Collisional detachment and the formation of an ionospheric C region

A simple expressio n is d eri ved for the collisional d etachmen t coeffi cien t in tC' r ms of prC'ss url' , t e mpera t ure, a nd th e eleetron a ffinity, E a, of t he O, ion. By us ing t hi s ex pression , it is ra lculateci t ha t at ni g ht the pro file of elect ron de ns ity against heig ht ha s a max imum nca r thC' stratop a use at 50 kill. The mag ni t ude of t he electron de nsi ty at t he max imulll depe nd s cri t ica lly u po n H". If t he proba bili ty of detachm ent a pp roache uni ty fo r Ill olce ul a l' e nergies exceed ing iSa , it may be dedu ced th at E n mu st be at lea st greater t ha n 0.45 e\' . SO Ill C co mments a re made o n the confl ict, in co ns id eri ng st ratospheri c ioni zatio n, between t hc co ncC'pts of ionospheri c ph ys ics a nd t hose of at mosp heri c electricity.