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.
EUV Fluxes in the solar spectrum below 2000 Å
Abstract The list of EUV fluxes presented at the 1969 IAGA review in Madrid ( Hinteregger , 1970) has served as a useful reference in many aeronomical studies, leading to a wide range of opinions regarding both the absolute values in that reference list and the question of estimating EUV fluxes from the only routinely obtained data, i.e. the solar 10.7 cm flux. Advances made since 1969 will be reviewed including previously unpublished observations of the variability of solar EUV for the period from January 1974 to May 1975 which were obtained from the EUV spectrophotometer experiment on the AE-C satellite. The review is concluded by a discussion of current and future needs of solar EUV flux measurements for aeronomical applications.