Backscatter of Radio Waves by Spheroidal Rain Drops

Radiophysics and Quantum Electronics - The characteristics of backscattering of radio waves from the drops in the clouds and precipitation are calculated using the algorithm for separating the...     

Radio Emission of Rydberg Atoms in the Upper Atmosphere Modified by High-Power HF Radio Waves

Radiophysics and Quantum Electronics - We report on the results of studying the radio emission of the Rydberg states of atoms and molecules in the Earth’s upper atmosphere at ionospheric...     

Anomalous Absorption of Radio Waves by Small-Scale Magnetic-Field-Aligned Irregularities

We study the anomalous absorption of radio waves by small-scale magnetic-field-aligned artificial irregularities taking into account the effect of such irregularities on the propagation of the excited Z -mode. It is shown that this process becomes significant if the transverse size of field-aligned irregularities is of the order of 0.1c/ω or greater, where ω is the radio wave frequency and c is the speed of light in vacuum.__________Translated from Izvestiya Vysshikh Uchebnykh Zavedenii, Radiofizika, Vol. 48, No. 3, pp. 181–197, March 2005.     

Phase Fluctuations of Radio Waves in the Saturated-Scintillation Regime

We consider the problem of phase fluctuations of radio waves behind a strong phase screen and in an optically thick layer. It is shown that the phase-fluctuation distribution of the received radiation at an observation point located in the saturated-scintillation area behind a turbulent phase screen is almost identical to the normal distribution of phase fluctuations of the wave on the screen. Amplitude and phase fluctuations of the received radiation are uncorrelated both for single-point and space-diversity reception if, in the latter case, the distance between the observation points exceeds the spatial scale of the diffraction component of the complex field of the received signal. Expressions for the mean square and the structural function of phase fluctuations of radio waves behind a turbulent phase screen in the saturated-scintillation regime are obtained. It is shown that the structural function of phase fluctuations in the diffraction component of the scattered field, which is exactly the function that forms saturated scintillations of the received radiation, almost coincides with the structural function of phase fluctuations on the screen. It is also shown that the diffraction effects can be neglected and the geometric-optical approximation should be used when calculating statistical characteristics of phase fluctuations of a plane wave in the saturated-scintillation area in an optically thick layer with large-scale refractive-index irregularities. __________ Translated from Izvestiya Vysshikh Uchebnykh Zavedenii, Radiofizika, Vol. 48, No. 4, pp. 275–282, April 2005     

Results of Experiments on Modification of the Sporadic E-Layer by Powerful HF Radio Waves

We present the results of experiments on modification of the sporadic E-layer of the Earth's ionosphere by a powerful vertical beam of HF radio waves. The experiments were performed at the Sura heating facility (Radiophysical Research Institute, Nizhny Novgorod) from May 31 to June 4, 2001. The main results were obtained in May 31 from 17:30 to 20:00 MSK, when the E_s layer was fairly stable and the pump frequency was in the range where this layer was transparent. The diagnostics of the ionosphere was performed using X-mode probe waves in the frequency range f_pr=4.3-7.8 MHz. The ionosphere plasma heating was accompanied by an increase in the intensity of probe waves, reflected from the E_s layer, with frequencies close to or slightly higher than the critical frequency of the layer. Artificial fluctuations of the reflected signal appeared in the entire frequency range of sounding. We consider the dynamical characteristics of the observed phenomena and their dependence on the frequency f_pr and the parameters of the E_s layer.     

Phase Fluctuations of Radio Waves Behind a Turbulent Phase Screen

We consider the problem of phase fluctuations of radio waves behind a turbulent optically thin irregular layer (phase screen). Expressions are derived for the main statistical characteristics of phase fluctuations in the case where modern direct methods based on measurements of the complex field of the received radiation are used to obtain these characteristics. Regimes of weak and saturated scintillations of signals are analyzed. It is shown that in the case of weak scintillations, such statistical characteristics of phase fluctuations of the received radiation as the structure function and the fluctuation spectra for single-point and interference reception almost coincide with those at the screen output. In the regime of saturated scintillations, we obtain an information on the structure function of phase fluctuations of the received radiation in the cases of relatively large and small spatial separations of the reception points. The results obtained allow one to correctly analyze the data of modern experiments on remote sensing of the near-Earth and space plasmas with the help of direct phase methods for environmental diagnostics. __________ Translated from Izvestiya Vysshikh Uchebnykh Zavedenii, Radiofizika, Vol. 48, No. 7, pp. 563–573, July 2005.     

Simulation of Large-Scale Disturbances of the Near-Earth Plasma Affected by High-Power High-Frequency Radio Waves from the Sura Heating Facility

Radiophysics and Quantum Electronics - We present the results of simulation of large-scale disturbances of the near-Earth plasma modified by high-power HF radio waves from the Sura heating...     

Propagation of VHF Radio Waves on Sea Routes in the South Polar Latitudes

We present the results of meteorological and radiometeorological observations as well as the results of measurements of the attenuation factor of very-high-frequency (VHF) radio waves during the 28th Soviet Antarctic expedition in January–March 1983. It is shown that radiometeorological parameters over the South ocean area in summer almost coincide with the corresponding averaged parameters over the land in winter. The main mechanism of radio-wave propagation at distances over 100 km is single scattering by turbulent fluctuations of the atmospheric refractive index. Absolute values of the running attenuation at high frequencies are low compared to those in other climatic areas. __________ Translated from Izvestiya Vysshikh Uchebnykh Zavedenii, Radiofizika, Vol. 48, No. 7, pp. 588–595, August 2005.     

Radio Frequency Heating of Plasmas Using Compressional Alfvén Waves

Two factors favor the use of relatively low frequencies (below a few megahertz) for heating large fusion plasmas. The first is that supplying the necessary few hundred megawatts of radio frequency power is already within current technological possibilities. The second is the exploitation of well-separated resonances of Alfvén waves inside the plasma-filled reactor cavity to greatly simplify the antenna structure. The large minor radius and high plasma density in TFTR-class and reactor tokamaks will accommodate fast-wave toroidal eigenmodes at frequencies which are well below all the cyclotron frequencies of ions of the fuel gas and of most impurities (carbon, oxygen, iron). Electron transit-time magnetic pumping and Landau damping provide adequate absorption mechanisms, but care is necessary to achieve RF power deposition deep inside the plasma.     

New Results of Studying the Lower Ionosphere by the Method of Resonance Scattering of Radio Waves from Artificial Periodic Inhomogeneities

We present the results of studying the lower ionosphere in 2000–2004 at the “Sura” heating facility by the method of resonance scattering of radio waves from artificial periodic inhomogeneities of the ionospheric plasma. Experimental data on a study of the sunset–sunrise phenomena in the ionospheric D region and the possibility of determining the concentrations of atomic oxygen and excited molecular oxygen are discussed. The results of studying the sporadic layers of ionization are presented and the method for a study of ion composition of the E_s layer is discussed. Data of the August 2004 experiments on a study of the influence of heating the ionosphere on the E_s layer and characteristics of artificial periodic inhomogeneities are presented. Prospects for further research are discussed. __________ Translated from Izvestiya Vysshikh Uchebnykh Zavedenii, Radiofizika, Vol. 48, No. 9, pp. 757–771, September 2005.     

Amplitude and Phase Fluctuations of Decimeter Radio Waves Raying the Atmosphere via Satellite-to-Satellite Paths

We present the results of experimental studies of the atmospheric phase and amplitude fluctuations of decimeter radio waves in radio occultation measurements using paths connecting the MICROLAB satellite and the satellites of the GPS navigation system. The dependences of the amplitude- and phase-fluctuation variance on the minimum altitude of the ray trajectory and the frequency spectra of the fluctuations are presented. The experimental data are compared with the theory of radio-wave propagation in random media. We determine the spectral index of irregularities of the atmospheric refractive index, the external scale of the irregularities, and the variance of the refractive-index fluctuations. It is shown that the radio occultation technique allows one to monitor small-scale irregularities of the atmosphere.     

Dielectric Characteristics for Radio Frequency Waves in a Laboratory Dipole Plasma

Transverse and parallel dielectric permittivity elements have been derived for radio frequency waves in a laboratory dipole magnetic field plasma. Vlasov equation is resolved for both the trapped and untrapped particles as a boundary value problem to define their separate contributions to the dielectric tensor components. To estimate the wave power absorbed in the plasma volume the perturbed electric field and current density components are decomposed in a Fourier series over the poloidal angle. In this case, the dielectric characteristics can be analyzed independently of the solution of the Maxwell's equations. As usual, imaginary part of the parallel permittivity elements is necessary to estimate the electron Landau damping of radio frequency waves, whereas imaginary part of the transverse permittivity elements is important to estimate the wave dissipation by the cyclotron resonances. Computations of the imaginary part of the parallel permittivity elements are carried out in a wide range of the wave frequencies. (© 2006 WILEY‐VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)     

Studies of the Irregular Structure of the Ionosphere using Scattering of Radio Waves on Artificial Periodic Inhomogeneities

We present new results of our studies of the irregular structure of the ionosphere using artificial periodic inhomogeneities (APIs) of the ionospheric plasma. The observations were carried out from 9:00 to 17:00 in August 10–12, 1999 with a height step of 0.7 km and digital registration and real-time processing of the signal quadratures. It is shown that in many cases, the amplitude of the scattered signal is determined by the interference of radio waves scattered on APIs and on natural ionospheric formations including sporadic layers and large-scale natural irregularities. This allows one to study the irregular structure of the lower ionosphere by analyzing height-time dependences of the amplitude and phase of the scattered signal.     

Global Statistical Study of Ionospheric Waves Based on COSMIC GPS Radio Occultation Data

Extracting and parameterizing ionospheric waves globally and statistically is a longstanding problem. Based on the multichannel maximum entropy method(MMEM) used for studying ionospheric waves by previous work, we calculate the parameters of ionospheric waves by applying the MMEM to numerously temporally approximate and spatially close global-positioning-system radio occultation total electron content profile triples provided by the unique clustered satellites flight between years 2006 and 2007 right after the constellation observing system for meteorology, ionosphere, and climate(COSMIC) mission launch. The results show that the amplitude of ionospheric waves increases at the low and high latitudes(~0.15 TECU) and decreases in the mid-latitudes(~0.05 TECU). The vertical wavelength of the ionospheric waves increases in the mid-latitudes(e.g., ~50 km at altitudes of 200–250 km) and decreases at the low and high latitudes(e.g., ~35 km at altitudes of 200–250 km).The horizontal wavelength shows a similar result(e.g., ~1400 km in the mid-latitudes and ~800 km at the low and high latitudes).