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Effect of the Earth's Albedo on the Ionospheric D Layer
Author(s) -
Gassmann G. J.,
Wagner R. A.
Publication year - 1969
Publication title -
radio science
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.371
H-Index - 84
eISSN - 1944-799X
pISSN - 0048-6604
DOI - 10.1029/rs004i006p00529
Subject(s) - ionosphere , cloud cover , atmospheric sciences , albedo (alchemy) , meteorology , amplitude , environmental science , cover (algebra) , absorption (acoustics) , geology , physics , cloud computing , geophysics , optics , mechanical engineering , engineering , performance art , computer science , art history , operating system , art
An aircraft carrying an ionospheric sounder traversed the boundaries of extended cloud cover near Los Angeles five times on July 18, 1967. Amplitudes of ionospheric E‐layer echoes at 3 MHz were received and recorded on magnetic tape, and median values were determined in 1‐minute intervals. Although these values scattered over ±3 decibels, the average median was lower, by 2.1 decibels, when the aircraft was over cloud cover than when the aircraft was over a cloud‐free area. The results suggest that an enhancement of the flux of visible light due to the reflecting cloud cover (estimated albedo 40%) changed the D‐layer chemistry in such a way that the electron density increased, resulting in a (6±3)% increase of two‐way non‐deviative absorption.