Observations and analysis of phase scintillation of spacecraft signal on the interplanetary plasma

Aims. The phase scintillation of the European Space Agency's Venus Express (VEX) spacecraft telemetry signal was observed at X-band (lambda = 3.6 cm) with a number of radio telescopes of the European Very Long Baseline Interferometry (VLBI) Network in the period 2009-2013. Methods. We found a p...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Astronomy & Astrophysics
Main Authors: Calves, G. M., Pogrebenko, Sergei, Cimo, G., Duev, Dmitry, Bahamon, T. M. B., Wagner, Jan, Kallunki, J., de Vicente, P., Kronschnabl, G., Haas, Rüdiger, Quick, J., Maccaferri, G., Colucci, G., Wang, W. H., Yang, W. J., Hao, L. F.
Language:unknown
Published: 2014
Subjects:
Astronomy
Astrophysics and Cosmology
TRACKING
V231
scattering
SOLAR-WIND
P1414
SPEED
VLBI
astrometry
1986
interplanetary medium
Sun: heliosphere
techniques: interferometric
EISCAT
RADIO SOURCES
plasmas
SCIENCE
ESTON RA
Lambda
Venus
Online Access:https://doi.org/10.1051/0004-6361/201322925
https://research.chalmers.se/en/publication/199242
Description
Summary:Aims. The phase scintillation of the European Space Agency's Venus Express (VEX) spacecraft telemetry signal was observed at X-band (lambda = 3.6 cm) with a number of radio telescopes of the European Very Long Baseline Interferometry (VLBI) Network in the period 2009-2013. Methods. We found a phase fluctuation spectrum along the Venus orbit with a nearly constant spectral index of -2.42 +/- 0.25 over the full range of solar elongation angles from 0 degrees to 45 degrees, which is consistent with Kolmogorov turbulence. Radio astronomical observations of spacecraft signals within the solar system give a unique opportunity to study the temporal behaviour of the signal's phase fluctuations caused by its propagation through the interplanetary plasma and the Earth's ionosphere. This gives complementary data to the classical interplanetary scintillation (IPS) study based on observations of the flux variability of distant natural radio sources. Results. We present here our technique and the results on IPS. We compare these with the total electron content for the line of sight through the solar wind. Finally, we evaluate the applicability of the presented technique to phase-referencing VLBI and Doppler observations of currently operational and prospective space missions.

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