COMPARISON OF ACOUSTIC-GRAVITY WAVE THEORY WITH HF AND UHF OBSERVATIONS.
Abstract
During the summer of 1967 a series of experiments involving the simultaneous operation of the Thomson scatter radar of the Arecibo Ionospheric observatory and a network of three spaced HF phase path sounders were conducted for studying the structure of the travelling ionospheric disturbances (TIDs). The Thomson scatter radar operated at 430 MHz has been used to measure the period, phase and amplitude of the disturbances as a function of height while the horizontal phase velocity information was derived from the HF measurements. The results of these experiments and a qualitative interpretation of the observed TIDs in terms of the gravity wave theory were given in an earlier report (Thome and Rao, 1968). It was demonstrated there by means of a ray tracing technique that the HF and the Thomson scatter measurements were self-consistent. In this report we present the results of an investigation in which the following aspects have been studied in detail. First, a quantitative comparison of the observations with the theory related to the gravity wave interaction with the ionosphere is undertaken. Second, the interaction of the HF rays with the TIDs is investigated by means of a technique of ray tracing through the Thomson scatter derived electron density profiles. Finally an attempt has been made to determine the wave sources for the observed TIDs by correlating with various geophysical events. (Author)
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- May 01, 1969
- Accession Number
- AD0689881
Entities
People
- George D. Thome
- Pendyala B. Rao