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Model investigations of radio wave propagation in the lower ionosphere to determine electron densities from MF pulse sounding
Author(s) -
Gruschwitz E.H.
Publication year - 1974
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/rs009i007p00659
Subject(s) - ionosphere , depth sounding , electron density , computational physics , radio wave , electron , ionospheric sounding , pulse (music) , physics , collision frequency , range (aeronautics) , radio propagation , geology , atmospheric sciences , optics , geophysics , materials science , astronomy , oceanography , quantum mechanics , detector , composite material
In this paper full‐wave calculations are described to investigate the propagation of MF radio waves in the range from 255 to 950 kHz in the lower ionosphere. The method of investigation makes use of matrix multiplications with the ionosphere divided into homogeneous layers of 100‐m thickness. The model calculations provide conclusions from MF pulse sounding results on electron density and collision frequency profiles in the height interval from 50 to 100 km. The diurnal variation of electron density in the lower ionosphere is presented. Reflections observed from heights of about 75 and 87 km during the day are shown to be produced by steep gradients of electron density.