IONOSPHERIC DRIFTS DEDUCED FROM SPACED INTERFEROMETER RECORDS.

Abstract

Correlation analysis of drift data obtained from three spaced interferometers was performed. A surprisingly low value for the drift velocity has been obtained in a large number of cases analyzed. The drift direction and its variation over a twelve month period has been found to be in agreement with scintillation data obtained earlier and analyzed by the Putter straight line technique using the same experimental setup. The characteristic velocity was, in nearly all the cases, much larger than the drift velocity. Only on ten percent of the occasions (seven out of sixty five) the magnitude of the drift velocity V exceeded the characteristic velocity V sub c. There is an uncertainty as to whether V sub c is a measure of the random changes in the irregularities or of the quality of the records. However, the ratio V sub c/V was found to increase twofold for data obtained during the sunrise and pre-sunrise hours when contrasted with data obtained during daylight and early evening hours. Since noise and interference are smaller during the pre-sunrise hours than during the daylight hours then V sub c is significant in this experiment. Correlation ellipses were found to be oriented in the northwest-southeast quadrants with deviations of from 20 to 40 degrees with respect to the drift velocity. Axial ratios, for the seven cases computed, varied from two to five. A discussion of Yerg's six point analysis is included and it is shown that, with certain limitations, the method yields reliable results. (Author)

Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
Jun 30, 1966
Accession Number
AD0642728

Entities

People

  • Braulio Dueno

Organizations

  • University of Puerto Rico at Mayaguez

Tags

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

  • Agreements
  • Correlation Analysis
  • Data Science
  • Daylight
  • Information Science
  • Interferometers
  • Mathematics
  • Quadrants
  • Scintillation
  • Uncertainty

Fields of Study

  • Physics

Readers

  • Mathematics or Statistics
  • Space/Atmospheric Physics.

Technology Areas

  • Space
  • Space - Orbital Debris