Anthropogenic Space Weather

Anthropogenic effects on the space environment started in the late 19th century and reached their peak in the 1960s when high-altitude nuclear explosions were carried out by the USA and the Soviet Union. These explosions created artificial radiation belts near Earth that resulted in major damages to several satellites. Another, unexpected impact of the high-altitude nuclear tests was the electromagnetic pulse (EMP) that can have devastating effects over a large geographic area (as large as the continental United States). Other anthropogenic impacts on the space environment include chemical release ex- periments, high-frequency wave heating of the ionosphere and the interaction of VLF waves with the radiation belts. This paper reviews the fundamental physical process behind these phenomena and discusses the observations of their impacts.Comment: 71 pages, 35 figure

Subsurface radar applications in the Delaware Basin. Final report, June 1, 1980-January 31, 1981. [To probe into potash bed]

Purpose was to find a method of probing into potash to determine if dangers lie ahead. Of specific interest to Sandia, was the problem of outlining a breccia pipe which Mississippi Chemical Company (MCC) found protruded into the potash bed in Carlsbad, New Mexico, they were mining. MCC mined around it and continued their work. If, however, the discontinuity in the ore (breccia pipe) had any fractures linking with a high pressure water zone above the mining level, the act of mining into the pipe could have lost the mine to incoming water. Imperial Chemical Industries, Ltd. had this happen to them in their only salt mine in England. Chapter II discusses our attempts (unsuccessful) to probe through the potash ore and see the breccia pipe. Chapter III contains data on laboratory measurements of the complex electric permittivity (dielectric constant and loss tangent) of potash samples from MCC