A Model of the Effect of the Satellite Photosheath on a Double Floating Probe System.

摘要

The report describes a model developed to predict the interactions between multiple electrostatic probes that are separated by distances that are shorter than or comparable to the characteristic plasma shielding length,for example,double floating probe systems on spacecraft at high altitudes where Debye lengths exceed the probe-spacecraft separation. The computation involves crude approximations accounting for space charge effects,currents due to the emission and exchange of photoelectrons,and currents from the ambient plasma. (Modified author abstract)