Probe Diagnostics and Identification of Sources of Ionospheric Magnetized Plasma Perturbations

摘要

A procedure for diagnosing magnetized rarefied plasma using an electron saturation current to a cylindrical electric probe has been developed. Approximate formulas and dependences of the electron saturation current on the angle between the probe axis and the induction vector of the external magnetic field, as well as on the scale factors that characterize the collection of the probe current, are obtained. The resulting formulas make it possible to determine the electron density and temperature in the flow of rarefied magnetized plasma using two output signals: the electron saturation current and the probe potential. It is shown that additional parameters, such as the energy balance of electrons in plasma and the strength of the electric field parallel to the induction vector of the Earth's magnetic field, can be used together with perturbations of the densities and temperatures of electrons and neutral particles in identifying sources of ionospheric plasma disturbances.