The theory of a thermal diffraction grating in the lower ionosphere
Abstract
The paper examines the scattering of low-power radio waves by a thermal diffraction grating in the lower ionosphere below a region of high-power radio-wave reflection; the grating is assumed to consist of a series of spatial harmonics with comparable amplitudes. An analytical expression for the reflection coefficient in Bragg resonances is obtained. Calculation results are presented for daytime and nightime models of the ionosphere, and the possibility of the experimental observation of resonant scattering by a thermal grating in the lower ionosphere is discussed.
- Publication:
-
Geomagnetism and Aeronomy
- Pub Date:
- August 1982
- Bibcode:
- 1982Ge&Ae..22..548F
- Keywords:
-
- Gratings (Spectra);
- Ionospheric Propagation;
- Lower Ionosphere;
- Temperature Effects;
- Thermal Plasmas;
- Wave Diffraction;
- Atmospheric Models;
- Reflectance;
- Resonant Frequencies;
- Wave Dispersion;
- Geophysics