Excitation of Artificial Ionospheric Turbulence in the High-Latitude Ionospheric F Region as a Function of the Eiscat/Heating Effective Radiated Power

Abstract

We present the results of experimental studies of the parameters of HF-enhanced ion–acoustic and Langmuir plasma waves, as well as small-scale artificial field-aligned irregularities (AFAIs) when the EISCAT/Heating effective radiated power is varied from 10 to 560 MW. In the course of the experiments, a high-power HF radio wave with the alternating ordinary (O-mode) and extraordinary (X-mode) polarizations was radiated towards the magnetic zenith at a frequency of 7.953 MHz lying below the cutoff frequency of the F₂ layer. A fundamental difference in the development of artificial ion–acoustic and Langmuir turbulence, which is seen as HF-enhanced ion and plasma lines in the EISCAT spectra, under the O- and X-mode HF pumping was found. The minimum values of the HF pump-wave electric fields in the ionosphere when the HF-enhanced ion and plasma lines, as well as small-scale artificial field-aligned irregularities, start to be excited, were determined from experimental data both for the O- and X-mode HF pumping. Comparison between the experimental and theoretical threshold values of the electric field required for the excitation of artificial ionospheric turbulence in thermal, Langmuir, and ion–acoustic modes in the high-latitude ionospheric F₂ layer for the O-mode HF pump wave was made.