THE DETERMINATION OF ELECTRON-DENSITIES IN THE SOLAR ATMOSPHERE FROM THE 1718.56-ANGSTROM 1486.51-ANGSTROM EMISSION-LINE RATION IN N-IV

The theoretical electron density sensitive emission-line ratio R = I(1 718.56 Angstrom)/I(1486.51 Angstrom) in N IV is presented for a range of N-e (similar or equal to 10(10)-10(12) cm(-3)) applicable to higher density solar plasmas, such as active regions. A comparison of these calculations with the observed values of R of several solar features o btained with the Naval Research Laboratory's S082B spectrograph on boa rd Skylab reveals general agreement between theory and observation at pointings just above the limb, where line blends with N IV 1718.56 Ang strom should be insignificant, which provides experimental support for the accuracy of the line ratio calculations.