Radar Studies of the Ionosphere at Nonequatorial Latitudes

在海拔100公里以上的大气中，由吸收太阳紫外线和x射线辐射的带电分子和原子组成，其比例随海拔高度的增加而增加。这种带电的和中性的原子和分子的混合物被称为等离子体，研究在电场、磁场和电流的影响下在等离子体中形成的不规则性，因为它有许多应用，所以很重要。我们不仅可以期望了解和更好地预测等离子体不稳定性对通过该区域的无线电通信和地面卫星传输的影响，而且还可以应用于实验室研究和磁约束聚变反应堆等领域。当前的目标是了解电离层E区的大尺度波，由极光电场驱动的波引起的加热，以及夏季极寒条件下极地中间层（50-85公里高度）水团离子的动力学。

The atmosphere above about 100km altitude, in increasing proportions with altitude, consists of electrically charged molecules and atoms that result from the absorption of solar ultraviolet and X-ray radiation. This mixture of charged and neutral atoms and molecules is called a plasma, and the study of irregularities that form in it under the influence of electric and magnetic fields and currents, is important because of its many applications. Not only can we expect to understand and better predict the effects of plasma instabilities on radio communications and ground-satellite transmissions through this region, but it may have application to laboratory studies and in areas such as magnetically confined fusion reactors. The immediate objectives concern understanding large scale waves in the E region of the ionosphere, the heating caused by waves driven by auroral electric fields, and the dynamics of water cluster ions in the polar mesosphere (50-85km altitude) in the very cold conditions which exist there in summer.