Application of the normal wave method to calculations of VLF electromagnetic fields in the anisotropic two-dimensionally inhomogeneous Earth-ionosphere waveguide

Institute of Radiophysics, St. Petersburg State University, St. Petersburg, Russia

Abstract

[1]  A systematization of the available methods and algorithms used for calculations of amplitude and phase of electromagnetic fields of VLF range in the waveguide channel Earth-ionosphere is given. The presented method is applicable to a wide class of profiles of the electron concentration and collision frequency in the ionospheric D region and takes into account both the dependence of the waveguide channel characteristics along the path and the medium anisotropy due to the influence of the geomagnetic field. The use of the effective height to improve the convergence of the iteration process of computation of eigenvalues and of the bivector for determination of the reflective parameters of the anisotropic ionosphere are the characteristic features of the proposed method. The above indicated features provide a base for realization of the numerical algorithm.

Received 5 April 2005; revised 1 March 2007; accepted 8 July 2007; published 30 August 2007.

Keywords: Earth--ionosphere waveguide; ELF emission; normal waves method.

Index Terms: 6964 Radio Science: Radio wave propagation; 2403 Ionosphere: Active experiments; 2471 Ionosphere: Plasma waves and instabilities.