Dynamics of the Expansion of Artificial Plasma Formations in Earth’s Ionosphere

The paper presents the results of numerical simulation of the initial stage of expansion of plasma formations resulting from the injection of high-speed aluminum plasma jets into the Earth’s ionosphere at different altitudes corresponding to two “North Star” experiments. The influence of an artificial atmosphere represented by an air cloud on the plasma formation parameters in the North Star-I experiment is studied. Gas-dynamic parameters of plasma formations and their optical characteristics are determined. We present a comparison of the calculation results with the results of measurements of the luminosity curves in two wavelength ranges of photometers, which shows good agreement between the calculated and experimental data.