ARTIFICIAL AIRGLOW DUE TO MODIFICATIONS OF THE IONOSPHERE BY POWERFULRADIO-WAVES

A new model of the artificial airglow due to the ionospheric modificat ion is proposed. The model is based on a recently developed nonlinear theory of stationary striations, which predicts a strong enhancement o f the electron temperature inside the striations. According to our mod el the neutral species can be excited by the hot electrons inside the striations, which spread both upward and downward from the source regi on located between the radio wave reflection and the upper hybrid reso nance point. The discussed model allows us to estimate the local elect ron temperature inside the striations, and to assess the intensity of red- and green-line emissions due to the excitation of O(D-1) and O(S- 1) levels by the electron impact. These results are checked by compari son with the observations.