Comparison of Ionospheric Scintillation Statistics from the North Atlantic and Alaskan Sectors of the Auroral Oval Using the Wideband Satellite

• Main Authors: Basu, Sunanda, Basu, Santimay, Livingston, Robert C., Whitney, Herbert E., MacKenzie, Eileen
• Other Authors: EMMANUEL COLL BOSTON MA
• Format: Text
• Language: English
• Published: 1981
• Subjects: Atmospheric Physics; *ARCTIC REGIONS; MEASUREMENT; MAGNETIC FIELDS; PHASE; DATA ACQUISITION; DAY; NIGHT; AURORAE; AMPLITUDE; F REGION; RADIO INTERFERENCE; DIURNAL VARIATIONS; SCIENTIFIC SATELLITES; WIDEBAND SATELLITES; LABRADOR; GOOSE BAY(LABRADOR); ANCHORAGE(ALASKA); AURORAL OVAL; PE62710H; PE62710F; WUAFGL46430505; Anchorage; Arctic; North Atlantic; Alaska
• Online Access: http://www.dtic.mil/docs/citations/ADA111871; http://oai.dtic.mil/oai/oai?&verb=getRecord&metadataPrefix=html&identifier=ADA111871

Phase and amplitude scintillation measurements made at 138 MHz at two widely separated auroral stations, Goose Bay, Labrador, and Anchorage, Alaska, are presented. The phase coherent transmissions obtained from the sun- synchronous Wideband satellite were used for this purpose. The data were obtained for part of the year 1979 during a high sunspot epoch and was terminated by the failure of the Wideband satellite in August, 1979. The primary objective of the report is the presentation of scintillation statistics in a manner required for communications system planning. The morphology at the two stations was found to be significantly different with more nighttime scintillations observed at Goose Bay, while many more daytime scintillations were observed at Anchorage during the same season. The report establishes the existence of L-shell aligned sheets in the daytime in addition to the well- established similar geometry at night. The existence of sheetlike irregularities during the daytime well-equatorward of the auroral oval is significant both from modeling and physical standpoints. (Author) Prepared in cooperation with SRI International, Inc., Menlo Park, CA.