Alteration of the Electron Density of the Lower Ionosphere With Ground-Based Transmitters

Usin g comput.at ional tec hni quC's as dC'scribcd by Carleton a nd iVIC'gili , a nd Mcgill to calcula t e til(' difference bet.wee n rate of attac hm ent of elect ro ns to O2 a nd t he ionization rate in a il' as a fun ct ion of clpct ri c field , t he po\\'cr requ ircd to c['cate b rea kdown in t he ionosphcre has bee n calcula ted. Thcse calcula t io ns a rc compared wi th ext ra polated mic rowavc b reakdown data a nd found to agrce satisfacto rily. The propap,at iofl of the prima ry bcam is a ltl'rC'd by the ('\ect rons created by it . T his gives o ri gin to a no nlin ear problcm, \I' hi ch is ve ry difficu lt to deal \\'i t h in t he ge nera l case. H oweve r, a stead .v state a pproximate so lu t ion has been fo und , co nsiderin g diffus ion in one d imension . The solu tio n is app li ed to the des ign of a possibl e at mosp heri c ex periment .