Possibility of the appearance of an anomalous mode in the propagation of short radio waves in the low-latitude ionosphere

Abstract

The possibility of the appearance of an anomalous mechanism of propagation of short radio waves in the low-latitude ionosphere, in which a particular family of ray trajectories trapped between crests of the equatorial anomaly arises, is discussed within the framework of geometrical optics. A numerical analysis of such trajectories is made. An analytic procedure, connected with the calculation of horizontal projections of rays, is proposed for quantitative estimates of this propagation mechanism. A series of time, angle, and energy estimates is given.