The interaction of a high power, high frequency (HF) pump/electromagnetic (EM) wave transmitted from a ground-based station with the ionosphere, experiments which have been termed "ionospheric heating", produces secondary radiation known as stimulated electromagnetic emissions (SEEs). SEEs have been developed into powerful diagnostics yielding information such as electron temperature, ion species and hydrodynamic evolution of the modified ionospheric plasma. Classic SEEs which exist outside ±1 kHz of the pump wave frequency (ω0) have recently been classified into wideband SEEs (PW-WSEEs) and distinguished from narrowband SEEs (PW-NSEEs) which exist within ±1 kHz of ω0, where the "PW" prefix has been used to indicate that the frequency regimes in the aforementioned classification are relative to the pump wave (PW) frequency. The occurrence of SEEs near 2ω0 is known as second harmonic generation (SHG). SHG is longstanding and well-established in the field of Laser Plasma Interactions (LPI) where SHG has been harnessed to yield diagnostics such as the velocity of the critical region of the plasma, inference of the region in the plasma where the interaction that results in SHG occurs, plasma turbulence and density scale lengths. Past studies of ionospheric heating SHG were limited by the effective radiated power (ERP) available at ionospheric heating facilities and the frequency resolution of receivers/spectrum analyzers of the time. Experimental observations from these past studies reported either SEEs produced as a result of SHG in isolation or compared these SEEs with PW- WSEEs. Moreover, these experiments did not evaluate effects such as transmit ERP, tilt of the transmit antenna beam from the geomagnetic field (B0) and the offset of ω0 from harmonics of the electron gyrofrequency (ωce) on SEEs within a narrowband of twice the pump wave frequency produced as a result of SHG. Also, these studies did not attempt to draw from the knowledge-base on SHG from LPI.
The novelty of the experimental observations in this dissertation is the juxtaposition of PW-NSEEs and second harmonic narrowband SEEs (SH-NSEEs), which are SEEs within kHz of 2ω0, measured at the same time. The heating experiments were all performed at HAARP using an O-mode polarized EM pump wave. Additionally, these measurements evaluate the effects on SHG of
the transmit ERP, tilt of the transmit station antenna beam from the geomagnetic field (B0) and the offset of ω0 from nωce, n = 2, 3. The experimental observations show, for the first time, a clear association between PW-NSEEs and SH-NSEEs. This association is subsequently used, in conjunction with theories from LPI to propose the non-linear wave-mixing mechanisms responsible for the SH-NSEEs. As a prelude to harnessing the wealth of diagnostics that can be obtained from SHG, initial diagnostics of the velocity of the critical region and the interaction region where SHG occurs are determined using theories from LPI.
With the association between PW-NSEEs and SH-NSEEs established, Particle- In-Cell (PIC) simulations are used to investigate the characteristics of a PW- NSEE herein referred to as the "SBS line", produced as a result of stimulated Brillouin scatter (SBS) instability in which the pump EM wave decays into a backscattered EM wave and an ion acoustic wave. The PIC simulations reveal that for high pump powers, the SBS line, which is intense at the onset of the heating experiment, is suppressed within 3 seconds due to the development of cavities in the ionospheric plasma (density) in which the pump wave depletes its energy in heating up electrons. Although, no PIC simulation results of SHG have been presented in this work, the association between PW-NSEEs and SH-NSEEs shown in this work is used to propose that similar mechanisms are responsible for the suppression the SBS line and its associated SH-NSEE for high pump powers. Results from ionospheric heating experiments presented in this dissertation show a rapid suppression of both the SBS line and its associated SH-NSEE for high pump powers. The attribution of the suppression of SH-NSEEs to the development of artificial field-aligned irregularities (AFAIs) in a past study fails to explain the rapid suppression in the experimental observations contained herein since the suppression occurs on a much faster timescale than the development of AFAIs. Thus, the PIC model results have led to a more feasible interpretation of the observed rapid suppression. To re-iterate, the contributions of this dissertation are as follows:
1. First observations of an SH-NSEE named "SH decay line" within 2ω0±30 Hz. The SH decay line occurs at the same transmit power as the SBS line within ω0±30 Hz and both of these SEEs are suppressed for ω0 ≈ 3ωce. Offset of the SH decay line from 2ω0 is twice the offset of the SBS line from ω0.
2. First experimental evaluation of the impact of B0 assessed by stepping the transmit beam offset from B0 and stepping ω0 near 2ωce shows contemporaneous SH-NSEEs and PW-NSEEs both ordered by the O+ ion cyclotron frequency.
3. First experimental observations of suppression of SBS line and SH decay line for high pump powers, which unlike a past study cannot be attributed to AFAIs.
4. First PIC simulation investigation of suppression of SBS line observed during high pump power ionospheric heating, revealing depletion of pump energy in heating electrons in cavities created in the plasma (density) as the mechanism responsible for the suppression. Broadening of SBS line observed in ionospheric heating with high power is also observed in PIC simulation results.
This work has laid the foundations to develop SHG into powerful ionospheric diagnostics. / Doctor of Philosophy / When a high power, high frequency radio wave is injected from a ground-based transmit station into the ionosphere, a region of Earth's atmosphere containing charged particles in addition some neutral atoms and molecules, the frequency spectrum measured at a location removed from the transmit station shows emissions at other frequencies in addition to an emission at the transmit frequency. The emissions at these other frequencies are known as stimulated electromagnetic emissions (SEEs). The frequency offsets of SEEs contain information such as the average kinetic energy associated with random motion of electrons, a parameter known as electron temperature and the ion species present in the region of the ionosphere the radio wave is injected into. The occurrence of SEEs near twice the pump wave frequency is known as second harmonic generation.
This dissertation presents experimental observations that compare SEEs which exist within ±1 kHz of the transmit frequency with SEEs which exist within a similar frequency range of twice the transmit frequency unlike past studies. This dissertation also investigates effects of varying the transmit frequency, power and the direction of the transmit station antenna beam relative to the local direction of the magnetic field of the Earth. These new studies reveal, for the first time, a similarity in characteristics of the SEEs near the transmit frequency and two times the transmit frequency. This similarity is used in conjunction with theories from studies of Laser Plasma Interaction (LPI), which have corollaries with high power radio wave-ionosphere interaction, to propose the processes that underlie the occurrence of SEEs near twice the transmit frequency. Methods from LPI have also been used for the first time to obtain measurements of some parameters of the ionosphere.
High power radio wave-ionosphere interaction experiments are very expensive and moreover, direct measurement of ionospheric parameters/processes require radar facilities which may not be available or sounding rockets or satellites which increase the cost of experiments. Computer simulations offer a facile and an inexpensive means to investigate SEEs and processes internal to the ionosphere. Computer simulations have been used for the first time in this dissertation to investigate the mechanisms responsible for the characteristics of SEEs near the transmit frequency for low and high transmit powers. Since an association has been established in this dissertation between SEEs near the transmit frequency and SEEs near twice the transmit frequency, the mechanisms responsible for the characteristics for the SEEs near the transmit frequency for high transmit power, have been proposed to be the same mechanisms responsible for the characteristics of SEEs near twice the transmit frequency for a similar transmit power regime. The experimental results, computer simulation results and the corollaries drawn between high power radio wave-ionosphere interaction and LPI detailed in this dissertation have opened new doors to develop SEEs near twice the transmit frequency into a powerful tool to study the ionosphere.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:VTETD/oai:vtechworks.lib.vt.edu:10919/109699 |
| Date | 26 October 2020 |
| Creators | Yellu, Augustine Dormorvi |
| Contributors | Electrical Engineering, Scales, Wayne A., Ruohoniemi, John Michael, Bailey, Scott M., Abbott, A. Lynn, Srinivasan, Bhuvana |
| Publisher | Virginia Tech |
| Source Sets | Virginia Tech Theses and Dissertation |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Dissertation |
| Format | ETD, application/pdf, application/pdf |
| Rights | In Copyright, http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/ |
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