communication and thus strong nonlinear effects are expected. These effects, such as plasma heating and nonlinear scattering, will cause the excitation of various plasma waves [12]. The nonlinear excitation of plasma waves was experimentally studied in 1983 by the Japanese MINIX experiment (Microwave Ionospheric Nonlinear Interaction experiment) using a sounding rocket [14-17]. Figures 1 and 2 indicate an artist’s concept of MINIX and a power spectrum of the observed plasma wave in the HF frequency band, respectively. Since the phase velocity of these plasma waves is much slower than light speed, the energy of the wave is easily transferred to the ionospheric plasma (particles) through wave-particle interactions. An energy channel from the microwaves to the environmental plasma via plasma wave excitation has thus been created, giving rise to a sizeable modification of the earth’s plasma environment. METS will investigate these nonlinear effects in detail by creating a local hot spot via a very intense microwave field. The microwave beam will be focused about 2-3 m from the SFU; a spot which is then reachable by diagnostic probes mounted on the SFU platform.
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