Estimation of the Parameters of Field-Aligned Ionospheric Irregularities in the Area of Active Impact

Abstract

AbstractIonospheric irregularities significantly affect radio-technical and telecommunication systems. The degree of this influence depends on the electromagnetic radiation range of these systems and irregularity properties. In recent times the possibilities of generation of artificial ionospheric irregularities by heating facilities are under intensive investigation. The facilities include a powerful decameter-range transmitter and a directed antenna. In the result of such impact on the ionosphere, electron concentration irregularities, including magnetically oriented ones, are formed. The irregularities are the structures aligned along the Earth’s magnetic field lines. Their longitudinal dimension is many times as large as their lateral dimension. A heating wave is intensively scattered on such irregularities. It is known as a self-scattering effect (Galushko et al. in Radiofizika i radioastronomiya—Radiophys. Radioastron. 17(2):112–124, 2012 (in Russ.) [1]). In this case, the scattering character is determined by irregularity parameters and topology (Sivokon’ et al. in Elektromagnitnye volny i elektronnye sistemy—Electromag. Waves Electron. Syst. 24(8):23–28, 2019 (in Russ.) [2]). On the basis of these features of magnetically oriented irregularities and applying the network of SDR receivers, located within the line-of-sight of the impact area, we investigate the dependence of irregularity motion velocity variations and direction on the intensity of impact on the ionosphere.KeywordsField-aligned irregularitiesSoft defined radio