Optical signature of an ionospheric hole

The recent launch of a NOAA weather satellite provided an “experiment of opportunity” for simultaneous radio and optical diagnostics of a large artificially‐induced ionospheric modification. The rocket plume caused disturbances that were monitored using intensified imaging and photometer observations at 6300 Å along the same raypath as VHF polarimeter measurements of the ionosphere’s total electron content (TEC). A rapid chemical depletion of TEC by −16.8 × 10 12 el/cm² caused a burst of 6300 Å radiation that expanded to more than 60° of the sky, with peak intensities near 9 k R. The event was used as an active space plasma experiment to test theoretical estimates for atmospheric diffusion and O(¹D) quenching rates.