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Optical signature of an ionospheric hole
Author(s) -
Mendillo Michael,
Baumgardner Jeffrey
Publication year - 1982
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/gl009i003p00215
Subject(s) - tec , ionosphere , photometer , total electron content , environmental science , airglow , rocket (weapon) , scintillation , plume , atmospheric sciences , satellite , space weather , polarimeter , night sky , remote sensing , physics , geology , meteorology , geophysics , astronomy , optics , polarimetry , detector , scattering , engineering , aerospace engineering
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.