Power spectra of ionospheric scintillations obtained from observations of Cygnus A on the radio telescope URAN-4

Abstract

There are many records of Cygnus A passages through the direction pattern obtained on the radio telescope URAN-4 during 1998–2004. Most of these show fluctuations in the flux density caused by ionospheric scintillations. The power spectrum is an important characteristic of the stochastic process and such processes are the main reason for the nature of scintillations. In this paper, estimations of the power spectra of ionospheric scintillations are made from the observations of Cyg A on the radio telescope URAN-4. Examples of the spectra are presented for observations under different circumstances and for several scintillation activity levels.