Artificial defocusing lens in ionosphere

Strong defocusing of perturbing radio waves is detected, indicating the creation of an effective defocusing lens in the ionosphere. Modess in which there is not anomalous absorption are employed in order to isolate the defocusing effects unambiguously. The experimental setup incorporates a 300 MW SURG heating system with a narrow radiation pattern. The concentration perturbations are diagnosed in the vertical sounding mode at 8 frequencies by means of a Doppler system. The experimental results were obtained during May and July 1983 under daytime conditions. The amplitude and Doppler frequency shift behavior of the probe wave is analyzed, and the defocusing coefficient is computed as a function of the frequency of the probe wave and power of the heating wave. The artificial lens detected results in significant attenuation of radio waves passing through it.