ABSTRACT
The active rocket and satellite observations described in Chapter 11 have indicated several outstanding features and processes that are associated with the effects of rocket burn, launch, and flight, such as the following:
◾ Molecular quasisymmetrical (mostly Gaussian) diffusion of the release molecules produced by rocket engine, plume, and/or fuel regularly into the ambient quasineutral ionospheric plasma
◾ Additional ionization of the neutral component of the background ionosphere by the expanding molecular cloud produced by the rocket exhaust gases
◾ Generation of global depletion zones, called holes or cavities, covering the upper E-region to the upper F-region of the ionosphere
◾ Generation of large-scale plasma enhancement zones at the D-region to the lower E-region of the ionosphere
◾ Generation of instabilities and plasma waves within the perturbed plasma regions of the ionosphere caused by different ambient factors and sources, such as heating by the exhaust high-temperature gases and plume exhaust, influence of ambient electric, magnetic, and gravitational fields, wind shear, altitudinal gradients of ionospheric plasma profiles, and so forth
◾ Creation of small-and moderate-scale plasma irregularities (called plasma turbulences) that fill the depletion region during the process of its further temporal and spatial evolution
Therefore, we will further try to briefly explain the main effects and processes mentioned earlier, based on the existing theoretical frameworks, as well as in the authors’ own view of the processes occurring in the ionosphere that can be associated to and accompanied with rocket burn and launch described in Chapter 11.
