Experimental observations of the spatial structure of wave-like disturbances generated in midlatitude ionosphere by high power radio waves

We present the results of the experiments carried out in 2009-2012 on the Sura heating facility (Radio Physical Research Institute, N. Novgorod, Russia) on modification of the midlatitude ionosphere by powerful HF radiowaves. The experiments were conducted using O-mode radiowaves at frequencies lower than critical frequency of the ionospheric F2 layer both in daytime and nighttime ionosphere. Various schemes of the radiation of the heating wave were used including square wave modulation of the effective radiated power (ERP) at various frequencies and power stepping. Radio transmissions of the low- (Parus/Tsikada) and high-orbital (GPS/GLONASS) navigational satellites received at the mobile network of receiving sites were used for the remote sensing of the heated area of the ionosphere. The variations in the slant total electron content (TEC), which are proportional to the reduced phase of navigational signals, were studied for the satellite passes for which ionospheric penetration points crossed the disturbed area during HF heating. The variations in TEC caused by HF heating are identified in a number of examples. It is shown that the GNSS TEC spectra contain frequency components corresponding to the modulation periods of the ERP of the heating wave. The manifestations of the heating-induced variations in TEC are most prominent in the area of magnetic zenith of the pumping wave. Different behavior of TEC variations was observed during nighttime and daytime heating experiments. In daytime conditions the pump wave switched ON causes the increase of TEC while in the nighttime it causes a decrease in TEC. This can be explained by the different contribution of the processes responsible for the increase and decrease of TEC in daytime in nighttime conditions. In this work we also present the first time radiotomographic reconstructions of the spatial structure of the wave-like disturbances, generated in the ionosphere by high-power radio waves radiated by the Sura heater with a square wave modulation of the ERP at a frequency lower than or of the order of the Brunt-Vaisala frequency of the neutral atmosphere. The observed wavelike structures, which are possibly AGWs, diverge from the heated area of the ionosphere (observed like a narrow trough with dimensions corresponding to the diagram pattern of the Sura heater), the spatial period of these disturbances is 200-250 km and they are easily traced up to a distance of 700-800 km from the heated region. These observations are in good agreement with complimentary GPS/GLONASS data. We also present the examples of amplitude scintillations of the signals of low-orbital radio beacons corresponding to small-scale field-aligned irregularities in the heated area of ionosphere. The possibility of generation of electromagnetic waves by moving wave-like structures in ionosphere (like AGWs induced by HF-heating observed in our experiments) is also addressed in this work. The authors are grateful to the staff of the Sura facility for their help in conducting the experiments and acknowledge the support of the Russian Foundation for Basic Research (grants 10-05-01126, 11-02-00374, 11-05-01157, 12-02-31839, 12-05-33065, 12-05-10068), grant of the President of Russian Federation MK-2544.2012.5 and Lomonosov Moscow State University Program of Development.