Sporadic structures in the equatorial ionosphere inferred from radio occultation data on satellite-to-satellite paths

摘要

We analyze characteristics of sporadic layers in the equatorial ionosphere using the results of radio occultation sounding on the paths between GPS satellites and the CHAMP low-orbiting satellite during the solar flare in October–November 2003. Variations in the amplitude and phase of signals during the lower-ionosphere sounding are studied. It is shown that the use of amplitude and phase data allows one to obtain parameters of the sporadic ionospheric structures. The data on the occurrence frequency, height, thickness, and intensity of the Es layers in the daytime and nighttime equatorial ionosphere are presented.