Excitation of artificial airglow by high power radio waves from the “SURA” Ionospheric Heating Facility

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Abstract
The SURA facility for generation of high power radio waves, located near the village of Vasil'sursk USSR, operates between 4.5 and 9.0 MHz and has a maximum effective radiated power (ERP) of 300 MW. Nonlinear interactions between the HF radio waves and F‐layer plasma occur near the electromagnetic wave reflection point. Energetic electrons are accelerated out of the interaction regions by the electrostatic waves. Ambient oxygen atoms collisionally excited by these suprathermal electrons yield enhanced airglow. Low‐light‐level, optical measurements were made at SURA during September 1990. Images of enhanced red‐line (630 nm) emissions were recorded during radio wave transmissions at 4.786, 5.455, and 5.828 MHz. The antenna radiation pattern, ionospheric irregularities, and the magnetic field orientation affected the shape of the observed airglow structures. The airglow clouds drifted across the night sky, disappeared, and reformed at the zenith of the antenna array. This has been interpreted in terms of radio beam refraction in drifting plasma irregularities and bifurcation when the beam is split between two density cavities. Subject to clear skies, our experience indicates that the low‐light‐level‐imaging technique is a reliable method to study large scale irregularities and electron acceleration with high‐power HF transmitting facilities.