospheric turbulence are proposed as a result of these studies. It is shown here that the mechanism of small‐scale plasma filamentation can be connected with the thermal self‐channeling of Langmuir waves. During this process, Langmuir waves are guided by a plasma channel, which in turn is formed by the guided waves through a thermal plasma nonlinearity. The spectrum of the self‐guided Langmuir waves exhibits sidebands whose features are similar to stimulated electromagnetic emission. We present two mechanisms of sideband generation. The first mechanism can be observed during the formation of the plasma channel and is connected with the parametric shift in the frequency of the self‐channeling wave. The second mechanism is connected with the scattering of the self‐channeling wave on the low‐frequency eigenmodes of the plasma irregularity.

Results of Ionospheric Heating Experiments Involving an Enhancement in Electron Density in the High Latitude Ionosphere**supported by National Natural Science Foundation of China (No. 40831062)

Observations are presented of the phenomenon of the enhancement in electron density and temperature that is caused by a powerful pump wave at a frequency near the fifth gyrofrequency. The observations show that the apparent enhancement in electron density extending over a wide altitude range and the enhancement in electron temperature around the reflection altitude occur as a function of pump frequency. Additionally, the plasma line spectra show unusual behavior as a function of pump frequency. In conclusion, the upper hybrid wave resonance excited by the pump wave plays a dominating role and leads to the enhancement in electron temperature at the upper hybrid altitude. The phenomenon of apparent enhancement in electron density does not correspond to the true enhancement in electron density, this may be due to some mechanism that preferentially involves the plasma transport process and leads to the strong backscatter of radar wave along the magnetic line, which remains to be determined.

Electrostatic electron cyclotron instabilities near the upper hybrid layer due to electron ring distributions

A theoretical study is presented of the electrostatic electron cyclotron instability involving Bernstein modes in a magnetized plasma. The presence of a tenuous thermal ring distribution in a Maxwellian plasma decreases the frequency of the upper hybrid branch of the electron Bernstein mode until it merges with the nearest lower branch with a resulting instability. The instability occurs when the upper hybrid frequency is somewhat above the third, fourth, and higher electron cyclotron harmonics, and gives rise to a narrow spectrum of waves around the electron cyclotron harmonic nearest to the upper hybrid frequency. For a tenuous cold ring distribution together with a Maxwellian distribution an instability can take place also near the second electron cyclotron harmonic. Noise-free Vlasov simulations are used to assess the theoretical linear growth-rates and frequency spectra, and to study the nonlinear evolution of the instability. The relevance of the results to laboratory and ionospheric heating experiments is discussed.

Multistation observations of the azimuth, polarization, and frequency dependence of ELF/VLF waves generated by electrojet modulation

AbstractModulated ionospheric heating experiments are performed with the High Frequency Active Auroral Research Program facility in Gakona, Alaska, for the purpose of generating extremely low frequency (ELF) and very low frequency (VLF) waves. Observations are made at three different azimuths from the heating facility and at distances from 37 km to 99 km. The polarization of the observed waves is analyzed in addition to amplitude as a function of modulation frequency and azimuth. Amplitude and eccentricity are observed to vary with both azimuth and distance from the heating facility. It is found that waves radiated at azimuths northwest of the facility are generated by a combination of modulated Hall and Pedersen currents, while waves observed at other azimuths are dominated by modulated Hall currents. We find no evidence for vertical currents contributing to ground observations of ELF/VLF waves. Observed amplitude peaks near multiples of 2 kHz are shown to result from vertical resonances in the Earth‐ionosphere waveguide, and variations of the frequency of these resonances can be used to determine the D region ionosphere electron density profile in the vicinity of the HF heater.

Nonlinear upper hybrid waves and the induced density irregularities

Upper hybrid waves are excited parametrically by the O-mode high-frequency heater waves in the ionospheric heating experiments. These waves grow to large amplitudes and self-induced density perturbations provide nonlinear feedback. The lower hybrid resonance modifies the nonlinear feedback driven by the ponderomotive force; the nonlinear equation governing the envelope of the upper hybrid waves is derived. Solutions in symmetric alternating functions, in non-alternating periodic functions, as well as in solitary functions are shown. The impact of lower hybrid resonance on the envelope of the upper hybrid waves is explored; the results show that both the spatial period and amplitude are enlarged. The average fluctuation level of induced density irregularities is also enhanced. In the soliton form, the induced density cavity is widened considerably.

Oscillating two-stream instability in a magnetized electron-positron-ion plasma

Oscillating two-stream instability (OTSI) in a magnetized electron-ion plasma has been thoroughly studied, e.g., in ionospheric heating experiments [C. S. Liu and V. K. Tripathi, Interaction of Electromagnetic Waves With Electron Beams and Plasmas (World Scientific, 1994); V. K. Tripathi and P. V. Siva Rama Prasad, J. Plasma Phys. 41, 13 (1989); K. Ramachandran and V. K. Tripathi, IEEE Trans. Plasma Sci. 25, 423 (1997)]. In this paper, OTSI is investigated in a magnetized electron-positron-ion plasma. The dispersion relation of the process is established. The pump field threshold, along with the maximum growth rate of the instability is assessed using the Arecibo and HAARP parameters.

Generation of Artificial Acoustic-Gravity Waves and Traveling Ionospheric Disturbances in HF Heating Experiments

We report the results of our ionospheric HF heating experiments to generate artificial acoustic-gravity waves (AGW) and traveling ionospheric disturbances (TID), which were conducted at the High-frequency Active Auroral Research Program facility in Gakona, Alaska. Based on the data from UHF radar, GPS total electron content, and ionosonde measurements, we found that artificial AGW/TID can be generated in ionospheric modification experiments by sinusoidally modulating the power envelope of the transmitted O-mode HF heater waves. In this case, the modulation frequency needs to be set below the characteristic Brunt–Vaisala frequency at the relevant altitudes. We avoided potential contamination from naturally-occurring AGW/TID of auroral origin by conducting the experiments during geomagnetically quiet time period. We determine that these artificial AGW/TID propagate away from the edge of the heated region with a horizontal speed of approximately 160 m/s.

Incidence angle dependence of Langmuir turbulence and artificial ionospheric layers driven by high-power HF-heating

We have numerically investigated the development of strong Langmuir turbulence (SLT) and associated electron acceleration at different angles of incidence of ordinary (O) mode pump waves. For angles of incidence within the Spitze cone, the turbulence initially develops within the first maximum of the Airy pattern near the plasma resonance altitude. After a few milliseconds, the turbulent layer shifts downwards by about 1 km. For injections outside the Spitze region, the turning point of the pump wave is at lower altitudes. Yet, an Airy-like pattern forms here, and the turbulence development is quite similar to that for injections within the Spitze. SLT leads to the acceleration of 10–20 eV electrons that ionize the neutral gas thereby creating artificial ionospheric layers. Our numerical modeling shows that most efficient electron acceleration and ionization occur at angles between the magnetic and geographic zenith, where SLT dominates over weak turbulence. Possible effects of the focusing of the electromagnetic beam on magnetic field-aligned density irregularities and the finite heating beam width at the magnetic zenith are also discussed. The results have relevance to ionospheric heating experiments using ground-based, high-power radio transmitters to heat the overhead plasma, where recent observations of artificial ionization layers have been made.

Physical mechanisms associated with long‐range propagation of the signals from ionospheric heating experiments

AbstractLong‐range propagation of heater‐produced signals has been studied in experiments with the European Incoherent Scatter Scientific Association ionospheric heating facility and with several globally distributed receiving sites by Zalizovski et al. [2009]. Two distinctive components were present in the signals' spectra, and these can be attributed to two modes of propagation of the signals. One of the components is narrowband and stable; it obviously can be associated with the multihop ionospheric propagation of HF waves radiated by the side lobes of the heater's antenna array. Prominent features of the second component are its wider spectral band (up to few tens of hertz) and strong variations in the average Doppler frequency shift and in the power, which in many cases were synchronous at the different receiving sites. These effects are most likely produced by the ionospheric scattering and dynamics within the heater's main beam. The tricky part is to explain how a portion of the HF energy contained in the relatively narrow main beam of the heater is redirected toward the remote receiving locations. We suggest a robust mechanism explaining the long‐range propagation of the wideband component of the heater‐generated signal based on the theory of scattering from rough surfaces. This mechanism preserves all the observed properties of the remote signals. We show that mountain relief in the vicinity of the heater plays the role of the rough surface causing almost isotropic scattering of the heater's main beam after it is reflected by the ionosphere. Multiple scattering by natural and artificial field‐aligned irregularities in the ionospheric layer may be related to the ground‐scattered remote signals through its role in spatial redistribution of the heater's radiation.

Influences of the state of ionospheric background on ionospheric heating effects

According to the well-performed ionospheric heating experiments at Arecibo in the low latitudes as well as at Tromsø in the high latitudes, the large-scale modification effects are simulated under an assumption of equivalent conditions, i.e., with the same effective radiative power and the same ratio of the heating frequency fHF to the critical frequency of ionospheric F region foF2. The findings are extensively exploited to verify the validation of our model by comparison to the experimental results. Further, a detailed study is carried out on the influences of the background electron density gradient as well as the ratio of fHF to foF2 on heating effects. Conclusions are drawn as follows: under certain conditions, a smaller electron density gradient of background ionospheric F region leads to a better ionospheric heating effect; during over-dense heating, the heating effects are enhanced if the ratio of fHF to foF2 increases, which is slightly limited by the resultant elevation of the reflection height. However, there might be a better ratio range with small values of the ratio of fHF to foF2, e.g., [0.5, 0.7] in the current study. Finally, we analyzed how to select heating parameters efficiently under adverse conditions so to obtain relatively effective results.

Whistler propagation in ionospheric density ducts: Simulations and DEMETER observations

On 16 October 2009, the Detection of Electromagnetic Emissions Transmitted from Earthquake Regions (DEMETER) satellite observed VLF whistler wave activity coincident with an ionospheric heating experiment conducted at HAARP. At the same time, density measurements by DEMETER indicate the presence of multiple field‐aligned enhancements. Using an electron MHD model, we show that the distribution of VLF power observed by DEMETER is consistent with the propagation of whistlers from the heating region inside the observed density enhancements. We also discuss other interesting features of this event, including coupling of the lower hybrid and whistler modes, whistler trapping in artificial density ducts, and the interference of whistlers waves from two adjacent ducts.

Electron cyclotron harmonic resonances in high-frequency heating of the ionosphere

Electron acceleration by upper hybrid waves under cyclotron harmonic resonance interaction is studied. Theory is formulated; the analytical solutions in the second and fourth harmonic cyclotron resonance cases are obtained, and in the third harmonic case, a first order differential equation governing the evolution of the electron energy is derived. The theory is applied for explaining the generation of artificial ionization layers observed in high-frequency (HF) ionospheric heating experiments. The upper hybrid waves are assumed to be excited parametrically by the O-mode HF heating wave. As the decay mode is the lower hybrid wave, the excited upper hybrid waves have wavelengths ranging from 0.25 to 0.5 m, which are short enough to effectively incorporate the finite Larmour radius effect for the harmonic cyclotron resonance interactions as well as have a frequency bandwidth of about 20 kHz, which provides an altitude region of about 10 km for continuous harmonic cyclotron resonance interaction between electrons and descending waves in the slightly inhomogeneous geomagnetic field. The numerical results on electron acceleration show that electron fluxes with energies larger than 14 eV are generated in the three harmonic cases. These energetic electrons cause impact ionizations, which are descending to form artificial ionization layers at the bottom of the ionospheric F region.

Observation of VHF incoherent scatter spectra disturbed by HF heating

We report on EISCAT ionospheric heating experiments carried out on 13 September 2010 at Tromsø, Norway. This paper focuses on the long-lasting enhanced ion- and plasma-lines observed by the VHF incoherent scatter radar. In previous experiments, the enhanced ion-lines observed by VHF radar lasted ~200ms. Observations of long-lasting enhanced ion- and plasma-lines in the VHF radar have not been reported before. The enhanced lines may be caused by Parametric Decay Instability (PDI). In addition, the VHF data show that the enhanced ion-lines are descending in altitude with time during the heater-on period. Likewise, the temporal and spatial evolution of the enhanced plasma-lines also show a similar morphology and generally occur at the same height. At last a possible mechanism for the altitude evolution is given in this paper.