A new model of amplitude fluctuations for radio propagation in solar corona during superior solar conjunction

Abstract

AbstractRadio communication links through the solar corona are disturbed by electron density fluctuations caused by coronal turbulence. This has become a problem for deep space exploration when the spacecraft is near superior conjunction with the Sun. With a forecast of the signal fluctuations the link could be adapted to compensate for these impairments in real time. Motivated by this need, we present a theoretical study of the signal fluctuations including an analytical expression for the amplitude fluctuations. The proposed model includes an anisotropic spectrum of density fluctuations, the solar wind “outer scale,” and the spectral exponent. The performance of this analytical solution is demonstrated by comparison with published data from spacecraft and with other existing analytical methods.