A Study of the Ionospheric Electron Measurement on the Medium-sized Scientific Rocket, KSR-II

Abstract

This paper reports the results obtained from the Langmuir probe (LP) and Electron Temperature Probe (ETP) experiments on the sounding rocket KSR-II (Korean Scientific Rocket - II) which was launched on Jun 11, 1998 at 10:00 KST from Tae-An peninsula (37 N, 126 E). The instruments successfully measured the electron density, electron temperature, and the floating potential at altitudes of 73km to 130km. While the electron temperature measurement is not easy in this region, since the temperature is very low and the contamination effect of the probe may give rise to a problem, we were able to obtain a reasonable electron temperature profile by employing two independent methods, the pulse modulated Langmuir Probe and Electron Temperature Probe. The preliminary results show that electron density increases sharply at about 90km, and forms a peak at 102km. The density profile is roughly consistent with IRI (International Reference Ionosphere)95-model or PIM (Parameterized Ionospheric Model) results except that the peak density appears at 110km in the model and model electron density is slightly lower than the observed one. Electron temperature obtained from ETP fluctuates between 200K and 700K, an effect presumably coming from the wakes developed by LP, and it tends to increase with the altitude, which is consistent with the LP results.