Collisional detachment and the formation of an ionospheric C region

Abstract

A simple expressio n is d erived for the collisional detachment coeffi cient in tC' rms of prC'ssurl' , t empera t ure, a nd th e eleetron a ffinity, E a, of t he O, ion. By us ing t his ex pression , it is ra lculateci t ha t at night the pro file of elect ron dens ity against height ha s a max imum nca r thC' stratopa use at 50 kill . The magni t ude of t he electron de nsi ty at t he max imulll depend s cri t ica lly upo n H". If t he probabili ty of detachm ent app roache uni ty fo r Illolce ula l' e nergies exceed ing iSa , it may be dedu ced that E n mu st be at least greater t han 0.45 e\' . SO Ill C co mments a re made o n the confl ict, in co ns id eri ng st ratospheri c ioni zat io n, between t hc co ncC'pts of ionospheri c ph ys ics a nd t hose of atmosp heri c electricity.