Using Anthropogenic Power Line Noise to Specify Ionospheric Parameters

The electrical grids of large cities produce significant amounts of RF radiation from the flow and breakdown of electrical parts within the power grid. Due to the mechanics of electrical grid design, the phase of the 60 Hz signal is synced across the entire city, with the peak voltage creating the largest amount of HF signal, generating an in-phase 120 volts HF signal. We examined this signal using the Long wavelength Array, a sensitive HF/VHF band radio telescope situated at the Sevilleta Wildlife Refuge in New Mexico. The signal from various cities can be analyzed to determine how they propagated through the ionosphere, which in turn can provide useful bulk characteristics of the ionosphere in the directions of major cities. These bulk characteristics can used in ingestive models, such as the GPS Ionospheric Inversion tool, to specify the regional ionosphere near the telescope.