Abstract
The electron fluid equations are combined with Maxwell’s equations to investigate the physical phenomena that occurs when short, intense electromagnetic pulses (including the CO2 laser pulse) interact with the atmosphere. The phenomena of “tailed erosion” occurs when the pulse intensity exceeds the air-breakdown threshold. In some cases, the erosion of the pulse occurs first in the middle of the pulse and then occurs in the tail of the pulse. In addition, we discovered that the amount of the energy that a pulse carries through the atmosphere is independent of whether it is propagating vertically upward from the Earth’s surface or vertically downward toward the Earth’s surface, provided the distance the pulse travels is the same for both directions of the propagation.
Work performed under the auspices of the U.S. Department of Energy by the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory under contract number W-7405-ENG-48.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Preview
Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
N. Kroll and K. M. Watson, Phys. Rev. A, Vol. 5, No. 4, p. 1883 (1972).
A. D. MacDonald, Microwave Breakdown in Gases, (Wiley, New York, 1966), pp. 160–186.
P. Felsenthal and J. M. Proud, Phys. Rev. 139, A1796 (1965).
W. W. Scharfman, W. C. Taylor, and T. Morita, Research Study of Micro wave Breakdown of Air at High Altitudes, AFCRL-62–732, SRI Project No. 3345, Contract AF 19 (601)-7367, SRI International, Menlo Park, California (August 1962).
G. Bekefi, Principles of Laser Plasmas, (Wiley, New York, 1976), p. 457.
A. W. Ali and T. Coffey, On the Microwave Interaction with Matter and Microwave Breakdown of Air, Naval Research Laboratory, Washington, D.C., NRL Report 4320 (1980).
F. W. Perkin and R. G. Roble, J. Geophys. Res. 83, 1611 (1978).
S. G. Brown, Basic Data of Plasma Physics, (Cambridge, Massachusetts, MIT Press, 1966).
J. W. Gallagher, E. C. Beaty, J. Dutton, and L. C. Pitchford, J. Phys. Chem. Ref. Data. 12, 109 (1983).
J. H. Yee, “Propagation of Short, Intense Microwave Pulses in the Atmosphere and the Microwave Breakdown Threshold,” Conference Record — Abstracts 1984 IEEE International Conference on Plasma Science (IEEE Nuclear and Plasma Science Society, St. Louis, Missouri, 1984), p. 108.
J. H. Yee, R. A. Alvarez, D. J. Mayhall, and J. D. DeGroot, Theory of Short, Intense Electromagnetic Pulse Propagation Through Atmosphere, Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, Livermore, California, UCRL-91622, Rev. 2 (1985), to be published in The Physics of Fluids.
B. Goldstein and C. Longmire, Mission Research Corporation, Santa Barbara, California, private communication (1984).
C. Yee and R. Johnston, Science Application, Inc., Los Altos, California, private communication (1984).
J. H. Yee, R. A. Alvarez, D. J. Mayhall, N. K. Madsen, and H. S. Cabayan, Dynamic Characteristic of Intense Short Microwave Propagation in an Atmosphere, Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, Livermore, California, UCRL-88711, Rev. 1, (1983).
R. J. Briggs and S. Yu, Modeling Beam Front Dynamics on Low Gas Pres sures, Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, Livermore, California, UCID-19399 (1982).
A. G. Englehartdt, A. V. Phelps, and C. G. Risk, Phys. Rev. 135, A1566 (1966).
J. P. Bromberg, J. Chem. Phys. 52, 1243 (1970).
C. L. Longmire, Mission Research Corporation, Santa Barbara, California, private communication (1983).
R. A. Alvarez, D. L. Birx, D. P. Byrne, E. J. Lauer, and D. J. Scalapino, Particle Accelerators 125 (1981).
C. L. Yee and A. W. Ali, Microwave Energy Deposition, Breakdown and Heating of Nitrogen and Air, Naval Research Laboratory, Washington, D.C., NRL Memorandum Report 4617 (1981).
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 1986 Plenum Press, New York
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Yee, J.H., Mayhall, D.J., Alvarez, R. (1986). Physical Phenomena Induced by Passage of Intense Electromagnetic Pulses (Including CO2 Lasers) through the Atmosphere. In: Hora, H., Miley, G.H. (eds) Laser Interaction and Related Plasma Phenomena. Springer, Boston, MA. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4615-7335-7_65
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4615-7335-7_65
Publisher Name: Springer, Boston, MA
Print ISBN: 978-1-4615-7337-1
Online ISBN: 978-1-4615-7335-7
eBook Packages: Springer Book Archive