Wave Number and Input Impedance of a VLF Insulated Linear Antenna in an Anisotropic Ionosphere

We report a method to obtain the wave number and input impedance of a very low frequency (VLF) insulated linear antenna in an anisotropic ionosphere. Due to the anisotropy, electromagnetic fields in the ionosphere are decomposed into the ordinary wave and extraordinary wave. Wave equations for the layered structure are applied to access the wave number of the insulated antenna in the ionosphere via the derivation of the eigenvalue equation by using boundary conditions. The expression for the wave number is given based on some approximation formulas. Then, King’s antenna theory is further employed to solve the input impedance and current distribution of the antenna in the anisotropic medium. After the validation of the method is performed, near-field characteristics for an insulated antenna with different medium parameters in the anisotropic ionosphere are discussed. Effects of the electric density and geomagnetic field of the time-and space-varying anisotropic ionosphere on the distribution of normalized current are analyzed. This finding provides a promising avenue for getting electromagnetic characteristics of space-borne antennas.

Detection of Possible Short-Term Ionospheric Precursors of Strong Earthquakes Based on Changes in Diurnal Es Characteristics

The changes in two characteristics of the sporadic Е layer are studied for a pair of stations: the probability of the occurrence PEs and the limiting frequency of the ordinary wave of the sporadic E layer of the ionosphere foEs during a 10-day period of the preparation of 19 crustal earthquakes in the Pacific region with М = 6.5–7.4. The stations are located hundreds of kilometers from each other, but they fall within the zone of the preparation of a particular earthquake (the sizes of the earthquake preparation zone are estimated with formulas known in the scientific literature that relate the size of the radius of the earthquake preparation zone and the earthquake magnitude). The measurement data obtained at the ground stations of ionospheric vertical sounding are analyzed. The deviations of diurnal values of PEs (δPEs) from the median over the studied time interval and the integral diurnal values of the total irregular fluctuations in foEs (ΔfEsΣ) are used to identify possible ionospheric earthquake precursors. The coincidence of the time of appearance of the deviation maxima for both parameters before the earthquakes at each of the stations on the same day (from 1 to 4 days before the earthquake day) is recorded in the diurnal changes in the indicated values during the preparation periods of all of the considered earthquakes. The criteria for the identification of a short-term ionospheric earthquake precursor is discussed. Comparison of the analysis results for manual and automatic ionogram processing showed the prospects for the use the proposed parameters obtained according to the data of the distant ionosondes to identify the short-term ionospheric precursors of an earthquake with М = 6.5–7.0.

Analysis of the Ordinary and Extraordinary Ionospheric Modes for NVIS Digital Communications Channels

Sensor networks have become more popular in recent years, now featuring plenty of options and capabilities. Notwithstanding this, remote locations present many difficulties for their study and monitoring. High-frequency (HF) communications are presented as an alternative to satellite communications, being a low-cost and easy-to-deploy solution. Near vertical incidence skywave (NVIS) technology provides a coverage of approximately 250 km (depending on the frequency being used and the ionospheric conditions) without a line of sight using the ionosphere as a communication channel. This paper centers on the study of the ionosphere and its characteristic waves as two independent channels in order to improve any NVIS link, increasing its robustness or decreasing the size of the node antennas through the appliance of specific techniques. We studied the channel sounding of both the ordinary and extraordinary waves and their respective channels, analyzing parameters such as the delay spread and the channel’s availability for each wave. The frequency instability of the hardware used was also measured. Furthermore, the correlation coefficient of the impulse response between both signals was studied. Finally, we applied polarization diversity and two different combining techniques. These measurements were performed on a single frequency link, tuned to 5.4 MHz. An improvement on the mean bit energy-to-noise power spectral density (Eb/N0) was received and the bit error rate (BER) was achieved. The results obtained showed that the extraordinary mode had a higher availability throughout the day (15% more availability), but a delayed spread (approximately 0.3 ms mean value), similar to those of the ordinary wave. Furthermore, an improvement of up to 4 dB was achieved with the usage of polarization diversity, thus reducing transmission errors.

Variations in mesospheric temperature during polar mesospheric summer echoes.

The behavior of the ordinary radio wave amplitude at the frequency of 2.66 MHz of the partial reflection radar of the Polar Geophysical Institute (Tumanny observatory, Murmansk region, 69.0N, 35.7E) during the appearance of the polar mesospheric summer echoes on August 15, 2015 was considered. Using of radio physical method from the spectra of the amplitude at different heights the mesospheric temperature profile was calculated for the considered data. Significant reductionof temperature values near the heights of the mesopause corresponded to sharp changes in the amplitude spectra of the ordinary wave.

Calculation of electric field strength in the ionospheric F-region

In this study, we have calculated the electric field strength, Ey, of a plane electromagnetic wave with frequency, ?, propagation along z-axes and the polarized y-axes in 1-D by using Wentzel, Kramers, and Brillouin method for both with and without collision conditions in ionospheric F-region with regard to seasonal and local time. Also, the refractive index of ordinary wave and attenuation factor was computed for collision and collision-free conditions. When the collisions were calculated in the F-region of the ionosphere, it was observed that the electric field strength decreased for all seasons and Ey increased between 275-400 km altitudes encountering approximately hmF2 ?the peak of F2? for the accepted conditions.

Penetration Effect: Exotic Behavior of a Wave in Anisotropic Media

Plane harmonic wave propagation along an interface between vacuum and a semi-infinite uniaxial anisotropic medium is considered. It is shown that there is a bulk wave within an anisotropic medium in this case. It is also proved for the first time that a reflected wave must propagate perpendicularly to an interface. Moreover, a reflected wave is absent in the case of ordinary wave propagation.