This is a Sample Chapter taken from my nearly finished book. Using Earths Shield Against Us by Nicola Hewson.

Due out late 2012. Constructive criticism is welcome.

CHAPTER FOUR

The Layers of the Atmosphere

The Troposphere The Troposphere is the area in the atmosphere where weather is formed; there is wind clouds moisture and heat, in which to make our weather systems. The troposphere is where 95% of the atmospheric water vapor is housed, and is also the densest portion of the atmosphere. The Earths atmospheric rivers also move around in the upper layers of the troposphere, there are five of these rivers in each hemisphere, each of these rivers is comparable to having the Amazon river above our heads. Hence when the meteorological experts describe a blocked Jet Stream during times of flood. The temperature in the troposphere drops by 6.5 degrees Celsius for each kilometer in altitude; the Jet Stream is shared between the upper troposphere and the stratosphere. The weather in the Jet Stream is heavily influenced by the movement of what are called Rossby waves. The Rossby waves sit at an altitude of 9-12km. This is a layer of spiraling winds; these are what separate the warm air from the land and the cold air from the ocean.

Image from www.whatsupwiththat.com

When the loop of Rossby waves occur in the large scale, they can break free and form weather systems, these are what become anti-cyclones, which is the detachment of warm air and cyclones when a section of cold air detaches. There are also Rossby waves that move toward the Earths poles, this is called pole ward drift, the Rossby waves are in mid-hemispheric regions and some that exist far closer to the North and South Poles. The Rossby waves that occur at the poles are Barotropic and are the fastest moving of the Rossby waves. The baroclinc, which occur mid-hemisphere are far slower moving than the Rossby waves that sit in polar region, the Baroclinic waves may only move a meter or so every minute. Pole ward propagating Rossby waves are influenced by the heat from the oceans surface that interacts with the troposphere, this mostly happens in areas with tropical climates, this is what influences the formation of tropical depressions such as cyclones. The Stratosphere. The Stratosphere exists between the Troposphere and Magnetopause; it has layers that are colder at lower altitudes and warmer layers higher up close to the magnetopause. The Stratosphere is said to sit at altitudes between 10km and up to 50km, but at Polar latitudes the stratosphere is said to start at an altitude of 8km. The stratosphere is where the very beginning of the Ozone layer and where the quality of air becomes rarefied. Ozone or what is called O3, is oxygen as a radioactive form, Ozone sits on the topside layer of the stratosphere. Ozone is one of the main elements that exist in the atmosphere that absorbs UV light. It is within the upper stratosphere that ozone depleting CFCs (chlorofluorocarbons) get trapped. Planes usually travel at altitudes between 9 and 12km, this is to take advantage of the Jet stream, which speeds up flight times and saves on fuel use, and also to absence of most weather systems in the stratosphere causes less wind drag on the planes. The reason that planes fly faster in the stratosphere is that wind does not move up and down within the stratosphere as it does within the Troposphere, but the wind flows parallel to the Earths surface. Lee Waves, are also common within the stratosphere these are deemed standing waves. The most common form is created over mountain ranges, where the given effect is gravity waves, and can be seen as Leticular clouds. The reason for this is that due to thermal and pressure changes and stratospheric winds move over mountain ranges, cause vertical displacement. Glider pilots, who use the thermal changes to move to very high altitudes, often use Lee waves. The Mesosphere. The Mesosphere is thought to start at an altitude of 50km; it is a relatively small layer existing between the Stratosphere and the Ionosphere, and only exists to an altitude of around 85km in summer and up to a possible altitude of 100km in winter. The physical features of the mesosphere are that it is home to what are called atmospheric tides, which means that the latent heat that accumulates in the atmosphere can be released at this altitude. Atmospheric tides are influenced by heating from the Suns heat, which causes oscillations in the atmosphere and also related to the Solar day (amount of time the Sun spends heating that side of the Earths atmosphere.

This layer in particular is studied in the very beginning of Winter as the dust that builds up in the upper atmosphere over the Summer months reaches its peak, then at the very beginning of Winter and is partially responsible for Polar Mesospheric clouds and Noctilucent clouds in the upper atmosphere. There is only a small interaction with the Ionosphere layer directly above. This is due to the Mesospheres unique make-up. The Mesosphere or Magnetosphere. This layer of the atmosphere protects Earth from meteors and large amounts of UV radiation from reaching the earths surface. The sun-side of the magnetosphere is flattened due to the effect of the solar wind compressing one the side of Earth exposed to the solar wind. The other effect is that the magnetosphere causes a dragging effect so on the night-side of Earth has a tail called the magneto tail, as the Sun tappers away from influencing the magnetosphere. The magneto tail is thought to be up to 1000 times the size of Earths radius. The actual Solar wind originating from the Sun is called super magneto-sonic and that is what causes the magnetospheric bow shock. The careful balance between the solar wind and Earths surface is due to the magnetic fields that surround Earth. The boundary of this is called the magnetopause. The magnetosphere reaches up to 36,000mi 57,936km out into space. The magnetosphere is the shield for the magnetic field lines and protects Earths surface from the tiny particles the emanate from the Sun. The particles from geomagnetic storms that reach the magneto tail are what cause the auroral oval.

Magnetosphere showing bow-shock from Solar Wind influence, recorded on 3rd January 2012, from NICT Space Weather Research Japan.

Magnetosphere from Oulu Space Physics Textbook.

It is during geomagnetic storms that the particles that reach Earths magnetosphere warp the magnetosphere and the magnetic field-lines. When this happens the magnetosphere becomes compressed, this is called magnetic reconnection; this is how the particles get pushed toward the magneto tail, and across the Earths magnetic field-lines. It is thought that the molten iron core at the centre of Earth directly influences the Earths magnetic field lines, as Earth is basically a giant dipole magnet and the magnetic field-lines shape there way around the Earth in the same manner.

Images courtesy the COMET program and Windows to the Universe original artwork.

There are now confirmed weaknesses within the Earths magnetosphere, the most well known is what is called the South Atlantic anomaly, this was originally discovered in the late 1970s. The weakness occurs just off the coast of Brazil, scientists believe that this is due to the overall decline in Earths magnetic field. The consequence of this weakness in the magnetosphere is that some cosmic particles then pass through this hole in the atmosphere and harm whatever is below. Cosmic particles can pass through skin and cause damage to cells, may attribute to higher levels of cancers. Many animals are thought to use the Earths magnetic field for navigation (bats, whales), and biologists in the 1980s discovered that changes in the magnetic field might have been of influence in several whale beaching, due to changes magnetic field or magnetic field anomalies in the ocean floor. The THEMIS group of 5 satellites that monitor the magnetosphere was completed in early 2008. By late 2008 the group of satellites concluded that the South Atlantic anomaly was far larger than originally thought. The hole itself was thought to start at the North Pole all the way to the equator; the solar wind can pass through this hole in the magnetosphere having a direct influence on the inner Van Allen belts during times of geomagnetic storms. This exposes the underlying areas to high doses of UV-rays, Gamma rays and X-rays. These events themselves load the magnetosphere with charge; creating strong aurora, power outages at high and low latitudes. This in particular can pre-load the upper atmosphere with a much larger charge, which can in fact trigger a much larger event. Also the SW ARM satellites where launched in 2010, and are mad up of a series of three satellites, used to measure the changes in Earths magnetic field, and to shows areas where the magnetic field in weakening. This may gives clues and a warning to when the next polar reversal. The constantly moving molten iron core of Earth slowly changes magnetic north. Scientific thought is now warning of an imminent pole change. This would most likely happen over a period of days. The SW ARM satellites sit at an altitude of 400km where two of the satellites are positioned and the third satellite is at an altitude of 550km. These satellites can also be used to study the atmospheric processes involved in climate change. The Thermosphere or Ionosphere. The Ionosphere contains ionized gas, which by term is called Plasma. Its altitude is during the daytime starts at 50km but the true level of the Ionosphere is said to start at a height of 80km. This then forms the densest layer of the Ionosphere reaches out 300km into space, this layer being so thin that it allows free electrons to exist.

Scientists compare the Ionospheres thickness to the clear coat of paint, similar to what is on the outside of a basketball. Due to its unique electron content, is able to protect the Earth from harsh space weather. The Ionosphere is so named, because of the concentrated amount of ions and charged particles that exist at this altitude. Ionization at this layer happens through the process of solar radiation by UV rays, and Xrays. Energetic particles contained within the ionospheric and magnetospheric layers, creates enhancements because of direct contacts with the solar wind. This makes it ideal for use in long-range radio wave transmission. The ionosphere has a Diurnal Rhythm, which means during the day the ionosphere has a much thicker formation and during the night the D layer of the ionosphere disappears. The level of change between day and night in the ionosphere is around 6.25 miles or 10km in altitude. The ionosphere consists of three layers D region, which exist at a level of 75km to 95kms above the earths surface, this layer is the weakest and responsible for the absorption of most radio frequencies. The D layer of the ionosphere is made mainly of Nitric Oxide (NO). Disturbances in the D-region are associated with a large amount of naturally occurring events. With excitations such as Red Sprites, and Solar flare s or geomagnetic storm activity. This itself places large electrical loads into the D-region. The energy is released thought the D-region by events such as Electron Lightning, release of Cosmic Gamma Rays * Fishman and Inan, Auroral Precipitation, which is what we see as a visible aurora, also geomagnetic activity that is also related to the possibility of earthquakes* Molchanov
and Hayakawa 1999.

The Ionospheric E layer, is the region that is 95km to 150kms above the earth and as mentioned before so this layers diurnal effect is just during the daytime, there is also a very thin E2 layer is which is made up of oxygen. The main reason for ionization in this layer is due to its absorption of UV radiation and Xrays. During the night the E layer completely disappears, due to the lack of solar radiation ionizing the elements in this very thin layer of the Ionosphere. Then the F region, which can extend from 150km right out to 800km, this layer is split into two different layers and is largely temperature dependant, the F1 layer which is at a lower latitude and has nitrous oxide as its main component. The F2 layer is the layer at the higher altitude is this layer the oxygen level is very low and the higher up through this layer the Hydrogen and Helium content is very high. The F2 layer is widely used by HAM radio users, due to the radio propagation abilities of this layer, dependant on certain geomagnetic conditions, a HAM radio operator can send a signal up to 2500 miles in a single bound this is what is known a one-hop signal. The ionospheric F layer is thought to be the densest portion of the Ionosphere. During the night the F-layers recombine to form one F-layer. The ionospheric F-layer absorbs large amounts of solar radiation, and primarily the layer responsible for absorbing Ultra Violet UV radiation from reaching Earths surface. During the nighttime the ionosphere only extends as far as 500km and during the daytime as far out as 800km. The Ionosphere is not considered to be a trapped belt of radiation since there are fewer particles than the Magnetosphere, so fewer trapped are particles within the ionospheric layer. The term Trapped Particles therein refers to situations where the force of gravity on the trapped particles is balanced by magnetic forces rather than the hydrostatic or collisional forces. The charged electrons and ions in the ionosphere also follow helical paths around the magnetic field lines which exist in the ionosphere but are not trapped between the mirroring forces, as in the case of trapped belts, which mostly occur at a magnetospheric level. Collisional or hydrostatic forces balance the gravitational force, applied on the particles. Ionospheric Absorption. Due to the unique patterns of the Sun cycle, which lasts between 9 and 14 years between solar maximums. In this time the Sun has a minimum where there periods of low activity or no activity, and solar maximums there can be large amounts of solar flares and coronal mass ejections. These events send waves of protons and particles across the Milky Way toward Earth or whatever planet that may be in this pathway.

During periods when there are high amounts of solar activity, it may be only possible to transmit and receive frequencies in the high frequency range; this is due to the amount of protons in the ionosphere and the ability of the ionosphere to reflect these frequencies. When there is a solar minimum and the Sun becomes quiet therefore low frequency waves are reflected. Solar W ind There is a direct relationship between the Solar Wind and the Ionosphere is directly linked, the solar wind space-weather interacts with the exosphere, ionosphere and magnetosphere. During severe storms the energy levels in the upper atmosphere can couple and also portions of the ionospheric F-layer can be completely destroyed, for a period of time. Solar wind directly effects the stimulation of proton and electron counts within the upper atmosphere, this can cause radio blackouts, PCA events (Polar Cap Absorption), and geomagnetic storms. Solar wind also has direct effects on Earths magnetic field lines. Earths magnetic field lines act as Earths equipotential junction points, they act in such a way that the radiations emitted by the sun are absorbed along the magnetic field lines, which then are pushed toward the Earths poles where the radiation is completely absorbed. Solar wind average speeds when the sun is quiet are between 200-480km/sec, then when the sun is active with solar flares and coronal mass ejections CME releasing vast amounts of energy toward the solar system. The wind speed is forced into the range between 480-1100km/sec, this has direct effects on planetary Kp and Ap levels, these are measurements of how much radiation out magnetic field lines are absorbing. SID Sudden Ionospheric Disturbances Sudden Ionospheric disturbances, usually occur during geomagnetic storms, for during fast moving solar flare events, these then penetrate the ionosphere and create large disturbances along Earths magnetic field lines, these are often pre-cursors to Polar Cap Absorption PCA events. During geomagnetic storms the F2 portion of the ionospheres F-layer, can be completely destroyed, for hours at a time. This is due to the intense ionization of Earths atmosphere, causing a portion of the Flayer to become unstable, so much so that it destroys itself, until a point where UV radiation levels at its altitude to reach a point when the F2 layer returns to normal. The Van Allen Belts. This explains the radiation belts that are around earth. The atmosphere restricts the regions of radiation belts at altitude, which lie between 200 1000km in height. These radiation belts occur at an angle of 65 deg from the earths celestial equator and polar-regions. The Van Allen Belt was discovered on board the satellite Explorer 1 and Explorer 3, which a Geiger counter that was lace on board. They satellites where built by James Van Allen at the University of Iowa, he made these discoveries on January the 31 1958.
st

When energized the particles that exist at these altitudes have to absorb large amounts of radiation from the earths lithosphere (through the use of nuclear test or ionospheric heating, and generalized earth radiation), from space, through solar bursts or geomagnetic storms, or large changes in solar winds. The radiation overloads the ability for the radiation belts ability to absorb any more energy. It is at this point that the resultant energy releases into what creates the Aurora or Airglow phenomenon. The inner belt, which exists at a lower altitude in the ionosphere, contains mainly protons. When the outer radiation belt has mostly electrons. The inner belt itself reaches 5000km but extending inward at polar-regions by 1000km. The outer belt, which starts at 1500km and reaches its peak at 22000km, this belt in particular is dominated by trapped electrons, these occur at high altitudes due to its effect with the solar wind. The inner Van Allen Belt, is the point where protons are trapped along the magnetic field lines. This is solely due to their interaction with the solar wind.

The inner belt mainly occurs and is concentrated around the earths equatorial planes, this means the North and South Poles and along the earths equator. In fact the closest point of the inner radiation belt to the earths surface exists in the South Atlantic Ocean, this is called the South Atlantic anomaly. The outer belt exists at heights of 10,000 65,000km, but its greatest concentration exists between 14,500-19,000km. It is thought through studies to contain plasma trapped by earths magnetosphere. There are very few particles that exist at this altitude but what do exist, are ions, which are mostly energetic protons and O+ (oxide) particles. Sudden changes in space weather or wind can change the radiation belts shape. What would happen is that particles on one side would move to the (Sun-side) of earth would be carried inward toward the planet. While particles on the far side of earth would Teardrop in shape on the radiation belts. It can often take days before the spherical shape, which is how the Van Allen Belts usually lie. Northern and Southern Lights (Aurora Borealis and Aurora Australis).

Treading, the glacier head, looking for moments of shine. From twilight to twilight Aurora By Bjork
The Aurora is created when the solar wind reaches Earths magnetic field lines. This in turn energizes the small electron and proton particles in the upper atmosphere, the energy is then converted into light energy, this is seen on earth as the aurora. The aurora can be explained, by Faradays Law, which states: an electrical conductor placed within a magnetic field, while relative motion occurs in the direction that the conductor cuts across, rather than along. The lines of the magnetic field, and electrical current are then induced into the conductor and electron flow within it.*Taken from Wikipedia. The solar wind and magnetosphere act as the two types of conducting forces. The magnetosphere housing, free electrons, and the solar wind that is made up of high-energy solar radiation. Mostly seen in polar-regions due to the unique way that earths magnetic field conducts energy, as it travels along the magnetic field lines until it reaches the polar-regions where most of the energy can be absorbed due to a naturally occurring process called PCA Polar Cap Absorption. When a large solar flare of magnitude M5 or greater than is ejected from the Sun, this causes high-energy protons to be pushed through space, these can reach Earths upper ionosphere within minutes of the actual event. This then starts massive amounts of ionization in the atmospheric outer layers, which then bleeds down to the ionospheric D-layer this allows large amounts of radiation to get spread along the Van Allen Belts this then gets pushed to the Polar Caps triggering what is called a PCA event (Polar Cap Absorption). Dependant on the proton load of the radiation storm these events can last between 1 and 10 days. During times when ionospheric absorption has reached its ability to absorb any more solar radiation, forcing the ionosphere to let high X-ray levels through into the lower atmospheric layers. The highenergy solar radiation retards the ability of the ionosphere to be able to reflect only high frequencies. Ionospheric storms directly relating to the size can last for between 24-100 hours long. There has been very rear equatorial aurora, which is due to large amounts of solar activity, due to equatorial areas also being in close proximity to the magnetosphere, these auroras would only happen as a result of a severe geomagnetic solar storm. These are usually due to the fact that during severe storms, the high energy currents running along the magnetic field lines become so strong that they couple through to the ionospheric E-layer, when this happens in polar-regions it is seen as a very bright ring shaped aurora. Auroras can be heard at a frequency near 150 kHz on a short-wave radio. During Auroras there are the presence of Alfven waves The wave propagates in the direction of the magnetic field-line although waves can exist at oblique incidence and smoothly change to a magnetospheric wave, when the propagation is perpendicular to the magnetic field from Wikipedia. During severe geomagnetic storms it is possible to overload the magnetic field-lines to a point where there is the creation of new temporary magnetic field at a much lower altitude.

A green aurora is formed by charged electron aurora; these are the most common aurora, as they can happen with even small solar storms these are at a height of around 150 miles, 240 kilometers. Although with a slightly more severe solar storm then you may witness a red aurora, this is made up of charged protons, and occur at an altitude of 300 miles or 482 kilometers. Kp index is the scale given to how much turbulence is in the upper atmosphere, which can influence the auroral ovals size. Photons are the light emitting part of the aurora. The Kp scale is numbered Kp-1 = Quiet, when Kp-9 = Severe Solar Storm. In a picture below shows the Kp index over North America. This also indicates how bright the aurora can be seen with the naked eye. The K index is measured every three hours. Ap index are measured over a 3 hour average, the Ap indice measures the solar particle radiation absorbed by the ionosphere but more predominately the solar particle interaction in the magnetosphere. Kp Ap 0 0 1 3 2 7 3 15 4 27 5 48 6 80 7 140 8 240 9 400

(Taken from noaa.govt)

The aurora often takes an oval shape, which is where the term Auroral Oval comes from; during severe storms the auroral oval dips down to lower altitudes. It is the solar storming and the destruction of partial layers of the ionosphere, which causes the aurora to be visible. Auroral Oval over North America with Kp Strength.

Image from Sky and Telescope (June 1968).

During these periods of geomagnetic storming, that electrons in the upper atmosphere move toward the east and the positive ions move toward the west. The effect of this process, is that a westward current is formed within the hot plasma in the ionosphere. Then the electromagnetic forces that are generated pushes the plasma away from Earth, it is this interaction that changes the Earth-Ionosphere waveguide, producing a convection state between the two mediums. The solar wind is the most common form of ionospheric instability, but also in the right conditions, the high-energies contained can be released due to the increased convection (coupling) between the Earths surface and the Ionosphere. There have been many studies into the increasing rates of volcanic eruptions, and earthquakes during times of increased geomagnetic activity. Man-made ionospheric instabilities, caused by modification to the upper atmosphere also have these same consequences. Otherwise the ionosphere under geomagnetic quiet conditions has very little influences upon it, the charge within the ionosphere under these conditions remains positive. Geomagnetic storms have the ability to bleed through the layers of the atmosphere into the stratosphere and into the troposphere, this can have effects such as the creation of super-cell weather systems, an large

Cb cumulonimbus clouds, large electrical storms, heavy rain and fog. This is due to the heavy electrical influences that move along the Earths magnetic field lines, and causing direct changes in underlying weather systems. As mentioned by NASA on April 04 2001 we have now entered the solar active period solar cycle number 24. Atmospheric Airglow. The atmosphere also has a layer that glows green, this is unrelated to the aurora itself, but from a similar mechanism. Airglow is what is explained as the luminosity of the upper ionosphere this area of luminosity exists at altitudes of 100km or 60 miles, this airglow layer is roughly 10km thick and more often than not glows green or red. This is due to chemical reaction in the sodium layer. In difference to the Aurora the Airglow generally covers the whole atmospheric surface, rather than auroral lines or the auroral oval. The reason for airglow is very similar to the causes for an aurora, but the airglow in continuous, rather than being visible due to geo-magnetic activity. Using HF W aves to Create Atmospheric Airglow. At present experiments have been done in the upper atmosphere with High Frequency waves (HF radio waves), to create atmospheric airglow. This process in done through the reactions with ionospheric plasmas going through an ionizing process, this is driven by the effect of high-power HF radio signal causing oscillations by the electrons. This then causes resonant waves to be excited within the plasmas, causing the radiated energies to spread along the field lines to lower altitudes. Electron Cyclotron Resonance Ionospheric Plasma is made up of equal numbers of electrons and ions, (the proton load in the ionosphere can be much higher). These are guided by, the force of the magnetic field lines of Earth. Well-documented phenomena, that takes place when the charged particles along the magnetic field lines, and gyrate along the field-line. The central point where the electrons gyrate is called the guiding centre of the particle. The electrons and ions then follow a helical path around the magnetic field-line. This may explain the phenomena witnessed as the Norway Spiral, that it summarized in Chapter Six. Magnetic Fields and Plasma Plasma is similar to gas in the way that it will occupy the space that it is placed within. Due to the unique formation of ions and electrons in the plasma, magnetic fields are a part of the plasma. So the electrons will follow helical paths along the formed magnetic field lines. There are many ways of heating ionospheric plasma, but they are based on a simple principle by when the applied current that flows through the plasma induces the magnetic field within the plasma. Neutron Ion Beam Injection Heating: This process uses an ion beam that is created through Magneto-hydrodynamic MHD processes and then is accelerated; this is the same process as what is used in a particle beam accelerator. Radio-Frequency Heating: Works on the principle, by that plasma absorbs electro-magnetic waves, by using this manner of heating, the induction of cyclotron resonance frequencies. These are made up of large antennae, so by switching frequencies (called modulation), there can a selection of particles within the plasma that they can exploit for further heating. Atmospheric Nuclear Tests. Between the years 1958 through to 1964 the United States and the USSR conducted high-energy experiments on the ionosphere, to find out if they could create an artificial Van Allen belt closer to earths surface, the military could exploit for defense purposes. The Russians had their experiments all under one umbrella name called Test 184, and the United States had several different programs the first being Project Argus. The tests where conducted in the months between August and September 1958.

The US Navy exploded 3 nuclear bombs at an altitude of 480km above the Southern Atlantic Ocean; this is the point where the inner Van Allen Belts are thought to be closest to the earths surface. Also they exploded another 2 hydrogen bombs above Johnston Island in the Pacific Ocean. These test where named by the military as there largest tests ever undertaken. The conclusion of Project Argus was that the explosions themselves created new magnetic radiation belts, which encompassed the whole earth. These experiments injected electrons and radiation into the ionosphere that caused Worldwide effects, from Airglow to radio signal transmission interruptions. Also running up until late 1964 still under the code name Project Argus the US Air Force tried to create a telecommunications shield the first of these test was done in May 1960. This was done by launching a rocket high up into the ionosphere were millions of small copper needles, the hope of this experiment was to have enough of these copper needles in the range of 350,000 million to create an artificial shield that would be 10km and 40km wide. This particular experiment was very successful, but also my have triggered three very large earthquakes. Could this be the cause of the 9.5 magnitude earthquake that struck Chile on the 22 of May 1960, then the following tsunami, which struck the Pacific in the hours that followed? The two others which occurred in the locations of the Kuril Island in 1963 at a magnitude of 8.5, then the 1964 magnitude 9.2 earthquake which occurred in Alaska. It was around this time that the military received strong opposition from the International Union of Astronomers. Then came Project Starfish in 1962, these where further test but at much lower altitudes than its predecessor the first bomb was a 1 Kiloton device that was detonated at an altitude of 60km, then a 1 megaton and then a 8 megaton device that was detonated at an altitude of around 200km in height. It was these tests in particular in association with similar Soviet Tests that are thought to have had irreversible effects on the atmosphere. The tests caused serious disturbances in the lower Van Allen Belts; these changed the shape of the atmosphere to a point it has never returned too. It is thought that this may take hundreds of years to return to its former state. The conclusion of these tests was that portions of the lower Van Allen belt and the inner Van Allen belt here completely destroyed for some-days following these events. These experiments created a new lower Van Allen belt, which exists between 65-80km. Project Thunderstorm and the K -Series of Nuclear EMP Tests. There where are series of tests done by the Soviet Union between the years 1961 and November 1962, this included injecting the lower Van Allen Belts with high energy radiation, by large nuclear explosions (nuclear fission) near the altitude of the low Van Allen Belts. The nuclear test experiments conducted would enable the scientists and military the ability to study the many nuclear reactions and changes associations with high-energy radiation applications inside the Van Allen Belts. These are already charged high-energy fields. It was believed at this time that the Van Belts contained trapped electrons at that time it was the mid-1950 that the military applied for the funding necessary to do the nuclear bomb testing. The ability to do this form of testing could replicate the effect of solar magnetic storms that hit the earths magnetic field. These are where the very beginnings of studying this area of the atmosphere, due to burgeoning spaceflight explorations and missile defense technologies, brought on by the new long-range missile technology, and the fears of immanent attack during the beginnings of the cold war crisis. Notably just before the Bay of Pigs military missile crisis in Cuba. Another test named the Saturn V Rocket was launched in 1968, by complete accident the rocket went on to burn at an altitude much higher that anticipated around 300km, this resulted in the rocket making a large ionospheric hole. The atmospheric hole itself was thought to have a 1000km radius, and lasted for several hours. This also had significant changes in the electron content of the localized ionosphere and enough disturbance in the ionosphere that a very bright polar aurora over a wide area (even down into the lower US states was witnessed for the two nights that followed. There was also the equatorial aurora that lasted for several hours after the detonations. It was at this point that NASA and the US military directed large amounts of funds toward testing, these particular phenomena with deliberate injection of chemicals into the ionosphere. May of these test where done in the 1980s, by using the large capacity fuel tanks to send a chemical fuel mix into much higher altitudes with the use of the space shuttles. These
nd

tests took place as each of the shuttles were launched, these experiments where done right up until the early 1990s. These test and many other projects have been occurred in the study of the upper ionosphere, in order for the US military to exploit this area of earths atmosphere These experiments where conducted to inject radiation into the lower Van Allen Belts, to see how earths magnetic field would react to large doses of nuclear radiation. Also the Soviet Union wanted to see the result of large Electro-Magnetic Pulses (EMP) on the infrastructure, these EMP shock waves can be farreaching and long-lasting repercussions, to the electrical infrastructure of a city. Between the years 1961 and 1962 the Soviet Union launched several nuclear weapons by rocket and by aircraft drop with the aid of parachute retardation, to let the drop planes have a long enough flight time to be able to fly out of zone of the initial shock wave. These nuclear payloads where launched into the atmosphere to see the results in the newly discovered Van Allen Belts. These tests were named Test 184 by the United States and the K-series of experiments by the Soviet Union. Below is a list of atmospheric tests that have been publically released, that were conducted between the years 1961 and 1962, this includes the largest bomb ever detonated the Tsar Bomba at a giant payload of 57 megatons. Originally this was going to be 100 megatons but logistically unable to launch the bomb in any form, so the bomb was scaled down to around a 57-megaton device. Test Date dd/mm/yy 06/09/1961 06/10/1961 27/10/1961 27/10/1961 30/10/1961 22/10/1962 28/10/1962 01/11/1962 Test Number US 88 115 128 127 130 184 187 195 Test Code USSR Thunderstorm Thunderstorm K-1 K-2 Tsar Bomba K-3 K-4 K-5 Altitude 22.7km 41.3km 150km 300km 4.7km 290km 150km 59km Payload 11 kilotons 40 kilotons 1.2 kilotons 300 kilotons 57 megatons 300 kilotons 300 kilotons 300 kilotons

The seismic shock from the detonation of the Tsar Bomba was measured at 7.1 magnitude on the Richter scale; this seismic shock was felt in the 10.5-mile surrounding. The fireball from the actual explosion reached some 8km in width and could be seen up to 1000km away from ground zero. The bomb itself was dropped from an altitude of 10.5 km; to allow the drop plane time to get safely away, the bombs decent was retarded by use of a parachute. All of the buildings were completely destroyed in a town called Severny at a distance of 55km away, due to the strong pressure wave buildings between 700km and 900km away received broken windows. There was a visible mushroom cloud at an altitude of 64km.During the detonation the first flash appeared over a few minutes, then as the energy propagated over the magnetic field lines, a second flash occurred, this may have been the point where the first set of magnetic field lines completely overloaded and forced the creation of a second magnetic field lines, this flash lasted for hours afterward. The explanation for this is that the radiation stimulated the electrons in the Van Allen belt cause a forced airglow. The geomagnetic storm component of the EMP blast, easily penetrated the ground, causing massive movement in the earths magnetic field, this in turn rose greatly during detonation and then reached its peak after 20 seconds this is also due to the immense pressure wave caused by the shock wave. The areas within a 25km radius was completely destroyed. It is thought that during these experiments on the Earths atmosphere that the Soviet Union and the United States used three hundred times more explosive power than, what was used in World War II. These tests may have resulted in potentially irreversible consequences in our atmosphere, the giant Southern Atmosphere Ozone hole anyone?

Rayleigh Scattering This is an optical phenomena is the effect caused by the scattering of light, and electromagnetic radiation through the upper layers of the atmosphere. The scattering of light is caused by how the tiny particles of light interact with the ionosphere; the ions react differently with the atmospheric layers. Sunlight in particular rich in nitrogen shows up as blue, due to its short wave lengths and high quantities of UV radiation (UV light), also the reason that blue light scatters far easier than the longer wavelengths that are made up of Red or Yellow. When we see light as red in the sky during dawn or dusk, it is directly linked to the volume of air that the sunlight has to pass through. The remainder of the light is then scattered as an orange color. The reason we see the night sky as blue or dark blue in simply due to the reflected sunlight off the moon. The evening sky is seen as bluer in larger towns or cities is due to the light pollution, and places in the country or rural areas may see the sky as dark blue or black. In space the sky is black, and the light emanating from the sun is seen as white light. The Exosphere. The Exosphere is the very last layer of the outer atmosphere and sits at altitudes between 10,000km and 190,000km that is nearly halfway to the moon. This layer is partially responsible for the light green airglow seen around Earth from space. This is the very beginning of when any particles form that may have interactions with the Earths outer atmosphere. The lower boundary where the Exosphere interacts with the magnetosphere is called the Thermopause. The Exosphere and magnetosphere have daily interactions; the severity is due to the amount of Solar wind and geomagnetic activity occurring at the time. These outside influences trigger the ionization and particle interactions between outer space and our upper atmosphere.