SRC-109

Simulation of D and E Region High-Power Microwave Heating with HF Ionospheric Modification Experiments

Commissioned by US DOE. Who paid for a study is recorded because it bears on how its conclusions should be read, not because it makes them wrong.

Published claims resting on this source

• CLM-1461 A 1981 computer model predicted that a space solar power beam would make electrons in the lower ionosphere two to three times hotter and change their number by up to half, and the study found that radio measurements during ground-based heater tests in Colorado broadly matched its model, though by day the heater could not reproduce the beam's full effect at the greater heights. A 1980 US government report said measurements during the Colorado tests showed the electrons' temperature changing while the heater was on, and that calculations by the same lead author matched another researcher's figure for how far such a heater can raise it; the memo behind that figure is not held, so whether it was measured cannot be checked.

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