AN OBSERVATION OF A LARGE, SUDDEN IONOSPHERIC TOTAL ELECTRON CONTENT DECREASE,
Abstract
Polarization determinations of signals transmitted from Fort Monmouth, New Jersey to Hamilton, Massachusetts via the moon were made during the winter of 1961-1962 to determine changes in ionospheric columnar electron content. On 10 January 1962, a geomagnetically disturbed day, during the 1030-1200 EST period, the columnar content instead of increasing as it normally does on quiet days, fell rapidly by approximately fifty percent. Since only one frequency was used and no receiver was operating at the Fort t Monmouth site, only a relative columnar content change along the sum of the transmitting and receiving ionospheric legs could be measured. The sub-ionospheric latitude along both legs of the path moved northward by about 1.5 degree during this period indicating a large latitude gradient in columnar content. Large latitude gradients in columnar electron content during geomagnetically disturbed periods have been reported from satellite Faraday analysis and topside soundings, but no change of this order of magnitude has previously been observed. (Author)
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Aug 01, 1964
- Accession Number
- AD0448308
Entities
People
- H. E. Whitney
- J. A. Klobuchar
- R. S. Allen
Organizations
- Air Force Cambridge Research Laboratories