Fig. 9.a. Computer-generated vertical profiles of neutral gas temperature (Tn), ion temperature (T), and electron temperature (Te) for 1330 h 14 May, 1973 off Wallops Island, VA (1 h after Skylab I launch), b. Corresponding neutral wind profiles. Positive un is magnetic northward, positive vn is magnetic westward, and wn is vertical. with better spatial resolution, we constructed a larger one-dimensional code for the CRAY computer. This code includes 84 chemical species and 1600 chemical reactions in 40 vertically stratified mesh layers. It seems to generate a fairly accurate representation of the normal atmosphere/ionosphere over the entire altitude range (50-700 km). Detailed comparisons with experimental data are still in progress. Some computed chemical composition profiles, representing the normal ionosphere as generated with the smaller one-dimensional code, are shown in Figs 8a and b. They contain sets of profiles of neutral molecular and ion concentrations, respectively, for noontime, 14 May, 1973, at 38° N latitude, near Wallops Island, VA, assuming low solar activity and a noontime exospheric temperature of 1048 K. They represent the ionospheric configuration 30 min before the Skylab launch and the initial conditions for the two-dimensional Skylab computation. Inputs to these computations, including time-dependent temperature profiles, solar X-ray and ultraviolet (UV) spectra, night-time intensities of scattered UV radiation from the geocorona, intensities of cosmic rays and precipitating relativistic electrons, and specifications of the thermospheric winds, were chosen to represent the expected average conditions for the selected location and local time. The assumed temperature and wind profiles one hour after the Skylab launch are plotted in Figs.9a and b. 7. CONCLUSIONS We have run a set of numerical simulations of the effects of a single HLLV launch on the earth's upper atmosphere and ionosphere, and we have checked the computer code against experimental data for the case of the Skylab I launch and data on the ambient ionosphere. The principal environmentally significant effects that show up in the HLLV computations are:
RkJQdWJsaXNoZXIy MTU5NjU0Mg==