Value chain · CLM-0081
In plain terms
The ten-and-a-half order range assumed density and temperature vary independently. They probably do not, which means the real range is narrower.
The claim as recorded
The stated self-focusing threshold spread of 10.6 orders of magnitude rests on an unflagged assumption that electron density and electron temperature vary independently, and because the relation goes as density to the minus three and temperature to the plus four, a positive correlation between them would partly cancel and compress the true range, so the figure is an overestimate of unknown size.
Scope and limits
Confidence MED. The direction of the error was predicted here and is now measured: CALC-012's time-matched Sondrestrom pairs give r = +0.520 between log Ne and log Te, and the minimum-density, maximum-temperature pair that produced the extreme of CALC-009's range occurs at zero measured points (CALC-014 repeats the calculation at mid-latitude). The magnitude of the overestimate is those calculations' to state, not this record's. This claim may NOT be used to state a corrected range. It states only that the published range is an upper bound on the spread rather than an estimate of it.
What it assumes
that electron density and electron temperature are positively correlated in the F-region, which is expected physically but is not yet established from data here
Where it comes from
This is the project's own working, shown in full:
The relation is Pth proportional to Ne^-3 times Te^4. CALC-009 paired the maximum of one input with the minimum of the other to bound the range, which requires independence. A hot daytime ionosphere is generally also dense, implying positive correlation, in which case the opposing exponents partly cancel.
Related records
- Answers question
- QST-009 not published in this release
- Contradicts
- CLM-0070 not published in this release
Cite this
energyaperture.com/c/clm-0081
CLM-0081, Energy Aperture, as of 2026-09.