Effect of corpuscular fluxes and electron photoloosening reaction on formation of ionospheric D laye

Bragin, Yu. A.

Kostko, O. K.

Repnev, A. I.

Shvidkovskiy, E. G.

English

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ON THE INFLUENCE OF CORPUSCULAR FLUXES AND OF ELECTRON 
PHOTOLOOSENING REACTION ON THE FORMATION OF THE 
AD-LAYER OF THE IONOSPHERE cH - 
rc 
by 
. Yu. A. B r a g i n \  
0 .  K. Kostko 
A. I .  Repnev,/ 
E .  G .  Shvidkovskiy - j  
/ 
(USSR) 
1- 
I 27  F E B W  . 1967 
https://ntrs.nasa.gov/search.jsp?R=19670016553 2020-03-12T11:31:14+00:00Z
. 
PI 10'1'OLOOSllNING I U U I O N  ON 'I1 IE FOIWTION OF T I  E 
D-LAYER OF THE IONOSPHERE" 
Kosmicheskiye Issledovaniya 
Yom 5, vyp.1, pp.99-100 
I zda te 1 ' s tvo "NAUKA" , 19 6 7 . 
by Yu. A. Bragin 
0. K. Kostko 
A. I. Repnev 
E. G. Shvidkovskiy 
Concentrations of electrons in the D-layer of the ionosphere are com- 
puted on the basis of data on direct measurements, pointing to a compara- 
tively high and constant in time content of charged particles between the 
altitudes of 60 and 80 km [l, 21. 
The daytime increase of electron concentration in the lower ionosphere 
The assump- may be explained by the photoloosening reaction of electrons. 
tion is advanced that one of the principal ionizing agents sustaining a 
high degree of ionization in the 60 - 80 km altitude range in the course of 
a day are particles arriving from radiation belts. 
* 
* * 
It is customary to consider that in middle latitudes at daytime and at 
quiet Sun the D-layer of the ionosphere owes its origin in the upper part 
to nitrogen oxide ionization process by solar radiation in the line La, 
and in its lower part - to ionization of molecular oxygen and molecular 
nitrogen by cosmic rays [3, 41 .  It is assumed at the same time that the ni- 
trogen oxide is formed near the mesopause on account of indirect effects of 
X-ray radiation [3, 41.  But, as is assumed, in the nighttime the basic ion- 
izing agent are the cosmic rays. 
However, when discussing the results of measurements of electron concen- 
tration in the lower ionosphere, it is noted that the high concentration of 
electrons may not always be explained by emission in the line La[5 ,  61,  and 
in these cases the presence is assumed of an additional source of ionization 
in the form of corpuscular fluxes. Certain indirect effects, such as, for 
example the night sky glow do indeed point to the existence of such fluxes 
(see [ 6 ,  71) .  ) 
RENTS11 FOTOOTLIPANIUA ELEK- 
c . 
. 
. 2 .  
Anothc r v i cwpo i rit cons is ts i n  that one o r  the Cundmcntr-tl agents, ion- 
i z ing the ~~tiiiosp~~~rc i II the (10-80 hn ;I I t  i tilde r m g c  i l l  iriicldle lat itudcs could 
I)c e i ther  tlic X-ri iy  or corpuscular f luxcs  (see respcctivcly [8] and [‘3 - ll]), 
though during the quiet Sun the energy cf X-ray fluxcs and of electron fluxes 
is insufficient for the formation in L)-layer of the ionosphere o i  the observed 
concentrations of charged particles [6] .  
The insufficient number of experimental data is the cause of the impos- 
Yet sibility to finally accept either theory of lower ionosphere formation. 
the measurements of concentrations of positive ions in the lower ionosphere 
[ 1 2 ,  131 point to high content in it of charged particles, in daytime, as well 
as in nighttime, the existence of which being not explainable by the ionizing 
action of cosmic rays and emission in the line La. 
the nature of the D-layer and of its daily variations. 
have shown that the concentration of positive ions (and consequently the to- 
tal concentration of charged particles) above 60 km is > l o 3  cm-3 and rises 
with height. the ion concentration in nighttime at 60 to 
80 km altitude is not less than in daytime. This is in contradiction with 
references [4, 141, where a decrease of charged particles is forecast at pas- 
sage from day to nighttime. 
A somewhat different approach is proposed below in order to explain 
Measurements [l, 21 
At the same time, 
For the calculation of the daytime and nighttime profiles of electron 
concentration we shall postulate the following: 
1) 
2 )  
The concentration of positive ions is identical at day and night. 
The atmosphere is electrically neutral 
+ N = N- + Ne, 
where N f ,  N- and Ne are respectively the concentrations of positive and nega- 
tive ions and electrons. 
We shall take into account the effects of electron adhesion to atoms and 
of their photoloosening from negative ions by making use of the well known 
relation 
a 
A x -  
d + f  
where a of electron photoloose- 
ning fTom negative ions, f 
ions during collisions, G d  A is the ratio of concentrations of negative ions 
to electrons 
is the rate of electron adhesion, d is that 
is the rate of Zlectrcn loosening from negative 
N- 
A =-- 
Ne 
Comhining the first and the third equations, we obtain 
N+ N = - ,  
1 + A  
( 3 )  
(4) 
. 
4 
We shall take for N+ the experimental values obtained in [l, 21 ; then 
the problem o €  electron concentration in the D-layer will be reduced to the 
calculation of A-profiles for the day and night time. 
The A-profiles, constructed by applying the most probable rates of the 
enumerated reactions borrowed from the works [14 - 1 7 1  (solid lines), are re- 
presented in Fig.1 
indicated by dashed lines the A-profiles 
typical for middle latitudes [18]. In Fig.2 
we brought out the results of computation of 
electron concentration in daytime (median 
heavy curvej and nighttime (lower heavy cur- 
ve), obtained from the averaged experimental 
concentrations of positive ions (upper 
hemy curve). 
lines denote respectively the night and day- 
time profiles of electron concentration obtain- 
ed e?cperimentally by various authors at middle 
latitudes during a quiet Sun [13] (the deno- 
tations in Fig.2 are the same as in .[13]). As may be seen from Fig.2, the 
last profiles and our calculations for the profiles of Ne are in agreement 
within the limits of scattering of separate curves. 
putation agrees qualitatively with the fact that the observed diurnal concen- 
For comparison we have 
which it is customary to assume as the most /f, KM 
80 
70 
The thin clashed and solid 
Fig. 1 
In particular, the com- 
5 
i 4  Ne 
4 
3 
,7 
I 
/ 
33 
Fig. 2 
trations of electrons are found to be 
higher, as an average, than the night- 
time ones. This may mean that in the 
formation of daytime and nighttime iono- 
sphere the essential role is played by 
the indicated aeronomic reactions; con- 
sequently, the rise of diurnal elec- 
tron concentration may possibly be ex- 
plained by the effect of electrons' 
photoloosening from negative ions. 
The comparatively high content of 
charged particles in the 60 - 80 Ian al- 
titude range in day and nighttime must 
naturally be sustained by a sufficient- 
ly strong agent, acting in the course of 
the day,"i'or the relaxation times of 
ion formation processes at these alti- 
tudes are in all cases less than one 
hour 141.  Naturally, the formation of 
the ionosphere in nighttime cannot be explained by the actions of ultraviolet 
or X-ray radiations, hhereas cosmic particles begin to intensely ionize the 
atmosphere below 50 h. 
gy d O 7  ev may penetrate to the altitude range 60 - 70 la. 
such energies are present in the Earth's radiation belts. 
basis to assume that one of the possible ionizing agents may be the particles 
arriving from the Earth's radiation belts. 
Electrons with energy d o 5  ev, and protons with ener- 
Particles with 
This provides the 
. 4 .  
1,ct 11s estimate the magnitude of these particles' fluxes. I f  we 
;issiunc that the effective recombination coefficient "el- in the 60 - 80 h 
alt i tudc range lies within the ran 
rate of ion formation at N+ = 5 - 10 cm-3 : 5 [15, 17, 191, the ge 
is situated within the limits 0.1 - 10 cm-3. sec 
At incidence of electrons with energies of 5 .lo5 ev, their greater 
part (80%) [20, 211 is absorbed in the air colwn at altitudes from 80 to 
50 km. Analogously, for the absorption of protons with energy lo7 ev, 5 to 
10 h n  of atmosphere will be required at altitudes of 60 and 70 Ian. For the 
sake of simplicity we shall assume that in these atmosphere layers, protons 
as we11 electrons are absorbed fully and uniformly. 
energy is required for the formation of a pair of charged particles during air 
ionization by fast electrons [21]. 
As an average a 35 ev 
Taking the above into account the intensity of corpuscles' ionizing 
fluxes may be estimated by the following approximate formula 
3 5gh 
Q = -  E cm-2 asec-l, 
where E[ev] is the energy of the ionizing particle, h[cm] is the height of 
the atmosphere column where the greatest corpuscle energy absorption takes 
place. (The quantity E/35h is the mean number of pairs of charged particles 
formed by a single electron or proton with energy E per 1 cm of path). The 
estimates of corpuscle fluxes lead to values of 10 : lo3 cm-2.sec-1 for 
electrons and of 1 + 102 cm-2.sec-1 for protons. 
In the estimates brought out above the basic uncertainty is linked with 
the lack of howledge of the values of the effective recombination coefficient. 
The errors determined by the adopted simplifications and by factual measure- 
ment errors of N+ , may probably modify the results obtained by one order. 
In conclusion it should be noted that the data of work [22] also point 
to the presence of corpuscular fluxes in nighttime; conclusion is derived 
in this work of sustenance during the night of high electron temperature 
by corpsucle fluxes from the protonosphere; this conclusion is arrived at on 
the basis of measurements of electron temperature in nighttime at middle lati- 
tudes, and above 100 km. 
sphere [23] of fluxes of hard corpuscles of same energies, which have also 
been utilized for the present estimates, corroborate the above data. 
V. F. Tulinov, for his valuable remarks. 
The latest direct measurements in the lower iono- 
The authors are grateful to the senior scientific coworker of TsAO 
Manuscript received 
on 26 April 1966 
5. 
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On the Influence of Corpuscular Fluxes and of Electron Photoloosening Reaction on the Formation of the D-Layer of the Ionosphere

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