U-Shaped Curve Constant Determined by Barium Release Measurements

The U-shaped curve has been suggested as a prescription for the size of late-time plasma structure. It is a specification of the structure size as normalized by a length parameter derived from the background ion-neutral slip speed and the effective cross-field diffusion constant. True to its name, the specification is a proportionality to a U-shaped function of the ratio between the integrated Pedersen conductivity of the magnetic field lines that have plasma structure on them and the integrated Pedersen conductivity of field lines in the background plasma the M-ratio. The value of the proportionality constant in this relation, R, has been the subject of past analytical and numerical investigations. In this report experimental data from PLACES barium release JAN is investigated to derive an alternative value of R. Photographic, aircraft and rocket data sources are investigated to first determine the M- ratio, the diffusion constant and the characteristic structure sizes. The value of the proportionality constant R is then inferred. Keywords experimental data HANEHigh Altitude Nuclear Explosion Ionospheric Conductivity.