Physical research and numerical modeling of the lower ionosphere perturbed by powerful radio emission. Part 1. Brief review and problem statement

The main aim, formulated in the first part of article, is to carry out detailed numerical studies of the chemical, ionization, optical, and temperature characteristics of the lower ionosphere perturbed by powerful radio emission. The brief review of the main experimental and theoretical researches of physical phenomena occurring in the ionosphere when it is heated by high-power high-frequency radio waves from heating facilities is given. The decisive role of the $D$-region of the ionosphere in the absorption of radio beam energy is shown. A detailed analysis of kinetic processes in the disturbed $D$-region, which is the most complex in kinetic terms, has been performed. It is shown that for a complete description of the ionization-chemical and optical characteristics of the disturbed region, it is necessary to take into account more than 70 components, which, according to their main physical content, can be conveniently divided into five groups. A kinetic model is presented to describe changes in the concentrations of components interacting (the total number of reactions is 259). The system of kinetic equations was solved using a semi-implicit numerical method specially adapted to such problems. Based on the proposed structure, a software package was developed in which the algorithm scheme allowed changing both the content of individual program blocks and their number, which made it possible to conduct detailed numerical studies of individual processes in the behavior of the parameters of the perturbed region. The complete numerical algorithm is based on the two-temperature approximation, in which the main attention was paid to the calculation of the electron temperature, since its behavior is determined by inelastic kinetic processes involving electrons. The formulation of the problem is of a rather general nature and makes it possible to calculate the parameters of the disturbed ionosphere in a wide range of powers and frequencies of radio emission. Based on the developed numerical technique, it is possible to study a wide range of phenomena both in the natural and disturbed ionosphere.