NASA Logo

NTRS

NTRS - NASA Technical Reports Server

Back to Results
Acceleration of barium ions near 8000 km above an auroraA barium shaped charge, named Limerick, was released from a rocket launched from Poker Flat Research Range, Alaska, on March 30, 1982, at 1033 UT. The release took place in a small auroral breakup. The jet of ionized barium reached an altitude of 8100 km 14.5 min after release, indicating that there were no parallel electric fields below this altitude. At 8100 km the jet appeared to stop. Analysis shows that the barium at this altitude was effectively removed from the tip. It is concluded that the barium was actually accelerated upward, resulting in a large decrease in the line-of-sight density and hence the optical intensity. The parallel electric potential in the acceleration region must have been greater than 1 kV over an altitude interval of less than 200 km. The acceleration region, although presumably auroral in origin, did not seem to be related to individual auroral structures, but appeared to be a large-scale horizontal structure. The perpendicular electric field below, as deduced from the drift of the barium, was temporally and spatially very uniform and showed no variation related to individual auroral structures passing through.
Document ID
19850034466
Acquisition Source
Legacy CDMS
Document Type
Reprint (Version printed in journal)
Authors
Stenbaek-Nielsen, H. C.
(Alaska Univ. Fairbanks, AK, United States)
Hallinan, T. J.
(Alaska Univ. Fairbanks, AK, United States)
Wescott, E. M.
(Alaska, University Fairbanks, AK, United States)
Foeppl, H.
(Max-Planck-Institut fuer Extraterrestrische Physik Garching, Germany)
Date Acquired
August 12, 2013
Publication Date
December 1, 1984
Publication Information
Publication: Journal of Geophysical Research
Volume: 89
ISSN: 0148-0227
Subject Category
Geophysics
Accession Number
85A16617
Funding Number(s)
CONTRACT_GRANT: NAG6-1
Distribution Limits
Public
Copyright
Other

Available Downloads

There are no available downloads for this record.
No Preview Available