A sudden vanishing of the ionospheric<i>F</i>region due to the launch of Skylab

Mendillo, M.; Hawkins, Gerald S.; Klobuchar, J. A.

doi:10.1029/ja080i016p02217

Cited by 152 publications

(120 citation statements)

References 19 publications

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“…In particular, plasma cavities observed in the Earth's ionosphere were artificially induced by the exhaust gases of the spacecraft, such as at the time of the Skylab launch in 1973 (Mendillo et al, 1975;Mendillo, 1988). The released H 2 O molecules reacted very efficiently with the atomic ions of the ionosphere (H + or O + ), leading to a local production of molecular ions (H 2 O + or H 3 O + ) whose electron recombination rates are much larger (a factor 1000) than those of atomic ions.…”

Section: A Polar Plasma Cavitymentioning

confidence: 99%

Titan's ionosphere in the magnetosheath: Cassini RPWS results during the T32 flyby

et al. 2009

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Abstract. The Cassini mission has provided much information about the Titan environment, with numerous low altitude encounters with the moon being always inside the magnetosphere. The only encounter taking place outside the magnetopause, in the magnetosheath, occurred the 13 June 2007 (T32 flyby). This paper is dedicated to the analysis of the Radio and Plasma Wave investigation data during this specific encounter, in particular with the Langmuir probe, providing a detailed picture of the cold plasma environment and of Titan's ionosphere with these unique plasma conditions. The various pressure terms were also calculated during the flyby. The comparison with the T30 flyby, whose geometry was very similar to the T32 encounter but where Titan was immersed in the kronian magnetosphere, reveals that the evolution of the incident plasma has a significant influence on the structure of the ionosphere, with in particular a change of the exo-ionospheric shape. The electrical conductivities are given along the trajectory of the spacecraft and the discovery of a polar plasma cavity is reported.

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Section: A Polar Plasma Cavitymentioning

confidence: 99%

Titan's ionosphere in the magnetosheath: Cassini RPWS results during the T32 flyby

et al. 2009

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“…Later, Mendillo et al (1975) found a sudden TEC decrease after the Skylab launch by measuring the Faraday rotation of radio signals from a geostationary satellite, and suggested that the exhaust plume of the rocket chemically influenced the ionosphere. They inferred that H 2 O and H 2 in the exhaust plume became molecular ions by reacting with ambient O + and their dissociative recombination with e − caused electron loss, or the formation of an ionospheric "hole".…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Ionospheric hole behind an ascending rocket observed with a dense GPS array

Furuya

Heki

2008

Earth Planet Sp

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An ascending liquid-fuel rocket is known to make a hole in the ionosphere, or localized electron depletion, by leaving behind large amounts of neutral molecules (e.g. water) in the exhaust plume. Such a hole was made by the January 24, 2006 launch of an H-IIA rocket from Tanegashima, Southwestern Japan, and here we report its observation with a dense array of Global Positioning System receivers as a sudden and temporary decrease of total electron content. The observed disturbances have been compared with a simple numerical model incorporating the water diffusion and chemical reactions in the ionosphere. The substantial vanishing of the ionosphere lasted more than one hour, suggesting its application as a window for ground-based radio astronomical observations at low frequencies.

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“…Mendillo et al (1975) present beacon-satellite observations of TEC in the vicinity of the trajectory of the Skylab launch while Wand and Mendillo (1984) report Millstone Hill radar observations of the ionospheric e ects of the launch of HEAO-C. Neither of these daytime studies observed any persistent oscillations of the ionosphere following the creation of large-scale ionospheric holes by the launch-vehicle exhaust products at F-region heights.…”

Section: Persistent E Ects Of Arti®cial Ionospheric Perturbationmentioning

confidence: 99%

Mid-latitude ionospheric perturbation associated with the Spacelab-2 plasma depletion experiment at Millstone Hill

Foster

Holt

Lanzerotti³

2000

Ann. Geophys.

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Abstract. Elevation scans across geomagnetic mid latitudes by the incoherent scatter radar at Millstone Hill captured the ionospheric response to the ®ring of the Space Shuttle Challenger OMS thrusters near the peak of the F layer on July 30, 1985. Details of the excitation of airglow and the formation of an ionospheric hole during this event have been reported in an earlier paper by Mendillo et al.. The depletion (factor $2) near the 320 km Shuttle orbital altitude persisted for $35 min and then recovered to near normal levels, while at 265 km the density was reduced by a factor of $6; this signi®cant reduction in the bottomside F-region density persisted for more than 3 hours. Total electron content in the vicinity of the hole was reduced by more than a factor of 2, and an oscillation of the F-region densities with 40-min period ensued and persisted for several hours. Plasma vertical Doppler velocity varied quasiperiodically with a $80-min period, while magnetic ®eld variations observed on the ®eld line through the Shuttleburn position exhibited a similar $80-min periodicity. An interval of magnetic ®eld variations at hydromagnetic frequencies ($95 s period) accompanied the ionospheric perturbations on this ®eld line. Radar observations revealed a downward phase progression of the 40-min period density enhancements of A1.12°km A1 , corresponding to a 320-km vertical wavelength. An auroral-latitude geomagnetic disturbance began near the time of the Spacelab-2 experiment and was associated with the imposition of a strong southward IMF Bz across the magnetosphere. This created an additional complication in the interpretation of the active ionospheric experiment. It cannot be determined uniquely whether the ionospheric oscillations, which followed the Spacelab-2 experiment, were related to the active experiment or were the result of a propagating ionospheric disturbance (TID) launched by the enhanced auroral activity. The most reasonable conclusion is that the ionospheric oscillations were a result of the coincident geomagnetic disturbance. The pronounced depletion of the bottomside ionosphere, however, accentuated the oscillatory behavior during the interval following the Shuttle OMS burn.

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A sudden vanishing of the ionosphericFregion due to the launch of Skylab

Cited by 152 publications

References 19 publications

Titan's ionosphere in the magnetosheath: Cassini RPWS results during the T32 flyby

Titan's ionosphere in the magnetosheath: Cassini RPWS results during the T32 flyby

Ionospheric hole behind an ascending rocket observed with a dense GPS array

Mid-latitude ionospheric perturbation associated with the Spacelab-2 plasma depletion experiment at Millstone Hill

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