An Assessment of the Application of In situ Ion-Density Data from DMSP (Defense Meteorology Satellite Program) to Modeling of Transionospheric Scintillation
Abstract
Modern military communication, navigation, and surveillance systems depend on reliable, noise-free transionospheric radio frequency channels. They can be severely impacted by small scale electron density irregularities in the ionosphere which cause both phase and amplitude scintillation. Basic tools used in planning and mitigation schemes are climatological in nature and thus may greatly over- and under -estimate the effects of scintillation in a given scenario. This report describes the second year of an investigation into the feasibility of using in situ observations of the ionosphere from the USAF DMSP satellite to calculate estimates of irregularity parameters which could be used to update scintillation models in near real-time. Methods for processing DMSP scintillation Meter (SM) data and for calculating estimates of C sub K L from the SM data are described. Results of the analysis of DMSP SM data from a coordinated data-collection campaign run in January 1988 are presented. Keywords: Ionosphere; Ionospheric scintillation; Radiowave scintillation; Defense meteorology satellite program.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Sep 15, 1988
- Accession Number
- ADA202415
Entities
People
- James A. Secan
- Robert M. Bussey
Organizations
- Air Force Research Laboratory