Artificial modification of the ionosphere by launches of rockets which insert space vehicles into orbit

Results are presented from vertical (ionogram) and inclined (frequency and signal strength variations of reference shortwave stations) probing of artificial ionospheric disturbances (AIDs) formed by powerful rockets during the active portion of their flight. Experimental data obtained over the course of several dozen rocket launches are generalized. The processes of evolution of an AID initiated by shock-acoustic waves are studied theoretically and experimentally, together with questions of shortwave radio scattering on such disturbances.Translated from Izvestiya Vysshikh Uchebnykh Zavedenii, Fizika, No. 10, pp. 98–107, October, 1993.