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Space chamber experiments of Ohmic heating by high power microwave from the solar power satellite
Author(s) -
Kaya Nobuyuki,
Matsumoto Hiroshi
Publication year - 1981
Publication title -
geophysical research letters
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.007
H-Index - 273
eISSN - 1944-8007
pISSN - 0094-8276
DOI - 10.1029/gl008i012p01289
Subject(s) - rocket (weapon) , plasma , microwave , joule heating , ohmic contact , ionosphere , satellite , computational physics , physics , dielectric heating , sounding rocket , materials science , electron temperature , aerospace engineering , atomic physics , geophysics , electrode , nuclear physics , quantum mechanics , astronomy , engineering
It is quantitatively predicted that a high power microwave from the S olar P ower S atellite (SPS) nonlinearly interacts with the ionospheric plasma. The possible nonlinear interactions are ohmic heating, self‐focusing and parametric instabilities. A rocket experiment called MINIX ( M icrowave‐ I onosphere N onlinear I nteraction E x periment) has been attempted to examine these effects, but is not reported here. In parallel to the rocket experiment, a laboratory experiment in a space plasma simulation chamber has been carried out in order to examine ohmic heating in detail and to develop a system of the rocket experiment. Interesting results were observed and these results were utilized to revise the system of the rocket experiments. A significant microwave heating of plasma up to 150 % temperature increase was observed with little electron density decrease. It was shown that the temperature increase is not due to the RF breakdown but to the ohmic heating in the simulated ionospheric plasma. These microwave effects have to be taken into account in the SPS Project in the future.