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dc.contributor.advisorMin-Chang Lee and Richard Temkin.en_US
dc.contributor.authorDorfman, Seth Een_US
dc.contributor.otherMassachusetts Institute of Technology. Dept. of Physics.en_US
dc.date.accessioned2006-05-15T20:37:45Z
dc.date.available2006-05-15T20:37:45Z
dc.date.copyright2005en_US
dc.date.issued2005en_US
dc.identifier.urihttp://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/32897
dc.descriptionThesis (S.B.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Physics, 2005.en_US
dc.descriptionIncludes bibliographical references (leaf 41).en_US
dc.description.abstractOn December 25, 2004, a large-scale ionospheric plasma bubble was observed over Arecibo Observatory in Puerto Rico, inducing significant range spreading on ionograms. This phenomena may be explained by means of the E x B instability and gravitational Rayleigh-Taylor instability. A derivation of the dispersion relations for X and O mode waves transmitted from an ionosonde and an analysis of the collisional Rayleigh-Taylor instability leading to an expression for the growth rate are presented as background information. Ray tracing code developed by Nathan Dalrymple, a previous graduate student of Professor Min-Chang Lee, is extended, first to draw refractive index surfaces to illustrate a key principle in ray tracing and later to simulate range spreading due to depleted ionospheric ducts [1]. Data from Arecibo incoherent scatter radar and Arecibo's CADI digisonde is examined showing strong evidence for the development of a plasma bubble following a rise in the plasma layer and the appearance of a horizontal density gradient. In one portion of the ionosphere, this gradient is found to be at an angle of approximately 70 degrees to the Earth's magnetic field, a favorable condition for the excitation of the Rayleigh-Taylor instability over Arecibo.en_US
dc.description.statementofresponsibilityby Seth E. Dorfman.en_US
dc.format.extent59 leavesen_US
dc.format.extent2292344 bytes
dc.format.extent2293745 bytes
dc.format.mimetypeapplication/pdf
dc.format.mimetypeapplication/pdf
dc.language.isoengen_US
dc.publisherMassachusetts Institute of Technologyen_US
dc.rightsM.I.T. theses are protected by copyright. They may be viewed from this source for any purpose, but reproduction or distribution in any format is prohibited without written permission. See provided URL for inquiries about permission.en_US
dc.rights.urihttp://dspace.mit.edu/handle/1721.1/7582
dc.subjectPhysics.en_US
dc.titleIntense spreading of radar echoes from ionospheric plasmasen_US
dc.typeThesisen_US
dc.description.degreeS.B.en_US
dc.contributor.departmentMassachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Physics
dc.identifier.oclc62621611en_US


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