DETERMINATION OF THE RECOMBINATION RATE-CONSTANT OF N2+ +E FROM BALLISTIC EXPERIMENTS

A solution of linearized equations for a nonequilibrium axisymmetric l aminar boundary layer is used to analyze measurements of the electron density in the wake behind a body. A nonlinear regression analysis of microwave measurements of the electron density in the wake behind a bo dy moving at hypersonic velocity in pure nitrogen yields: the ambipola r Schmidt number, constants for determining the temperature distributi on along the wake axis, the initial diameter of the wake, and the temp erature dependence of the rate of dissociative recombination of N2+ e. These constants and the solutions are used to calculate the tempera ture and electron density distributions and the growth in the width of the wake. Good agreement is obtained between the numerical and experi mental data.