Microwave Transmission Characteristics of Solar Power Satellites
A summary of the analyses and performance characteristics of a high-power microwave system for transferring energy from solar power satellites in geosynchronous orbit to the earth is given. Design tradeoffs, problem areas, and simulation results for various configurations are presented.
Ionospheric heating by radio waves: Predictions for Arecibo and the satellite power station
The effect of resistive heating by radio waves on ionospheric temperatures, electron densities, and airglow emissions is examined by using numerical ionospheric structure and heat balance codes. Two cases are studied: (1) a 3-GHz, 10-GW microwave beam from a proposed satellite power station and (2) 1-MW and 3-MW beams of 15-MHz radio waves launched by the Arecibo antenna. By intent, these two cases have similar intensities and geometries of resistive heating. The most dramatic heating effects are predicted to occur in the E region, where a thermal runaway will take place. The E region electron temperature will increase from 200°K to roughly 1000°K, and the E region electron density will increase by a factor of about 3. In the F region, where thermal conductivity plays an important role, temperature increases of 200°–500°K will appear along magnetic field lines passing through the radio wave beams. Enhanced emissions in airglow and molecular infrared lines will also occur. Radio wave heating, when combined with the diagnostic capabilities of the Arecibo incoherent scatter radar, will generate new opportunities to measure the rates of atomic physics processes and neutral atmosphere temperatures and composition at D and E region altitudes.
Resonant Auger decay study of C1s -> pi* core-excited OCS
The present work aims at characterizing short-lived C1s((-1)) pi*((1)) core-excited states of the OCS molecule based on the analysis of the vibrational fine structure and lineshape profiles of the high-resolution resonant Auger decay spectra recorded at the excitation energies along the C1s -> pi* resonance in the binding energy region 15-19eV. Very different behavior in terms of lineshape and resonant enhancement is observed for the (A) over tilde, (B) over tilde and (C) over tilde final states. This is explained by (1) the variation in the C-O bond lengths for the states involved in the electronic relaxation and (2) different contributions in terms of Mulliken population to the molecular orbitals determining the electronic character of the corresponding states. Since the final-state geometries are known from a number of previous experiments and ab initio calculations, the geometry of the C1s((-1)) pi*((1)) intermediate states can be predicted in analogy with e.g. the N-2, CO2 and N2O molecules. (C) 2009 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved. (Less)