Momentum coupling in ionospheric critical ionization velocity experiments
- Department of Plasma Physics, Alfven Laboratory, Royal Institute of Technology, Stockholm S-10044 (Sweden)
The critical ionization velocity (CIV) effect is a process that can rapidly ionize a neutral gas which moves through a magnetized plasma. The process has been studied for several decades in laboratory experiments, but presently the emphasis has moved to ionospheric injection experiments. In these experiments, the neutral gas component is released at high velocity, with respect to the ionosphere, from a rocket or a satellite. Efficient momentum coupling between the injected cloud and the ambient ionosphere is achieved by means of Alfven waves that are launched along the magnetic field. A computer model is presented for the momentum exchange between a cloud of injected ions and the ionosphere, and the model electric fields and particle spectra are shown to agree in detail with measurements from the Critical Ionization Test II (CRIT II); [Swenson [ital et] [ital al]., Geophys. Res. Lett. [bold 17], 2337 (1990)] ionospheric injection experiment.
- OSTI ID:
- 6232550
- Journal Information:
- Physics of Fluids B; (United States), Vol. 5:7; ISSN 0899-8221
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
Similar Records
Mass loading in the CRIT II CIV experiment
Particle-in-cell simulations of the critical ionization velocity effect in finite size clouds
Related Subjects
IONOSPHERE
ION BEAM INJECTION
ALFVEN WAVES
COMPUTERIZED SIMULATION
CRITICAL VELOCITY
ELECTRIC FIELDS
IONIZED GASES
MAGNETIC FIELDS
SPECTRA
BEAM INJECTION
EARTH ATMOSPHERE
FLUIDS
GASES
HYDROMAGNETIC WAVES
PLANETARY IONOSPHERES
SIMULATION
VELOCITY
700350* - Plasma Production
Heating
Current Drive
& Interactions- (1992-)
700340 - Plasma Waves
Oscillations
& Instabilities- (1992-)