Beyond a Debye length from the membrane the electrostatic potential and ion densities do not vary appreciably.
It is mass selected, pulsed at 10-40Hz with pulse widths of 20-50ns for an average ion current density of less than 1 nAcm -2.
In the contactor plasma, the electron density is approximately equal to the ion density.
The primary column uses Köhler illumination to produce a uniform ion density across the target spot.
The plasma flow appears to be sufficient to maintain the nightside ionosphere at or near the observed median level of ion densities.
An electronic explanation is that capacitance is a function of ion density.
The electron density also has to be close to the ion density (quasineutrality), so there is also a dip in electron density.
If the ion density is known and the assumptions hold sufficiently well, the electric potential can be calculated simply from the Boltzmann relation.
We are all still fully functional, unless the sudden increase in ambient ion density is some kind of sensory artefact.
High resolution spectroscopic studies found that variations in the ion density, rotational velocity, and temperatures at the time of impact and afterwards were within the normal limits.