The impact of PMSE and NLC particles on VLF propagation
Résumé
For profiles during the 10h about midnight and under quiet geomagnetic conditions, where the electron density at 85km would normally be less than 500el/cc, it was found that received signal perturbations were significant, of the order of 1?4dB and 5?40° of phase. Perturbation amplitudes increase roughly as the square root of frequency. At short range perturbations are rather erratic, but more consistent at large ranges, readily interpretable in terms of the shifts in excitation factor, attenuation factor and v/c ratios for Wait's modes. Under these conditions such shifts should be detectable by a well constituted experiment involving multiple paths and multiple frequencies in the north polar region in summer. It is anticipated that VLF propagation could be a valuable diagnostic for biteout/PMSE when electron density at 85km is under 500el/cc, under which circumstances PMSE are not directly detectable by VHF/UHF radars.
Key words. Electromagnetism (wave propagation) ? Ionosphere (polar ionosphere) ? Radioscience (ionospheric propagation)