HF waves heating ionosphere F-layer

To predict and evaluate the effects of ionospheric modification quantitatively, the electron temperature and density perturbations are analyzed at different heating conditions, based on a developed model including momentum equation, continuity equation and energy equation. The results show that (1) powerful HF radio waves can cause the electron temperature to increase markedly, and the largest perturbation is near the reflection layer, but the electron density decreases at this area; (2) the lower neutral gas density in the ionosphere, the larger disturbance of the electron temperature and density; the higher radio frequency, the lower increment of electron temperature; and the higher radio power, the larger disturbance of electron temperature and density are caused, but there are no linear relationships between the radio power and disturbance amplitude; (3) the perturbations at nighttime are larger than at daytime when heated by HF radio waves with the same powers; the electron temperature perturbations in the solar minimum are larger than that in solar maximum; and the electron temperature perturbations in spring and autumn are larger than in winter and summer; (4) compared with the low-latitude, the mid-latitude has the smaller perturbations, the maximum electron temperature perturbation is ~30% (at daytime of winter), and the density is ~5%.