The electrodynamic effects of MOSC‐like plasma clouds

• Published in: Radio science Vol. 52; no. 5; pp. 604 - 615
• Main Authors: Retterer, John, Groves, Keith M., Pedersen, Todd R., Caton, Ronald G.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Washington Blackwell Publishing Ltd 01-05-2017
• Subjects: Clouds; Conductance; Density; Electric fields; Environment; F region; Flow; Ionosphere; ionosphere: active experiments; Irregularities; Latitude; Mathematical analysis; Metals; Plasma; Plasma clouds; Plumes; Radar; Radio; Resistance; Scintillation; Simulation; Stability; Taylor instability; Tracking
• ISSN: 0048-6604; 1944-799X
• DOI: 10.1002/2016RS006085

The effects on the plasma/electrodynamic environment in the low‐latitude ionosphere produced by the artificial plasma clouds created in the Metal Oxide Space Cloud (MOSC) experiment are studied via simulations. The electric fields and plasma flow in the vicinity of the cloud are calculated using its estimated field‐line‐integrated conductance; it is found that the “comma‐like” flow around the cloud seen in the ALTAIR (Advanced Research Project Agency [ARPA] Long‐range Tracking and Identification Radar) observations can be explained by the perturbations to the electric field produced by the conductance gradients around the cloud. Next, the conductance is introduced into a simulation of the development of the Rayleigh‐Taylor instability. The simulations suggest that a moderately denser cloud than the MOSC cloud, closer to the bottom edge of the F layer, could indeed suppress the development of the low‐density plumes and the shorter‐wavelength irregularities associated with radio scintillation that form with the Rayleigh‐Taylor instability in the low‐latitude ionosphere.
Key Points
The electrodynamic effects of the MOSC plasma clouds are explored with simulations
The potential for chemical releases to quench radio scintillation is examined
It is found that modest enhancement of the MOSC clouds might suppress scintillation