Single Site Location with Ionospheric Specification from Oblique-Incidence Sounders

摘要

A twelve-hour December 6 segment of oblique-incidence sounder data from the 1982 SSL-BCT experiments is analyzed, in order to develop techniques for accurate incorporation of ionospheric properties into the single site location algorithm. It is shown from SSL-BCT prototype calculations, and by comparison with vertical-incidence sounder data, that true height profiles can be accurately obtained from the oblique ionograms, and that they characterize the ionosphere at the sounder midpath locations. The time development of the ionosphere at these control points is found to be accurately characterized by the variation of a set of nine or eleven parameters from the true height profile calculations. By a strategic choice of the independent variable as cosine of an effective or the actual solar zenith angle, it is found that the background day time ionosphere variation is described by trend lines for the ionospheric parameters, which are convenient for predictions. it is shown how the trend line information at sounder control points can be spatially interpolated to unsounded raypaths, and how this can be used. Modifications of present SSL techniques to incorporate the more accurate ionospheric specification are discussed, and future research and development is indicated.