Attenuation of low-frequency electromagnetic wave in the thin sheath enveloping a high-speed vehicle upon re-entry

Abstract

Low-frequency (LF) electromagnetic (EM) waves are suggested as potentially solving “radio blackout” caused by a plasma sheath enveloping a high-speed vehicle on re-entry. However, the traditional plasma absorption theory neglects the fact that the plasma sheath is electrically small compared to LF EM wavelengths. To understand clearly the attenuation of such waves through the plasma sheath, different attenuation mechanisms for the electric field (SE) and magnetic field (SH) were studied using the equivalent circuit approach. Analytical expressions were derived by modeling the plasma sheath as a spherical shell, and numerical simulations were performed to validate the effectiveness of the expressions. SE and SH are calculated for various plasma parameter settings; the EM wave attenuations obtained from plasma absorption theory are used for comparison. Results show that, instead of SE and SH being equal in the plasma absorption theory, SE and SH are no longer the same for electrically small sizes. Whereas |SH| is close to that from plasma absorption theory, |SE| is much higher. Further analysis shows that |SH| is a function of the ratio of electron density (ne) and collision frequency (ve) and increases with increasing ne/ve. Numerical simulations with radio-attenuation-measurement-C-like vehicle's plasma sheath parameters are performed and the results show that the magnetic field attenuation in the front part of the vehicle is much lower than in the rear. So it is suggested to place the magnetic loop antenna in the very front part of the vehicle. Finally, SH at different frequencies are calculated using plasma sheath parameter values simulating the re-entry phase of a radio-attenuation measurement-C vehicle and results show that such a vehicle might overcome radio blackout during the entire re-entry phase if systems operating below 3 MHz and above the L-band are combined with a lower-frequency system working below Earth's ionosphere and a higher-frequency system working above the Earth's ionosphere.