Analysis of the Effects from Equatorial Plasma Bubbles Detected by the C/NOFS Planar Langmuir Probe on the Propagation of Transionospheric Wideband Signals
Abstract
Ionospheric density irregularities degrade both the performance and the availability of space-based communication and navigation systems in different ways. Ionospheric irregularities and equatorial plasma bubbles (EPBs) exhibit random structures with scale sizes that can vary from several hundred kilometers to less than one meter. In this grant, Dr. Costa used ion density data recorded by the Planar Langmuir Probe (PLP) onboard the Communications/Navigation Outage Forecasting System (C/NOFS) satellite to create improved models of the ionospheric plasma environment. Their results indicate that (1) ion density irregularities with medium-to-large scale sizes did not distort the wideband signal no fading was observed; but (2) ion-density irregularities with small scale sizes are responsible for flat and frequency-selective fading. Further: The results identified small-scale ionospheric structures as responsible for the occurrence of flat and frequency-selective fading that harm wideband UHF (360 MHz 380 MHz) satellites transmissions received on the ground. Next, the results indicated that these harmful effects can be effectively mitigated by space-diversity (simultaneous reception of the same signal by two or more spaced receivers, followed by proper processing) or frequency-diversity (simultaneous transmission of the same signal using two or more frequency bands, followed by proper processing by a single receiver).The PI published two refereed journal papers and 5 conference proceedings. Most importantly, this work is transitioning to the USAF via collaborations with Chaosong Huang, Ronald G. Caton, Patrick A. Roddy, e John O. Ballenthin (Space Vehicle Directorate, Air Force Research Laboratory, Kirtland Air Force Base, NM, USA).In all this was a very successful project and I would definitely be supportive of further funding.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- May 25, 2022
- Accession Number
- AD1174905
Entities
People
- Emanoel Costa