POLARIZATION VARIATION OF SATELLITE-EMITTED RADIO SIGNALS

摘要

A new system for the measurement of the actual momentary values of the Faraday rotation polarization vectors of satellite emitted frequencies has been developed. Measurements of the relative polarization angles of the S-66 Satellite-emitted 40 and 41 Mc/s signals, from which the absolute rotation angle is obtained, have been made at one-second intervals. A comparison of momentary polarization angles at 40 and 41 Mc/s made during the center part of overhead satellite passages shows deviations from the expected inverse frequency squared relation. It has been found that correct raw data can only be obtained from the difference of simultaneous polariza¬tion measurements during a short interval when this difference is near TT radians. Correction for antenna geometry error and for non-linear system errors permits electron content evaluation with 1% precision over a lati¬tudinal range of about ten degrees.