Plasmas Involving Molecules

Abstract

A part of the atmosphere of the Earth and other planets is ionized by solar radiation and precipitating particles from outside. The part of rather high density of electrons is called an ionosphere. This is a typical example of molecular plasmas in nature. Here we consider the ionosphere on the Earth. For the ionospheres on the other planets, as well as details of the Earth’s ionosphere, see the text book of Schunk and Nagy [144].