Electron-neutral collisions effects on Langmuir probe in the lower E-region ionosphere

Abstract

We present the first set of particle-in-cell simulations including Monte Carlo collisions between charged and neutral particles used to simulate a cylindrical Langmuir probe in the electron saturation regime with a collisional electron sheath. We use a setup focused on the E-region ionosphere; however, the results of these simulations are analyzed in a general sense using dimensionless values. We find that the electron currents get enhanced as the collision frequency for electrons increases and the values of <i>𝜆��𝑒��/𝜆��𝐷��→1</i>, where <i>λe</i> is the electron mean free path and <i>λD</i> is the electron Debye length. In addition, we apply the simulation results to a sounding rocket experiment and show how we can correct the currents for the Investigation of Cusp Irregularities-4 sounding rocket due to collisions while it flies through the E-region.