Depolarization of the electromagnetic field scattered by a three-dimensional large-scale irregularity of the lower ionosphere

Abstract

This paper develops analytical and numerical methods for the solution of three-dimensional problems of radio wave propagation. We consider a three-dimensional vector problem for the electromagnetic field of a vertical electric dipole in a planar Earth-ionosphere waveguide with a largescale local irregularity of negative characteristics at the anisotropic ionospheric boundary. The field components at the boundary surfaces obey the Leontovich boundary conditions. The problem is reduced to a system of two-dimensional integral equations taking into account the overexcitation and depolarization of the field scattered by the irregularity. Using asymptotic (with respect to the parameter kr≫1, where r is the distance from the source or receiver to the nearest point of the irregularity, k=2π/λ, and λ is the radio wavelength) integration over the direction perpendicular to the ray path, we transform this system to one-dimensional integral equations where integration contours represent the geometric contour of the irregularity. The system is numerically solved in the diagonal approximation, combining direct inversion of the Volterra integral operator and subsequent iterations. The proposed numerical algorithm reduces the computer time required for the solution of this problem and is applicable for studying both small-scale and large-scale irregularities. We obtained novel estimates for the field components that are not excited by the source but result entirely from scattering by the sample three-dimensional ionospheric irregularity.