Anisotropic Structure of Small-Scale Ionospheric Turbulence

We consider various theoretical models for the spectrum of small-scale ionospheric turbulence. The particular role of the generalized model of the ionospheric-turbulence spectrum, which takes into account that the anisotropy (extension) of small-scale irregularities of the upper ionosphere along the Earth's magnetic field direction depends on the transverse scale of those irregularities, is emphasized. The results of the. rst target experiments on radio sensing of the midlatitude ionosphere by signals from on-orbit satellites at frequencies 150 and 400 MHz under conditions of increased solar activity are presented. The experiments were performed at the radiophysical facility in the Nizhny Novgorod region in 2003. We studied statistical characteristics of the amplitude fluctuations of the received signals for different angles ϑ between the line of sight from a satellite to a ground-based reception point and the Earth's magnetic field direction. It was found in the course of the experiments that the spectrum slope of amplitude fluctuations of the received radiation is a function of the angle ϑ. The obtained result agrees with the generalized model of the ionospheric-turbulence spectrum and can be an argument in favor of the pronounced anisotropic structure of small-scale electron-density irregularities of the midlatitude ionosphere under disturbed geophysical conditions. __________ Translated from Izvestiya Vysshikh Uchebnykh Zavedenii, Radiofizika, Vol. 48, No. 5, pp. 382–387, May 2005.     

Multipower spectrum of small-scale ionospheric turbulence

We consider the problem of diagnostics of the local structure of small-scale ionospheric turbulence using the multifractal analysis of received signals from the Earth’s orbital satellites after the radio sounding of the inhomogeneous ionosphere by these signals. In particular, it is shown that analysis of the multifractal structure of the received-signal amplitude records by the method of multidimensional structural functions allows one to determine the indices of the multipower local spectra of the small-scale ionospheric turbulence, which are inherent in it due to the nonuniform spatial distribution of small-scale fluctuations of the electron number density. It is noted that information on the multipower spectrum of small-scale ionospheric turbulence is not available for the conventional radio scintillation method based on the classical spectral analysis of received signals during the remote radio sounding of the ionosphere. At the same time, the method of multidimensional structural functions is efficient under conditions of actual nonstationarity of the process of scattering of the HF radio waves by the randomly inhomogeneous ionospheric plasma. The method of multidimensional structural functions is used for the multifractal processing of received signals of orbital satellites during special experiments on radio sounding of the midlatitude ionosphere under natural conditions and its modification by high-power HF radio waves. First data on the indices of the multipower local spectra of small-scale ionospheric turbulence are obtained. Translated from Izvestiya Vysshikh Uchebnykh Zavedenii, Radiofizika, Vol. 52, No. 1, pp. 14–22, January 2009.     

On fractal properties of small-scale ionospheric irregularities

We consider the problem of relating the local structure of small-scale ionospheric turbulence to the measured frequency-spectrum indices and fractal dimensions of amplitude records of the signals received on the Earth during remote sensing of the ionosphere onboard the satellites. It is shown that knowledge of these parameters permits one to determine the true values of the local-spectrum indices of the electron-density fluctuations for isotropic small-scale turbulence of the ionosphere both under natural conditions and during its modification by high-power short-wave radiation as well as to specify fractal dimensions of space filled by small-scale irregularities of the turbulent structures in the ionosphere. We show the necessity of detailed experimental studies of the fractal properties of small-scale ionospheric irregularities of both natural and artificial origin by using a multifractal analysis in combination with the synchronous correlation processing of received signals during remote sensing of the ionosphere. This will give important information on the local structure of small-scale ionospheric turbulence inaccessible for studies within the framework of the classical method of radio scintillation. __________ Translated from Izvestiya Vysshikh Uchebnykh Zavedenii, Radiofizika, Vol. 50, No. 4, pp. 300–308, April 2007.     

Magnetic zenith effect and some features of the multifractal structure of the small-scale artificial ionospheric turbulence

We present the results of the experiment on studying the multifractal structure (with inhomogeneity sizes from tens to hundreds of meters across the Earth’s magnetic field) of the artificial ionospheric turbulence when the midlatitude ionosphere is affected by high-power HF radio waves. The experimental studies were performed on the basis of the “Sura” heating facility with the help of radio sounding of the disturbed region of the ionospheric plasma by signals from the Earth’s orbital satellites. The influence of the magnetic zenith effect on measured multifractal characteristics of the small-scale artificial turbulence of the midlatitude ionosphere was examined. In the case of vertical radio sounding of the disturbed ionosphere region, the measured multipower and generalized multifractal spectra of turbulence coincide well with similar multifractal characteristics of the ionospheric turbulence under natural conditions. This result is explained by the fact that the scattering of signals by weak quasi-isotropic small-scale inhomogeneities of the electron number density in a thick layer with a typical size of several hundred kilometers above the region of reflection of high-power HF radio waves gives the major contribution to the observed amplitude fluctuations of received signals. In the case of oblique sounding of the disturbance region at small angles between the line of sight to the satellite and the direction of the Earth’s magnetic field, the nonuniform structure of the small-scale turbulence with a relatively narrow multipower spectrum and small variations in the generalized multifractal spectrum of the electron number density was detected. Such a fairly well ordered structure of the turbulence is explained by the influence of the magnetic zenith effect on the generation of anisotropic small-scale artificial turbulence in a thin layer having a typical size of several ten kilometers and located below the pump-wave reflection height in the upper ionosphere.     

On fractal structure of large-scale electron-density inhomogeneities of traveling disturbances in the midlatitude ionosphere

We present the results of studies of the multifractal structure of slow (of duration τ ≈ 10 s) fluctuations of the received-signal amplitudes in special experiments on radio-raying of the midlatitude ionosphere by signals from orbital satellites in 2004–2006. It is shown, in particular, that the method of multifractal analysis of amplitude records of the received signals yields information on the spectrum of large-scale ionospheric inhomogeneities, which is inaccessible for the classical method of radio scintillations. From the results of measurements with the use of multifractal processing of experimental data, we found that large-scale (tens of kilometers) quasiregular electron-density inhomogeneities of traveling ionospheric disturbances (TIDs) have a power-law spectrum. It is exactly the power-law form of the spatial spectrum of large-scale inhomogeneities of TIDs that can be the reason for the observed multifractal structure of the intermittency of slow fluctuations of the received-signal amplitudes. However, under conditions of a developed small-scale turbulence of TIDs, the observed multifractal structure of the received signals is, as a rule, stipulated by the spatial inhomogeneity of the variance of the integral electron-density fluctuations of small-scale inhomogeneities on scales comparable with the sizes of large-scale inhomogeneities of TIDs. __________ Translated from Izvestiya Vysshikh Uchebnykh Zavedenii, Radiofizika, Vol. 51, No. 3, pp. 191–198, March 2008.     

Some features of the fractal structure of the developed small-scale ionospheric turbulence

We present the results of the first studies of the fractal structure of the developed small-scale ionospheric turbulence (SSIT) during special experiments on radio-raying of the midlatitude ionosphere by signals from orbital satellites in 2005–2006. It is established that under conditions of developed turbulence, typical values of the fractal dimension of the space occupied by natural SSIT inhomogeneities are, as a rule, close to the topological dimension of their embedding space, and the true values of the spectral index of isotropic SSIT only slightly differ from the corresponding generally accepted nominal values in the embedding space. Nevertheless, even small differences in the mentioned parameters detected in the experiment witness a sharply nonuniform distribution of the local fractal structures of the developed SSIT in space. We propose a stochastic model of the nonstationary process for fast amplitude fluctuations of signals during their propagation in the ionosphere with nonuniform spatial distribution of small-scale electron-density fluctuations. Eventually, namely this nonuniform distribution of small-scale electron-density fluctuations leads to the specific multifractal structure of the amplitude records of received signals. __________ Translated from Izvestiya Vysshikh Uchebnykh Zavedenii, Radiofizika, Vol. 51, No. 4, pp. 287–294, April 2008.     

Generation of ionospheric irregularities upon propagation of solitary internal gravity wave during the major magnetic storm of October 29–31, 2003

Using the technique of global detection of ionospheric disturbances, based on processing the data of the global GPS-receiver network, we obtain experimental proof of the existence of a solitary wave (soliton) in the atmosphere during the main phase of the major magnetic storm of October 30, 2003. The soliton with a characteristic duration of about 40 min and a relative amplitude of up to 40%, originated at the moment of the maximum disturbance of the Earth’s magnetic field, traveled without changing its shape at a distance of up to 4500 km with a velocity of 1400 m/s, which exceeded the atmospheric sound velocity at the heights of the main electron-density maximum in the ionosphere (about 300 km) by a factor of 1.5. The intensity of variations in the total electron content in the period range 1–10 min increases by an order of magnitude as the soliton propagates from the North-East to the South-West of the USA in the regions with the maximum amplitude of the large-scale disturbance. This corresponds to enhancement of ionospheric irregularities with scales from 10 to 100 km, and also of small-scale irregularities (SSI) with scales of 100 to 1000 m, since the spectrum of the ionospheric irregularities has a power-law shape. Spatio-temporal characteristics of the density distribution of phase slips of GPS signals are close to the corresponding characteristics of the SSI intensity. This agrees with the existing concept that the phase slips result from scattering of GPS radio signals by SSIs. Both the SSI amplitude and the density of phase slips decrease as the soliton decays in amplitude. __________ Translated from Izvestiya Vysshikh Uchebnykh Zavedenii, Radiofizika, Vol. 49, No. 2, pp. 89–104, February 2006.     

Radiowave fluctuations in the polar ionosphere on the satellite-to-satellite paths under high solar activity

We analyze ionospheric fluctuations of decimeter radio waves on occultation polar paths between the navigational GPS satellites and the satellite CHAMP. Time dependences of the variance of the signal amplitude and amplitude fluctuation spectra under high solar activity in October–November 2003 are presented. The behavior of the signal amplitude fluctuations during occultation ionospheric sounding in the polar regions in different time of the day and in the equatorial regions in the daytime are considered. Radio-wave fluctuations are related to the solar-activity manifestations. It is shown that during strong solar-flare activity, intense small-scale plasma irregularities are excited in the polar ionosphere. __________ Translated from Izvestiya Vysshikh Uchebnykh Zavedenii, Radiofizika, Vol. 49, No. 3, pp. 185–193, March 2006.     

Fractal structure of artificial ionospheric turbulence

We show the results of the first experimental studies of the multifractal structure of the developed artificial ionospheric turbulence. As a result of the special multifractal analysis of the recorded amplitudes of signals from the orbital satellites, which were obtained during the experiments on radio tomography of the irregularities excited in the ionosphere by the powerful mid-latitude heating facility “Sura,” it is found that the characteristic multifractal structure of these records is caused by the nonuniform spatial distribution of the small-scale fluctuations of the electron number density in the artificial irregularities of the ionospheric plasma. Comparative analysis is performed for the multifractal spectra of fluctuations of both the amplitudes and energies of signals received from the orbital satellites upon radio transmission probing of the region of artificial ionospheric turbulence by these signals at three observation points located near the “Sura” heating facility and spaced apart to a distance of about 100–150 km. Translated from Izvestiya Vysshikh Uchebnykh Zavedenii, Radiofizika, Vol. 51, No. 11, pp. 970–976, November 2008.     

On the fractal structure of small-scale traveling ionospheric disturbances

We present the results of the studies of fractal properties of the small-scale inhomogeneities of traveling ionospheric disturbances in special experiments on radio-raying of the midlatitude ionosphere by signals from orbital satellites in 2004–2006. Along with the conventional correlation processing of the received signals, we performed their multifractal analysis, as well as fractal processing of signals by the correlation-integral method. Important information on fractal properties of the small-scale turbulence for the least studied part of the upper-ionosphere inhomogeneity spectrum in the interval of characteristic scales l ≈ 1–10 km is obtained. In particular, it is noted that the fractal structure of these inhomogeneities can be originated from the nonlinear “destruction” of several large-scale sinusoidal structures in a quasistable traveling disturbance. It is also noted that the multifractal spectra of amplitude fluctuations of the received signals obtained in the experiments in different years, in different time of the day, and in different seasons of the observations are quite similar. This is evidence that intermittency is a universal property of the plasma turbulence, at least for the midlatitude upper ionosphere. __________ Translated from Izvestiya Vysshikh Uchebnykh Zavedenii, Radiofizika, Vol. 51, No. 1, pp. 22–30, January 2008.     

Laboratory studies of spectral features of stimulated electromagnetic emission during the ionospheric heating experiments

We present the results of laboratory studies of the formation of a number of spectral components of stimulated electromagnetic emission, which are related to the excitation of small-scale irregularities in the heated ionosphere. In the laboratory experiment, the small-scale irregularity was formed as a result of thermal self-channeling of short-wavelength quasielectrostatic oscillations in a magnetoplasma. Using the method of probing waves, it is experimentally shown that the trapping and waveguide propagation in a small-scale plasma irregularity are exclusively due to Langmuir waves, whereas the upper-hybrid waves with anomalous dispersion are not trapped into the irregularity. It is found that satellites shifted by about 1–2 MHz from the carrier frequency (700 MHz under the experimental conditions) are formed in the Langmuir wave spectrum during the thermal self-channeling. Two mechanisms of generation of spectral satellites have been detected. The first (dynamic) mechanism is observed during the formation of a small-scale irregularity with rapidly increasing longitudinal size. In this case, one low-frequency satellite is excited in the trapped-wave spectrum. The mechanism of the formation of this satellite is apparently related to the Doppler shift of the frequency of the Langmuir waves trapped inside the irregularity. The second (stationary) mechanism is observed in the case of a developed irregularity where its shape is close to cylindrical. In this regime, the trapped-wave spectrum has two symmetric spectral satellites, namely, high- and low-frequency ones. It may be hypothesized that the generation of these satellites is due to scattering of trapped Langmuir waves from drift oscillations of the irregularity.     

Multifractal Structure of Intermittency in a Developed Ionospheric Turbulence

We present the results of studying the multifractal structure of intermittency in a developed ionospheric turbulence during special experiments on radio-raying of the midlatitude ionosphere by signals from orbital satellites in 2005–2006. It is shown, in particular, that the determination of multidimensional structural functions of the energy fluctuations of received signals permits one to obtain the necessary information on multifractal spectra of the studied process of radio-wave scattering in the ionosphere. Experimental data on multifractal spectra of slow fluctuations in the received-signal energy under conditions of a developed small-scale turbulence are compared with the existing concept of the radio-wave scattering within the framework of the statistical theory of radio-wave propagation in the ionosphere. It is inferred that under conditions of a developed ionospheric turbulence, the multifractal structure of the intermittency of slow fluctuations in the received-signal energy is a consequence of the intermittency of small-scale fluctuations in the electron number density of the ionospheric plasma on relatively large spatial scales of about several ten kilometers. __________ Translated from Izvestiya Vysshikh Uchebnykh Zavedenii, Radiofizika, Vol. 51, No. 6, pp. 485–493, June 2008.     

Background fluctuations in the GPS-microlab-1 ionospheric radio sounding experiment

We analyze the spectra of the phase and amplitude fluctuations of radio signals recorded in the course of four ionospheric radio-sounding sessions at altitudes from 70 to 120 km. Our study is aimed at determining the sources of these fluctuations. Comparing the statistical properties of fluctuations measured at two wavelengths with theoretical calculations, we conclude that only the low-frequency part of background fluctuations is of ionospheric origin, while the high-frequency fluctuations are caused by noise of the measuring system. The amplitude fluctuations are more informative in the high-frequency region, since they are mainly due to ionospheric irregularities. We discuss the possibility of separation of the components of amplitude fluctuations caused by ionospheric irregularities and the irregularities of the neutral atmosphere in the case of sounding at the altitudes at which those components have comparable values. It is shown that this problem cannot be solved by dispersion and extrapolation methods, which are used for separation of the regular ionospheric and atmospheric components of the amplitude and phase variations of radio signals. A. N. Obukhov Institute of Atmospheric Physics, Russian Academy of Sciences, Moscow, Russia. Translated from Izvestiya Vysshikh Uchebnykh Zavedenii, Radiofizika, Vol. 42, No. 6, pp. 511–523, June 1999.     

Feature of the multifractal structure of small-scale ionospheric turbulence during the solar eclipse of August 1, 2008

Using the method of radio sounding of the mid-latitude ionosphere by the satellite signals, we study the multifractal structure of small-scale ionospheric turbulence during a solar eclipse. The measured multipower and generalized multifractal spectra of small-scale ionospheric turbulence at the initial and closing stages of the eclipse turn out to be almost identical on the space radio paths with different orientations. This is indicative of a sufficiently high stability of the nonuniform spatio-temporal distribution of small-scale fluctuations of the ionospheric electron number density under conditions of geophysical disturbances due to global physical processes in the ionospheric plasma during a solar eclipse. Translated from Izvestiya Vysshikh Uchebnykh Zavedenii, Radiofizika, Vol. 52, No. 4, pp. 302–306, April 2009.     

On propagation of decametric-decimentric radiowaves under conditions of middle-latitude F-spread

In this paper we analyze the influence of the large-scale inhomogeneous structure of a middlelatitude ionosphere with F-spread on the propagation of decametric-decimetric radiowaves. The phase fluctuations of short waves in the presence of middle-latitude F-spread are considered. A general integral formula for the frequency dispersion of phase fluctuations of short radiowaves during their propagation in a three-dimensional randomly-inhomogeneous ionosphere with an arbitrary electron-density distribution is obtained. For some of the simplest types of ray trajectories we find analytical solutions which allow us to obtain simple estimates of the frequency correlation of phase fluctuations of short radiowaves under conditions of middle-latitude F-spread. The amplitude fluctuations of short radiowaves under conditions of ionospheric F-spread are considered by the example of wave propagation with strong backscattering in a layered randomly inhomogeneous medium. It is shown that the presence of a strongly developed large-scale structure of electron density in a middle-latitude ionosphere with F-spread can cause reflected short-wave signals with relatively large delays and abnormally high fluctuation levels. The fluctuational and quasiregular effects accompanying the transionospheric propagation of metric-decimetric radiowaves are discussed. In particular, it is shown that under conditions of middle-latitude F-spread the inhomogeneous structure of the ionospheric plasma does not have a significant influence on the fluctuational or quasi-regular propagation characteristics of decametric-decimetric radiowaves.Radiophysical Research Institute, Nizhny Novgorod. Translated from Izvestiya Vysshikh Uchebnykh Zavedenii, Radiofizika, Vol. 38, No. 9, pp. 926–938, September, 1995.     

On the Problem of True Values of the Spectrum Indices for Small-scale Ionospheric Turbulence

We consider the problem of obtaining reliable values of the local-spectrum indices of the electron number density fluctuations for small-scale ionospheric turbulence. It is shown that the use of a multifractal analysis in combination with the synchronous correlation processing of the received signals in the experiments on remote radio sounding of the ionosphere by satellite signals permits one to solve the posed problem. In this case, the true values of the local-spectrum indices of small-scale ionospheric turbulence, which are measured in such specialized experiments under natural conditions and during modification of the ionosphere by high-power HF radio emission, can differ notably from their standard values obtained within the framework of the classical method of radio scintillations, in which only correlation processing of the data is used. Translated from Izvestiya Vysshikh Uchebnykh Zavedenii, Radiofizika, Vol. 51, No. 7, pp. 571–574, July 2008.     

Electron-Density Distribution in the Upper Ionosphere under Conditions of a Mid-Latitude F-Spread

We present the results of the last experiments aimed at studying the phenomenon of mid-latitude F-spread by radio-raying of the ionosphere using the signal from the SURA facility received onboard the NASA spacecraft WIND. A generalized model of spatio-temporal distribution of the electron density in the mid-latitude ionosphere under F-spread conditions is proposed. Based on this model describing large-scale ionospheric irregularities, we calculate the ray trajectories of HF radio waves. We also discuss the known results of comparative measurements of the variances of relative electron-density fluctuations in large-scale irregularities of the mid-latitude ionosphere, carried out by the OGO-6 spacecraft, and the frequency broadening of the ionograms of ground-based stations for the vertical sounding. It is shown that the proposed model of electron-density disturbances in the mid-latitude ionosphere in the presence of F-spread is able not only to describe well the main qualitative feature of HF radiowave propagation under disturbed geophysical conditions, but also to reproduce quite accurately the quantitative parameters of the frequency broadening of reflected HF signals under conditions of standard and developed F-spread.     

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.