Characteristics of the Plasma Disturbance Excited at Altitudes of 450–500 km During the “Sura” Facility Operation

We discuss the results of measuring characteristics of the artificial plasma disturbances excited at altitudes of 450–500 km with the ionospheric F2 layer modified by high-power HF radio waves from the Sura facility. It is found that at these altitudes there are plasma temperature and density variations in the HF-perturbed magnetic flux tube. No ducts with increased plasma density that were previously observed at altitudes of about 660 km were detected. The results of the studies are compared with the data from the DEMETER satellite and the results of radiotomographic measurements. It is noted that the field-aligned currents induced in a perturbed ionosphere during the Sura operation were detected for the first time using SWARM satellites.