Abstract
The total Thomson scatter cross‐section is considered in the presence of electron heating and as a function of the ratio of negative ion to electron number densities. For electron densities typical of the lower D region it is shown that the opposing factors of heating and negative ions lead to a local minimum of the cross‐section in the experimentally accessible range of 1.5 ≤ Te/Ti ≤ 5. Electron heating is thus considered as a method for detecting negative ions and one early experiment may already have done so.
Original language | English (US) |
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Pages (from-to) | 925-927 |
Number of pages | 3 |
Journal | Geophysical Research Letters |
Volume | 5 |
Issue number | 11 |
DOIs | |
State | Published - Nov 1978 |
All Science Journal Classification (ASJC) codes
- Geophysics
- General Earth and Planetary Sciences