Satellite Measurements of Plasma Disturbances and Electric Currents Induced in the Midlatitude Ionosphere Modified by High-Power HF Radio Waves

Abstract

Abstract: We have analyzed the experimental data obtained in 2016–2019 from the measurements of plasma disturbances and electric currents induced at ionospheric altitudes upon the modification of the F2 region of the midlatitude ionosphere by means of high-power HF radio waves emitted by the SURA heating facility. The measurements were carried out using the onboard instruments of the SWARM satellites. The conditions for the generation of electric currents and the dependence of their characteristics on the ionospheric conditions were determined. The satellite measurement results were compared with the results of experiments in laboratory plasma. The development of artificial plasma disturbances in the Earth’s outer ionosphere was found to depend on thermal diffusion processes with unipolar diffusion coefficients, which are accompanied by the excitation of short-circuit eddy currents in the background plasma.