Probing of the Artificial Hole in the Ionosphere with the HF Skywave Radar
Abstract
This paper describes an experiment in which high-frequency sky wave radar probed the artificial ionospheric hole that was caused by the flames of a rocket that was vertically launched and that penetrated the ionosphere. After the rocket had passed through the ionosphere the minimum time delay P(sub min)-f on the backscatter ionograms showed wave and focusing stripes resulting from the irregular structure. The results indicated a low electron density zone in the ionosphere along the rocket's path. Using the asymmetry quasi-cosine ionospheric hole model, the experimental P(sub min)-f was simulated using two-dimensional ray tracing. The results showed that the size of the hole in the ionosphere along the radar beams was 573 km and the critical frequency of the center was 2.6 MHz lower than the background critical frequency (12MHz). The ionospheric environment 350km away from the launching site was disturbed, and the propagation velocity of the ionospheric disturbance was about 50m/s.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Apr 14, 2005
- Accession Number
- ADA445929
Entities
People
- Fei Xu
- Guo-liang Xu
- Pei-nan Jiao
- Tie-han Ma
- Xin-sheng Zhang
- Zong-qiang Li