An Experiment to Determine the Nature of the Earth's Distant Magnetic Field

It is proposed that an alkaline-earth element, such as barium, is (i) released in a gaseous state from a space vehicle at a distance of several Earth radii and is then subsequently ionized by the solar radiation, or (ii) the release occurs at an altitude of 300 km or greater at a latitude above the auroral zones and is accompanied by a small A-bomb burst. In both cases the ions can be detected by resonance scattering of the solar radiation as they map out the distant geomagnetic field.