DETERMINATION OF THE IONOSPHERIC ELECTRON CONTENT UTILIZING SATELLITE SIGNALS.

Abstract

Propagation effects upon radio signals emitted by earth satellites lead to various methods for measuring ionospheric electron content. The total subsatellite content is obtained by measurements of the satellite itself (active method obtaining and integrating profiles from topside sounding) or through observations at the ground of satellite c-w transmissions (passive methods using Doppler or Faraday effect, or both simultaneously). Efforts are made to compare data from active and passive methods. The topside-sounder profile data, combined with appropriate bottomside data, yield complete electron-density profiles that, when integrated, can be compared with electron-content data from passive methods. However, a direct comparison is possible only when active and passive observations can be made simultaneously. Such coincidence of the positions of two satellites is a rare case. Therefore, corrections have to be applied for different times of data-taking as related to diurnal, seasonal, or solar-cycle variations. Other discrepancies have been found that are related to the fact that topside and bottomside profiles sometimes do not match at F2 maximum.

Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
Sep 01, 1964
Accession Number
AD0610110

Entities

People

  • A. Papayoanou
  • H. Soicher
  • P. R. Arendt

Organizations

  • United States Army Communications-Electronics Command

Tags

Communities of Interest

  • Space

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

  • Artificial Satellites
  • Charged Particles
  • Cycles
  • Electron Density
  • Electrons
  • Elementary Fermions
  • Elementary Particles
  • Faraday Effect
  • Fermions
  • Leptons
  • Measurement
  • Observation
  • Radio Signals
  • Solar Cycle

Readers

  • Astronomy and Astrophysics.
  • Atmospheric Remote Sensing.

Technology Areas

  • Microelectronics
  • Space