Research to Operations of Ionospheric Scintillation Detection and Forecasting

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Jones, J.; Scro, K.; Payne, D.; Ruhge, R.; Erickson, B.; Andorka, S.; Ludwig, C.; Karmann, J.; Ebelhar, D.

Ionospheric Scintillation refers to random fluctuations in phase and amplitude of electromagnetic waves caused by a rapidly varying refractive index due to turbulent features in the ionosphere. Scintillation of transionospheric UHF and L-Band radio frequency signals is particularly troublesome since this phenomenon can lead to degradation of signal strength and integrity that can negatively impact satellite communications and navigation, radar, or radio signals from other systems that traverse or interact with the ionosphere. Although ionospheric scintillation occurs in both the equatorial and polar regions of the Earth, the focus of this modeling effort is on equatorial scintillation. The ionospheric scintillation model is data-driven in a sense that scintillation observations are used to perform detection and characterization of scintillation structures. These structures are then propagated to future times using drift and decay models to represent the natural evolution of ionospheric scintillation. The impact on radio signals is also determined by the model and represented in graphical format to the user. A frequency scaling algorithm allows for impact analysis on frequencies other than the observation frequencies. The project began with lab-grade software and through a tailored Agile development process, deployed operational-grade code to a DoD operational center. The Agile development process promotes adaptive promote adaptive planning, evolutionary development, early delivery, continuous improvement, regular collaboration with the customer, and encourage rapid and flexible response to customer-driven changes. The Agile philosophy values individuals and interactions over processes and tools, working software over comprehensive documentation, customer collaboration over contract negotiation, and responding to change over following a rigid plan. The end result was an operational capability that met customer expectations. Details of the model and the process of

The Unified Radio and Plasma wave investigation

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Stone, R. G.; Bougeret, J. L.; Caldwell, J.; Canu, P.; De Conchy, Y.; Cornilleau-Wehrlin, N.; Desch, M. D.; Fainberg, J.; Goetz, K.; Goldstein, M. L.

1992-01-01

The scientific objectives of the Ulysses Unified Radio and Plasma wave (URAP) experiment are twofold: (1) the determination of the direction, angular size, and polarization of radio sources for remote sensing of the heliosphere and the Jovian magnetosphere and (2) the detailed study of local wave phenomena, which determine the transport coefficients of the ambient plasma. A brief discussion of the scientific goals of the experiment is followed by a comprehensive description of the instrument. The URAP sensors consist of a 72.5 m electric field antenna in the spin plane, a 7.5-m electric field monopole along the spin axis of a pair of orthogonal search coil magnetic antennas. The various receivers, designed to encompass specific needs of the investigation, cover the frequency range from dc to 1 MHz. A relaxation sounder provides very accurate electron density measurements. Radio and plasma wave observations are shown to demonstrate the capabilities and limitations of the URAP instruments: radio observations include solar bursts, auroral kilometric radiation, and Jovian bursts; plasma waves include Langmuir waves, ion acousticlike noise, and whistlers.

Comparison of multifrequency equatorial scintillation - American and Pacific sectors

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Livingston, R. C.

1980-08-01

In this paper we examine the severity of radio wave amplitude scintillation measured at two stations near the equator but far separated in longitude: Kwajelein, Marshall Islands (167 E), and Ancon, Peru (-77 E). The data used are long-term observations of the Defense Nuclear Agency (DNA) Wideband satellite signal intensity at VHF, UHF, and L band frequencies. The seasonal behavior of the scintillation at the two stations is similar; each shows a broad 8- to 9-month disturbed season centered about local summer. There is short-term variability in the scintillation occurrence statistics but no clear equinoctial maxima. Little difference is observed in the occurrence or severity of L band scintillation at the two stations, although a systematic difference in the frequency dependence of the scintillation produces significantly stronger VHF and UHF scintillation at Ancon. The VHF and UHF latitudinal distributions of scintillation are asymmetric about the geomagnetic equator at both stations.

Speckles in interstellar radio-wave scattering

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Desai, K. M.; Gwinn, C. R.; Reynolds, J.; King, E. A.; Jauncey, D.; Nicholson, G.; Flanagan, C.; Preston, R. A.; Jones, D. L.

1991-01-01

Observations of speckles in the scattering disk of the Vela pulsar are presented and speckle techniques for studying and circumventing scattering of radio waves by the turbulent interstellar plasma are discussed. The speckle pattern contains, in a hologrammatic fashion, complete information on the structure of the radio source as well as the distribution of the scattering material. Speckle observations of interstellar scattering of radio waves are difficult because of their characteristically short timescales and narrow bandwidths. Here, first observations are presented, taken at 13 cm wavelength with elements of the SHEVE VLBI network, of speckles in interstellar scattering.

Information Content in Radio Waves: Student Investigations in Radio Science

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Jacobs, K.; Scaduto, T.

2013-12-01

We describe an inquiry-based instructional unit on information content in radio waves, created in the summer of 2013 as part of a MIT Haystack Observatory (Westford, MA) NSF Research Experiences for Teachers (RET) program. This topic is current and highly relevant, addressing science and technical aspects from radio astronomy, geodesy, and atmospheric research areas as well as Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS). Projects and activities range from simple classroom demonstrations and group investigations, to long term research projects incorporating data acquisition from both student-built instrumentation as well as online databases. Each of the core lessons is applied to one of the primary research centers at Haystack through an inquiry project that builds on previously developed units through the MIT Haystack RET program. In radio astronomy, students investigate the application of a simple and inexpensive software defined radio chip (RTL-SDR) for use in systems implementing a small and very small radio telescope (SRT and VSRT). Both of these systems allow students to explore fundamental principles of radio waves and interferometry as applied to radio astronomy. In ionospheric research, students track solar storms from the initial coronal mass ejection (using Solar Dynamics Observatory images) to the resulting variability in total electron density concentrations using data from the community standard Madrigal distributed database system maintained by MIT Haystack. Finally, students get to explore very long-baseline interferometry as it is used in geodetic studies by measuring crustal plate displacements over time. Alignment to NextGen standards is provided for each lesson and activity with emphasis on HS-PS4 'Waves and Their Applications in Technologies for Information Transfer'.

Low and Mid-Latitude Ionospheric Irregularities Studies Using TEC and Radio Scintillation Data from the CITRIS Radio Beacon Receiver in Low-Earth-Orbit

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Siefring, C. L.; Bernhardt, P. A.; Huba, J.; Krall, J.; Roddy, P. A.

2009-12-01

Unique data on ionospheric plasma irregularities from the Naval Research Laboratory (NRL) CITRIS (Scintillation and TEC Receiver in Space) instrument will be presented. CITRIS is a multi-band receiver that recorded TEC (Total Electron Content) and radio scintillations from Low-Earth Orbit (LEO) on STPSat1. The 555+/5 km altitude 35° inclination orbit covers low and mid-latitudes. The measurements require propagation from a transmitter to a receiver through the F-region plasma. CITRIS used both 1) satellite beacons in LEO, such as the NRL CERTO (Coherent Electromagnetic Radio TOmography) beacons and 2) the global network of ground-based DORIS (Doppler Orbitography and Radiopositioning Integrated by Satellite) beacons. The TEC measurements allow for tracking of ionospheric disturbances and irregularities while the measurements of scintillations can simultaneously characterize their effects. CITRIS was operated in a complementary fashion with the C/NOFS (Communication/Navigations Outages Forecasting System) satellite during most of its first year of operations. C/NOFS carries a three-frequency 150/400/1067 MHz CERTO beacon and is dedicated to the study of Spread-F. In the case of Spread-F, ionospheric irregularities start with large scale size density gradients (100s of km) and cascade through complex processes to short scale sizes (10s of meters). It is typically the 100m-1km scale features that harm communication and navigation systems through scintillations. A multi-sensor approach is needed to completely understand this complex system, such as, the combination of CITRIS remote radio sensing and C/NOFS in-situ data. Several types of irregularities have been studied including Spread-F and the newly discovered dawn-side depletions. Comparisons with the physics based SAMI3 model are being performed to help our understanding of the morphology of the irregularities.

Detection of acoustic-gravity waves in lower ionosphere by VLF radio waves

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Nina, A.; Čadež, V. M.

2013-09-01

We present a new method to study harmonic waves in the low ionosphere (60 - 90 km) by detecting their effects on reflection of very low frequency (VLF) radio waves. Our procedure is based on amplitude analysis of reflected VLF radio waves recorded in real time, which yields an insight into the dynamics of the ionosphere at heights where VLF radio waves are being reflected. The method was applied to perturbations induced by the solar terminator motions at sunrises and sunsets. The obtained results show that typical perturbation frequencies found to exist in higher regions of the atmosphere are also present in the lower ionosphere, which indicates a global nature of the considered oscillations. In our model atmosphere, they turn out to be the acoustic and gravity waves with comparatively short and long periods, respectively.

VHF Scintillation in an Artificially Heated Ionosphere

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Suszcynsky, D. M.; Layne, J.; Light, M. E.; Pigue, M. J.; Rivera, L.

2017-12-01

As part of an ongoing project to characterize very-high-frequency (VHF) radio wave propagation through structured ionospheres, Los Alamos National Laboratory has been conducting a set of experiments to measure the scintillation effects of VHF transmissions under a variety of ionospheric conditions. Previous work (see 2015 Fall AGU poster by D. Suszcynsky et al.) measured the S4 index and ionospheric coherence bandwidth in the 32 - 44 MHz frequency range under naturally scintillated conditions in the equatorial region at Kwajalein Atoll during three separate campaigns centered on the 2014 and 2015 equinoxes. In this paper, we will present preliminary results from the February and September, 2017 High Altitude Auroral Research Project (HAARP) Experimental Campaigns where we are attempting to make these measurements under more controlled conditions using the HAARP ionospheric heater in a twisted-beam mode. Two types of measurements are made by transmitting VHF signals through the heated ionospheric volume to the Radio Frequency Propagation (RFProp) satellite experiment. The S4 scintillation index is determined by measuring the power fluctuations of a 135-MHz continuous wave signal and the ionospheric coherence bandwidth is simultaneously determined by measuring the delay spread of a frequency-modulated continuous wave (FMCW) signal in the 130 - 140 MHz frequency range. Additionally, a spatial Fourier transform of the CW time series is used to calculate the irregularity spectral density function. Finally, the temporal evolution of the time series is used to characterize spread-Doppler clutter effects arising from preferential ray paths to the satellite due to refraction off of isolated density irregularities. All results are compared to theory and scaled for comparison to the 32 - 44 MHz Kwajalein measurements.

Ionospheric irregularity characteristics from quasiperiodic structure in the radio wave scintillation

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Chen, K. Y.; Su, S. Y.; Liu, C. H.; Basu, S.

2005-06-01

Quasiperiodic (QP) diffraction pattern in scintillation patches has been known to highly correlate with the edge structures of a plasma bubble (Franke et al., 1984). A new time-frequency analysis method of Hilbert-Huang transform (HHT) has been applied to analyze the scintillation data taken at Ascension Island to understand the characteristics of corresponding ionosphere irregularities. The HHT method enables us to extract the quasiperiodic diffraction signals embedded inside the scintillation data and to obtain the characteristics of such diffraction signals. The cross correlation of the two sets of diffraction signals received by two stations at each end of Ascension Island indicates that the density irregularity pattern that causes the diffraction pattern should have an eastward drift velocity of ˜130 m/s. The HHT analysis of the instantaneous frequency in the QP diffraction patterns also reveals some frequency shifts in their peak frequencies. For the QP diffraction pattern caused by the leading edge of the large density gradient at the east wall of a structured bubble, an ascending note in the peak frequency is observed, and for the trailing edge a descending note is observed. The linear change in the transient of the peak frequency in the QP diffraction pattern is consistent with the theory and the simulation result of Franke et al. Estimate of the slope in the transient frequency provides us the information that allows us to identify the locations of plasma walls, and the east-west scale of the irregularity can be estimated. In our case we obtain about 24 km in the east-west scale. Furthermore, the height location of density irregularities that cause the diffraction pattern is estimated to be between 310 and 330 km, that is, around the F peak during observation.

Full-Wave Radio Characterization of Ionospheric Modification at HAARP

DTIC Science & Technology

2015-07-26

Full-Wave Radio Characterization of Ionospheric Modification at HAARP We have studied electrostatic and electromagnetic turbulence stimulated by...radio receivers at HAARP in Alaska, and ground-based radio receivers, incoherent scatter radars, and in-situ measurements from Canadian, ESA, and Polish...363255 San Juan, PR 00936 -3255 31-May-2015 ABSTRACT Final Report: Full-Wave Radio Characterization of Ionospheric Modification at HAARP Report Title We

Gravity waves in Titan's atmosphere

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Friedson, A. James

1994-01-01

Scintillations (high frequency variations) observed in the radio signal during the occultation of Voyager 1 by Titan (Hinson and Tyler, 1983) provide information concerning neutral atmospheric density fluctuations on scales on hundreds of meters to a few kilometers. Those seen at altitudes higher than 25 km above the surface were interpreted by Hinson and Tyler as being caused by linear, freely propagating (energy-conserving) gravity waves, but this interpretation was found to be inconsistent with the scintillation data below the 25-km altitude level. Here an attempt is made to interpret the entire scintillation profile between the surface and the 90-km altitude level in terms of gravity waves generated at the surface. Numerical calculations of the density fluctuations caused by two-dimensional, nonhydrostatic, finite-amplitude gravity waves propagating vertically through Titan's atmosphere are performed to produce synthetic scintillation profiles for comparison with the observations. The numerical model accurately treats the effects of wave transience, nonlinearity, and breakdown due to convective instability in the overturned part of the wave. The high-altitude scintillation data were accurately recovered with a freely propagating wave solution, confirming the analytic model of Hinson and Tyler. It is found that the low-altitude scintillation data can be fit by a model where a component of the gravity waves becomes convectively unstable and breaks near the 15 km level. The large-scale structure of the observed scintillation profile in the entire altitude range between 5 and 85 km can be simulated by a model where the freely propagating and breaking waves are forced at the surface simultaneously. Further analysis of the Voyager 1 Titan low-altitude scintillation data, using inversion theory appropriate for strong scattering, could potentially remove some of the ambiguities remaining in this analysis and allow a better determination of the strength and source of

Type II Radio Bursts Observed by STEREO/Waves and Wind/Waves instruments

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Krupar, V.; Magdalenic, J.; Zhukov, A.; Rodriguez, L.; Mierla, M.; Maksimovic, M.; Cecconi, B.; Santolik, O.

2013-12-01

Type II radio bursts are slow-drift emissions triggered by suprathermal electrons accelerated on shock fronts of propagating CMEs. We present several events at kilometric wavelengths observed by radio instruments onboard the STEREO and Wind spacecraft. The STEREO/Waves and Wind/Waves have goniopolarimetric (GP, also referred to as direction finding) capabilities that allow us to triangulate radio sources when an emission is observed by two or more spacecraft. As the GP inversion has high requirements on the signal-to-noise ratio we only have a few type II radio bursts with sufficient intensity for this analysis. We have compared obtained radio sources with white-light observations of STEREO/COR and STEREO/HI instruments. Our preliminary results indicate that radio sources are located at flanks of propagating CMEs.

Characteristics of coronal shock waves and solar type 2 radio bursts

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Mann, G.; Classen, H.-T.

1995-01-01

In the solar corona shock waves generated by flares and/or coronal mass ejections can be observed by radio astronomical methods in terms of solar type 2 radio bursts. In dynamic radio spectra they appear as emission stripes slowly drifting from high to low frequencies. A sample of 25 solar type 2 radio bursts observed in the range of 40 - 170 MHz with a time resolution of 0.1 s by the new radiospectrograph of the Astrophvsikalisches Institut Potsdam in Tremsdorf is statistically investigated concerning their spectral features, i.e, drift rate, instantaneous bandwidth, and fundamental harmonic ratio. In-situ plasma wave measurements at interplanetary shocks provide the assumption that type 2 radio radiation is emitted in the vicinity of the transition region of shock waves. Thus, the instantaneous bandwidth of a solar type 2 radio burst would reflect the density jump across the associated shock wave. Comparing the inspection of the Rankine-Hugoniot relations of shock waves under coronal circumstances with those obtained from the observational study, solar type 2 radio bursts should be regarded to be generated by weak supercritical, quasi-parallel, fast magnetosonic shock waves in the corona.

Ionospheric Scintillation Activity Over Ilorin, Nigeria

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Oladipo, O. A.; Adeniyi, J. O.; Doherty, P. H.; Radicella, S. M.; Adimula, I. A.; Olawepo, A. O.

2018-02-01

Scintillation of radio waves in the L-band frequency is a regular occurrence at the equatorial and auroral regions at night most especially during high solar activity periods. Scintillation is caused by plasma density irregularities, and this could cause loss of lock of Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) signals leading to impairment of the applications that rely on this system. A study on the occurrence of scintillation activity over Ilorin (latitude = 8.48°N, longitude = 4.67°W, and geomagnetic latitude = 1.89°S), Nigeria was done using S4 index data from NovAtel GPStation-2 receiver (2009-2012) and NovAtel GPStation-6 receiver (August 2013 to December 2016) which are both located at this station. The solar maximum period of the solar cycle 24 is located well within the period of this investigation; hence, this study provides opportunity to see the occurrence pattern of scintillation during different seasons as well as the pattern from low solar activity to solar maximum. The results obtained showed that scintillation occurs between 21:00 LT and 04:00 LT at the peak of the occurrence in 2014. The time window of occurrence decreases with decrease in solar activity. Similarly, scintillation activity was observed to be more regular during high solar activity and it has two peaks of occurrence in March and October. A solar activity trend was observed in scintillation occurrence; scintillation activity increases with increase in the level of solar activity.

Sporadic-E Studies by Ionospheric Scintillation Using Ground-Based GPS and Radio Occultation Measurements

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Seif, A.; Liu, T. J. Y.; Mannucci, A. J.; Carter, B. A.; Norman, R.

2016-12-01

The Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) based radio occultation (RO) technique provides an ideal limb-viewing geometry from space for studying the occurrence of sporadic E (Es). This study focuses on the detection and analysis of Es from RO measurements, to conclusively show the presence of Es's relationship with daytime scintillation. We bring two data sets to bear, using GNSS signal transmissions received on the ground and from space, which provide a unique opportunity to retrieve information about Es. RO signatures of Es and in GHz scintillation are not the same as ground-based signatures of Es. The viewing geometries are approximately orthogonal, which means the irregularity sources are not the same. That is, irregularities responsible for RO scintillations are essentially in a vertical plane, whereas those responsible for ground-based scintillations are essentially in a horizontal plane. Hence, complementary information is available regarding plasma structure in an Es patch. An analysis of combined data sets should prove to be a profitable avenue for research. In this study, we present the occurrence of scintillation using GPS Ionospheric Scintillation and Total Electron Content Monitor (GISTM) systems from two equatorial stations UKM (2.55°N, 101.46°E), and Langkawi (6.19°N, 99.51°E) in Malaysia. To better understand scale size irregularities as well as identify the occurrence of Es, we use COSMIC RO data. Two key findings coming out from our study are 1) According to the characteristics of daytime scintillation analyzed at, UKM and Langkawi stations, scintillation shows no significant TEC depletions and ROTI enhancements. The finding that ROTI does not exceed 0.5 TECU/min during daytime implies that large scale ionospheric irregularities with a scale length of a few kilometers do not exist at these stations. This is a piece of evidence which positively supports that daytime scintillation shows irregularities consistent with thin layer Es and

Radio-wave propagation for space communications systems

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Ippolito, L. J.

1981-01-01

The most recent information on the effects of Earth's atmosphere on space communications systems is reviewed. The design and reliable operation of satellite systems that provide the many applications in space which rely on the transmission of radio waves for communications and scientific purposes are dependent on the propagation characteristics of the transmission path. The presence of atmospheric gases, clouds, fog, precipitation, and turbulence causes uncontrolled variations in the signal characteristics. These variations can result in a reduction of the quality and reliability of the transmitted information. Models and other techniques are used in the prediction of atmospheric effects as influenced by frequency, geography, elevation angle, and type of transmission. Recent data on performance characteristics obtained from direct measurements on satellite links operating to above 30 GHz have been reviewed. Particular emphasis has been placed on the effects of precipitation on the Earth/space path, including rain attenuation, and ice particle depolarization. Other factors are sky noise, antenna gain degradation, scintillations, and bandwidth coherence. Each of the various propagation factors has an effect on design criteria for communications systems. These criteria include link reliability, power margins, noise contribution, modulation and polarization factors, channel cross talk, error rate, and bandwidth limitations.

Simple simulation training system for short-wave radio station

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Tan, Xianglin; Shao, Zhichao; Tu, Jianhua; Qu, Fuqi

2018-04-01

The short-wave radio station is a most important transmission equipment of our signal corps, but in the actual teaching process, which exist the phenomenon of fewer equipment and more students, making the students' short-wave radio operation and practice time is very limited. In order to solve the above problems, to carry out shortwave radio simple simulation training system development is very necessary. This project is developed by combining hardware and software to simulate the voice communication operation and signal principle of shortwave radio station, and can test the signal flow of shortwave radio station. The test results indicate that this system is simple operation, human-machine interface friendly and can improve teaching more efficiency.

The ISPM unified radio and plasma wave experiment

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Stone, R. G.; Caldwell, J.; Deconchy, Y.; Deschanciaux, C.; Ebbett, R.; Epstein, G.; Groetz, K.; Harvey, C. C.; Hoang, S.; Howard, R.

1983-01-01

Hardware for the International Solar Polar Mission (ISPM) Unified Radio and Plasma (URAP) wave experiment is presented. The URAP determines direction and polarization of distant radio sources for remote sensing of the heliosphere, and studies local wave phenomena which determine the transport coefficients of the ambient plasma. Electric and magnetic field antennas and preamplifiers; the electromagnetic compatibility plan and grounding; radio astronomy and plasma frequency receivers; a fast Fourier transformation data processing unit waveform analyzer; dc voltage measurements; a fast envelope sampler for the solar wind, and plasmas near Jupiter; a sounder; and a power converter are described.

Scintillation-Hardened GPS Receiver

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Stephens, Donald R.

2015-01-01

CommLargo, Inc., has developed a scintillation-hardened Global Positioning System (GPS) receiver that improves reliability for low-orbit missions and complies with NASA's Space Telecommunications Radio System (STRS) architecture standards. A software-defined radio (SDR) implementation allows a single hardware element to function as either a conventional radio or as a GPS receiver, providing backup and redundancy for platforms such as the International Space Station (ISS) and high-value remote sensing platforms. The innovation's flexible SDR implementation reduces cost, weight, and power requirements. Scintillation hardening improves mission reliability and variability. In Phase I, CommLargo refactored an open-source GPS software package with Kalman filter-based tracking loops to improve performance during scintillation and also demonstrated improved navigation during a geomagnetic storm. In Phase II, the company generated a new field-programmable gate array (FPGA)-based GPS waveform to demonstrate on NASA's Space Communication and Navigation (SCaN) test bed.

Antenna Construction and Propagation of Radio Waves.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Marine Corps Inst., Washington, DC.

Developed as part of the Marine Corps Institute (MCI) correspondence training program, this course on antenna construction and propagation of radio waves is designed to provide communicators with instructions in the selection and/or construction of the proper antenna(s) for use with current field radio equipment. Introductory materials include…

Plasma and radio waves from Neptune: Source mechanisms and propagation

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wong, H. K.

1994-03-01

This report summarizes results obtained through the support of NASA Grant NAGW-2412. The objective of this project is to conduct a comprehensive investigation of the radio wave emission observed by the planetary radio astronomy (PRA) instrument on board Voyager 2 as if flew by Neptune. This study has included data analysis, theoretical and numerical calculations, ray tracing, and modeling to determine the possible source mechanism(s) and locations of the Neptune radio emissions. We have completed four papers, which are included in the appendix. The paper 'Modeling of Whistler Ray Paths in the Magnetosphere of Neptune' investigated the propagation and dispersion of lighting-generated whistler in the magnetosphere of Neptune by using three dimensional ray tracing. The two papers 'Numerical Simulations of Bursty Radio Emissions from Planetary Magnetospheres' and 'Numerical Simulations of Bursty Planetary Radio Emissions' employed numerical simulations to investigate an alternate source mechanism of bursty radio emissions in addition to the cyclotron maser instability. We have also studied the possible generation of Z and whistler mode waves by the temperature anisotropic beam instability and the result was published in 'Electron Cyclotron Wave Generation by Relativistic Electrons.' Besides the aforementioned studies, we have also collaborated with members of the PRA team to investigate various aspects of the radio wave data. Two papers have been submitted for publication and the abstracts of these papers are also listed in the appendix.

Plasma and radio waves from Neptune: Source mechanisms and propagation

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Wong, H. K.

1994-01-01

This report summarizes results obtained through the support of NASA Grant NAGW-2412. The objective of this project is to conduct a comprehensive investigation of the radio wave emission observed by the planetary radio astronomy (PRA) instrument on board Voyager 2 as if flew by Neptune. This study has included data analysis, theoretical and numerical calculations, ray tracing, and modeling to determine the possible source mechanism(s) and locations of the Neptune radio emissions. We have completed four papers, which are included in the appendix. The paper 'Modeling of Whistler Ray Paths in the Magnetosphere of Neptune' investigated the propagation and dispersion of lighting-generated whistler in the magnetosphere of Neptune by using three dimensional ray tracing. The two papers 'Numerical Simulations of Bursty Radio Emissions from Planetary Magnetospheres' and 'Numerical Simulations of Bursty Planetary Radio Emissions' employed numerical simulations to investigate an alternate source mechanism of bursty radio emissions in addition to the cyclotron maser instability. We have also studied the possible generation of Z and whistler mode waves by the temperature anisotropic beam instability and the result was published in 'Electron Cyclotron Wave Generation by Relativistic Electrons.' Besides the aforementioned studies, we have also collaborated with members of the PRA team to investigate various aspects of the radio wave data. Two papers have been submitted for publication and the abstracts of these papers are also listed in the appendix.

Complex Dynamics of Equatorial Scintillation

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Piersanti, Mirko; Materassi, Massimo; Forte, Biagio; Cicone, Antonio

2017-04-01

Radio power scintillation, namely highly irregular fluctuations of the power of trans-ionospheric GNSS signals, is the effect of ionospheric plasma turbulence. The scintillation patterns on radio signals crossing the medium inherit the ionospheric turbulence characteristics of inter-scale coupling, local randomness and large time variability. On this basis, the remote sensing of local features of the turbulent plasma is feasible by studying radio scintillation induced by the ionosphere. The distinctive character of intermittent turbulent media depends on the fluctuations on the space- and time-scale statistical properties of the medium. Hence, assessing how the signal fluctuation properties vary under different Helio-Geophysical conditions will help to understand the corresponding dynamics of the turbulent medium crossed by the signal. Data analysis tools, provided by complex system science, appear to be best fitting to study the response of a turbulent medium, as the Earth's equatorial ionosphere, to the non-linear forcing exerted by the Solar Wind (SW). In particular we used the Adaptive Local Iterative Filtering, the Wavelet analysis and the Information theory data analysis tool. We have analysed the radio scintillation and ionospheric fluctuation data at low latitude focusing on the time and space multi-scale variability and on the causal relationship between forcing factors from the SW environment and the ionospheric response.

Grating formation by a high power radio wave in near-equator ionosphere

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Singh, Rohtash; Sharma, A. K.; Tripathi, V. K.

2011-11-15

The formation of a volume grating in the near-equator regions of ionosphere due to a high power radio wave is investigated. The radio wave, launched from a ground based transmitter, forms a standing wave pattern below the critical layer, heating the electrons in a space periodic manner. The thermal conduction along the magnetic lines of force inhibits the rise in electron temperature, limiting the efficacy of heating to within a latitude of few degrees around the equator. The space periodic electron partial pressure leads to ambipolar diffusion creating a space periodic density ripple with wave vector along the vertical. Suchmore » a volume grating is effective to cause strong reflection of radio waves at a frequency one order of magnitude higher than the maximum plasma frequency in the ionosphere. Linearly mode converted plasma wave could scatter even higher frequency radio waves.« less

HF produced ionospheric electron density irregularities diagnosed by UHF radio star scintillations

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Frey, A.; Gordon, W. E.

1982-01-01

Three observations of radio star intensity fluctuations at UHF are reported for HF ionospheric modification experiments carried out at the Arecibo Observatory. Two observations at 430 MHz and one at 1400 MHz suggest that the the thin phase screen theory is a good approximation to the observed power spectra. It is noted, however, that the theory has to be extended to include antenna filtering. This type of filtering is important for UHF radio star scintillations since the antenna usually has a narrow beamwidth. HF power densities of less than 37 microwatts/sq m incident on the ionosphere give rise to electron density irregularities larger than 13% of the ambient density (at 260 km) having scale sizes of approximately 510 m perpendicular to the geomagnetic field. The irregularities are found to form within 20-25 s after the HF power is turned on. The drift velocities of the irregularities can be estimated from the observed power spectra.

Wave optics-based LEO-LEO radio occultation retrieval

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Benzon, Hans-Henrik; Høeg, Per

2016-06-01

This paper describes the theory for performing retrieval of radio occultations that use probing frequencies in the XK and KM band. Normally, radio occultations use frequencies in the L band, and GPS satellites are used as the transmitting source, and the occultation signals are received by a GPS receiver on board a Low Earth Orbit (LEO) satellite. The technique is based on the Doppler shift imposed, by the atmosphere, on the signal emitted from the GPS satellite. Two LEO satellites are assumed in the occultations discussed in this paper, and the retrieval is also dependent on the decrease in the signal amplitude caused by atmospheric absorption. The radio wave transmitter is placed on one of these satellites, while the receiver is placed on the other LEO satellite. One of the drawbacks of normal GPS-based radio occultations is that external information is needed to calculate some of the atmospheric products such as the correct water vapor content in the atmosphere. These limitations can be overcome when a proper selected range of high-frequency waves are used to probe the atmosphere. Probing frequencies close to the absorption line of water vapor have been included, thus allowing the retrieval of the water vapor content. Selecting the correct probing frequencies would make it possible to retrieve other information such as the content of ozone. The retrieval is performed through a number of processing steps which are based on the Full Spectrum Inversion (FSI) technique. The retrieval chain is therefore a wave optics-based retrieval chain, and it is therefore possible to process measurements that include multipath. In this paper simulated LEO to LEO radio occultations based on five different frequencies are used. The five frequencies are placed in the XK or KM frequency band. This new wave optics-based retrieval chain is used on a number of examples, and the retrieved atmospheric parameters are compared to the parameters from a global European Centre for Medium

Observations of Interplanetary Scintillation (IPS) Using the Mexican Array Radio Telescope (MEXART)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Mejia-Ambriz, J. C.; Villanueva-Hernandez, P.; Gonzalez-Esparza, J. A.; Aguilar-Rodriguez, E.; Jeyakumar, S.

2010-08-01

The Mexican Array Radio Telescope (MEXART) consists of a 64×64 (4096) full-wavelength dipole antenna array, operating at 140 MHz, with a bandwidth of 2 MHz, occupying about 9660 square meters (69 m × 140 m) ( http://www.mexart.unam.mx ). This is a dedicated radio array for Interplanetary Scintillation (IPS) observations located at latitude 19°48'N, longitude 101°41'W. We characterize the performance of the system. We report the first IPS observations with the instrument, employing a Butler Matrix (BM) of 16×16 ports, fed by 16 east - west lines of 64 dipoles (1/4 of the total array). The BM displays a radiation pattern of 16 beams at different declinations (from -48, to +88 degrees). We present a list of 19 strong IPS radio sources (having at least 3 σ in power gain) detected by the instrument. We report the power spectral analysis procedure of the intensity fluctuations. The operation of MEXART will allow us a better coverage of solar wind disturbances, complementing the data provided by the other, previously built, instruments.

Effectiveness of radio waves application in modern general dental procedures: An update.

PubMed

Qureshi, Arslan; Kellesarian, Sergio Varela; Pikos, Michael A; Javed, Fawad; Romanos, Georgios E

2017-01-01

The purpose of the present study was to review indexed literature and provide an update on the effectiveness of high-frequency radio waves (HRW) application in modern general dentistry procedures. Indexed databases were searched to identify articles that assessed the efficacy of radio waves in dental procedures. Radiosurgery is a refined form of electrosurgery that uses waves of electrons at a radiofrequency ranging between 2 and 4 MHz. Radio waves have also been reported to cause much less thermal damage to peripheral tissues compared with electrosurgery or carbon dioxide laser-assisted surgery. Formation of reparative dentin in direct pulp capping procedures is also significantly higher when HRW are used to achieve hemostasis in teeth with minimally exposed dental pulps compared with traditional techniques for achieving hemostasis. A few case reports have reported that radiosurgery is useful for procedures such as gingivectomy and gingivoplasty, stage-two surgery for implant exposure, operculectomy, oral biopsy, and frenectomy. Radiosurgery is a relatively modern therapeutic methodology for the treatment of trigeminal neuralgia; however, its long-term efficacy is unclear. Radio waves can also be used for periodontal procedures, such as gingivectomies, coronal flap advancement, harvesting palatal grafts for periodontal soft tissue grafting, and crown lengthening. Although there are a limited number of studies in indexed literature regarding the efficacy of radio waves in modern dentistry, the available evidence shows that use of radio waves is a modernization in clinical dentistry that might be a contemporary substitute for traditional clinical dental procedures.

Radio Follow-Up of Gravitational-Wave Triggers during Advanced LIGO 01

DOE PAGES

Palliyaguru, N. T.; Corsi, Alessandra; Kasliwal, M. M.; ...

2016-09-28

We present radio follow-up observations carried out with the Karl G. Jansky Very Large Array during the first observing run (O1) of the Advanced Laser Interferometer Gravitational-wave Observatory (LIGO). A total of three gravitational-wave triggers were followed-up during the ≈4 months of O1, from 2015 September to 2016 January. Two of these triggers, GW150914 and GW151226, are binary black hole (BH) merger events of high significance. A third trigger, G194575, was subsequently declared as an event of no interest (i.e., a false alarm). Our observations targeted selected optical transients identified by the intermediate Palomar Transient Factory in the Advanced LIGOmore » error regions of the three triggers, and a limited region of the gravitational-wave localization area of G194575 not accessible to optical telescopes due to Sun constraints, where a possible high-energy transient was identified. No plausible radio counterparts to GW150914 and GW151226 were found, in agreement with expectations for binary BH mergers. We show that combining optical and radio observations is key to identifying contaminating radio sources that may be found in the follow-up of gravitational-wave triggers, such as emission associated with star formation and active galactic nuclei. We discuss our results in the context of the theoretical predictions for radio counterparts to gravitational-wave transients, and describe our future plans for the radio follow-up of Advanced LIGO (and Virgo) triggers.« less

Tropospheric scintillation prediction models for a high elevation angle based on measured data from a tropical region

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Abdul Rahim, Nadirah Binti; Islam, Md. Rafiqul; J. S., Mandeep; Dao, Hassan; Bashir, Saad Osman

2013-12-01

The recent rapid evolution of new satellite services, including VSAT for internet access, LAN interconnection and multimedia applications, has triggered an increasing demand for bandwidth usage by satellite communications. However, these systems are susceptible to propagation effects that become significant as the frequency increases. Scintillation is the rapid signal fluctuation of the amplitude and phase of a radio wave, which is significant in tropical climates. This paper presents the analysis of the tropospheric scintillation data for satellite to Earth links at the Ku-band. Twelve months of data (January-December 2011) were collected and analyzed to evaluate the effect of tropospheric scintillation. Statistics were then further analyzed to inspect the seasonal, worst-month, diurnal and rain-induced scintillation effects. By employing the measured scintillation data, a modification of the Karasawa model for scintillation fades and enhancements is proposed based on data measured in Malaysia.

Identification of scintillation signatures on GPS signals originating from plasma structures detected with EISCAT incoherent scatter radar along the same line of sight

PubMed Central

Coleman, Chris; Skone, Susan; Häggström, Ingemar; Mitchell, Cathryn; Da Dalt, Federico; Panicciari, Tommaso; Kinrade, Joe; Bust, Gary

2017-01-01

Abstract Ionospheric scintillation originates from the scattering of electromagnetic waves through spatial gradients in the plasma density distribution, drifting across a given propagation direction. Ionospheric scintillation represents a disruptive manifestation of adverse space weather conditions through degradation of the reliability and continuity of satellite telecommunication and navigation systems and services (e.g., European Geostationary Navigation Overlay Service, EGNOS). The purpose of the experiment presented here was to determine the contribution of auroral ionization structures to GPS scintillation. European Incoherent Scatter (EISCAT) measurements were obtained along the same line of sight of a given GPS satellite observed from Tromso and followed by means of the EISCAT UHF radar to causally identify plasma structures that give rise to scintillation on the co‐aligned GPS radio link. Large‐scale structures associated with the poleward edge of the ionospheric trough, with auroral arcs in the nightside auroral oval and with particle precipitation at the onset of a substorm were indeed identified as responsible for enhanced phase scintillation at L band. For the first time it was observed that the observed large‐scale structures did not cascade into smaller‐scale structures, leading to enhanced phase scintillation without amplitude scintillation. More measurements and theory are necessary to understand the mechanism responsible for the inhibition of large‐scale to small‐scale energy cascade and to reproduce the observations. This aspect is fundamental to model the scattering of radio waves propagating through these ionization structures. New insights from this experiment allow a better characterization of the impact that space weather can have on satellite telecommunications and navigation services. PMID:28331778

Identification of scintillation signatures on GPS signals originating from plasma structures detected with EISCAT incoherent scatter radar along the same line of sight

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Forte, Biagio; Coleman, Chris; Skone, Susan; Häggström, Ingemar; Mitchell, Cathryn; Da Dalt, Federico; Panicciari, Tommaso; Kinrade, Joe; Bust, Gary

2017-01-01

Ionospheric scintillation originates from the scattering of electromagnetic waves through spatial gradients in the plasma density distribution, drifting across a given propagation direction. Ionospheric scintillation represents a disruptive manifestation of adverse space weather conditions through degradation of the reliability and continuity of satellite telecommunication and navigation systems and services (e.g., European Geostationary Navigation Overlay Service, EGNOS). The purpose of the experiment presented here was to determine the contribution of auroral ionization structures to GPS scintillation. European Incoherent Scatter (EISCAT) measurements were obtained along the same line of sight of a given GPS satellite observed from Tromso and followed by means of the EISCAT UHF radar to causally identify plasma structures that give rise to scintillation on the co-aligned GPS radio link. Large-scale structures associated with the poleward edge of the ionospheric trough, with auroral arcs in the nightside auroral oval and with particle precipitation at the onset of a substorm were indeed identified as responsible for enhanced phase scintillation at L band. For the first time it was observed that the observed large-scale structures did not cascade into smaller-scale structures, leading to enhanced phase scintillation without amplitude scintillation. More measurements and theory are necessary to understand the mechanism responsible for the inhibition of large-scale to small-scale energy cascade and to reproduce the observations. This aspect is fundamental to model the scattering of radio waves propagating through these ionization structures. New insights from this experiment allow a better characterization of the impact that space weather can have on satellite telecommunications and navigation services.

Identification of scintillation signatures on GPS signals originating from plasma structures detected with EISCAT incoherent scatter radar along the same line of sight.

PubMed

Forte, Biagio; Coleman, Chris; Skone, Susan; Häggström, Ingemar; Mitchell, Cathryn; Da Dalt, Federico; Panicciari, Tommaso; Kinrade, Joe; Bust, Gary

2017-01-01

Ionospheric scintillation originates from the scattering of electromagnetic waves through spatial gradients in the plasma density distribution, drifting across a given propagation direction. Ionospheric scintillation represents a disruptive manifestation of adverse space weather conditions through degradation of the reliability and continuity of satellite telecommunication and navigation systems and services (e.g., European Geostationary Navigation Overlay Service, EGNOS). The purpose of the experiment presented here was to determine the contribution of auroral ionization structures to GPS scintillation. European Incoherent Scatter (EISCAT) measurements were obtained along the same line of sight of a given GPS satellite observed from Tromso and followed by means of the EISCAT UHF radar to causally identify plasma structures that give rise to scintillation on the co-aligned GPS radio link. Large-scale structures associated with the poleward edge of the ionospheric trough, with auroral arcs in the nightside auroral oval and with particle precipitation at the onset of a substorm were indeed identified as responsible for enhanced phase scintillation at L band. For the first time it was observed that the observed large-scale structures did not cascade into smaller-scale structures, leading to enhanced phase scintillation without amplitude scintillation. More measurements and theory are necessary to understand the mechanism responsible for the inhibition of large-scale to small-scale energy cascade and to reproduce the observations. This aspect is fundamental to model the scattering of radio waves propagating through these ionization structures. New insights from this experiment allow a better characterization of the impact that space weather can have on satellite telecommunications and navigation services.

Optical imaging of airglow structure in equatorial plasma bubbles at radio scintillation scales

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Holmes, J. M.; Pedersen, T.; Parris, R. T.; Stephens, B.; Caton, R. G.; Dao, E. V.; Kratochvil, S.; Morton, Y.; Xu, D.; Jiao, Y.; Taylor, S.; Carrano, C. S.

2015-12-01

Imagery of optical emissions from F-region plasma is one of the few means available todetermine plasma density structure in two dimensions. However, the smallest spatial scalesobservable with this technique are typically limited not by magnification of the lens or resolutionof the detector but rather by the optical throughput of the system, which drives the integrationtime, which in turn causes smearing of the features that are typically moving at speeds of 100m/s or more. In this paper we present high spatio-temporal imagery of equatorial plasma bubbles(EPBs) from an imaging system called the Large Aperture Ionospheric Structure Imager(LAISI), which was specifically designed to capture short-integration, high-resolution images ofF-region recombination airglow at λ557.7 nm. The imager features 8-inch diameter entranceoptics comprised of a unique F/0.87 lens, combined with a monolithic 8-inch diameterinterference filter and a 2x2-inch CCD detector. The LAISI field of view is approximately 30degrees. Filtered all-sky images at common airglow wavelengths are combined with magneticfield-aligned LAISI images, GNSS scintillation, and VHF scintillation data obtained atAscension Island (7.98S, 14.41W geographic). A custom-built, multi-constellation GNSS datacollection system was employed that sampled GPS L1, L2C, L5, GLONASS L1 and L2, BeidouB1, and Galileo E1 and E5a signals. Sophisticated processing software was able to maintainlock of all signals during strong scintillation, providing unprecedented spatial observability ofL band scintillation. The smallest-resolvable scale sizes above the noise floor in the EPBs, as viewed byLAISI, are illustrated for integration times of 1, 5 and 10 seconds, with concurrentzonal irregularity drift speeds from both spaced-receiver VHF measurements and single-stationGNSS measurements of S4 and σφ. These observable optical scale sizes are placed in thecontext of those that give rise to radio scintillation in VHF and L band signals.

Synopsis of Mid-latitude Radio Wave Absorption in Europe

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Torkar, K. M.; Friedrich, M.

1984-01-01

Radio wave absorption data covering almost two years from Europe to Central Asia are presented. They are normalized by relating them to a reference absorption. Every day these normalized data are fitted to a mathematical function of geographical location in order to obtain a daily synopsis of radio wave absorption. A film of these absorption charts was made which is intended to reveal movements of absorption or absorption anomaly. In addition, radiance (temperature) data from the lower D-region are also plotted onto these charts.

Radio-scintillation observations of interplanetary disturbances

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Watanabe, T.; Kakinuma, T.

1984-01-01

Recent developments in the studies of interplanetary disturbances by scintillation techniques are briefly reviewed. The turbulent postshock region of an interplanetary disturbance produces transient enhancements in the scintillation level and the flow speed in many cases. An empirical method to determine three-dimensional angular distribution of the propagation speed of the disturbance on the basis of interplanetary scintillation measurements of postshock flow speeds is applied to 17 events which took place in 1978-1981. Among them, four representative examples, including two events which were associated with disappearing solar filaments, are described in detail. Several disturbances had oblate configurations the latitudinal extent ismore » smaller than the longitudinal extent. On the average, the angular distribution of the propagation speed at 1-AU heliocentric distance is quasi-isotropic over a longitudinal range of 100 deg centered at the normal of relevant solar phenomenon. The net excess mass and energy in an interplanetary disturbance associated with a disappearing solar filament can be comparable to those of an interplanetary disturbance associated with a large solar flare. 57 references.« less

Analysis of strong scintillation events by using GPS data at low latitudes

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Forte, Biagio; Jakowski, Norbert; Wilken, Volker

2010-05-01

Drifting structures charaterised by inhomogeneities in the spatial electron density distribution at ionospheric heights originate scintillation of radio waves propagating through. The fractional electron density fluctuations and the corresponding scintillation levels may reach extreme values at low latitudes during high solar activity. Strong scintillation events have disruptive effects on a number of technological applications. In particular, operations and services based on GPS signals and receivers may experience severe disruption due to a significant degradation of the signal-to-noise ratio, eventually leading to signal loss of lock. Experimental scintillation data collected in the Asian sector at low latitudes by means of a GPS dual frequency receiver under moderate solar activity (2006) have been analysed. The GPS receiver is particularly modified in firmware in order to record power estimates on the C/A code as well as on the carriers L1 and L2. Strong scintillation activity is recorded in the post-sunset period (saturating S4 and SI as high as 20 dB). An overview of these events is presented, by taking into account scintillation impact on the signal intensity, phase, and dynamics. In particular, the interpretation of these events based on a refined scattering theory is provided with possible consequences for standard scintillation models.

Ionospheric Scintillation Induced by Solar Wind Dynamic Pressure Enhancements in the Southern Hemisphere

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Coppeans, T.; Zou, S.; Weatherwax, A. T.; Coster, A. J.

2017-12-01

Ionospheric scintillation is the random fluctuation in GPS signal radio waves passing through the ionosphere, a phenomenon that can result in the loss of GPS tracking, but can also reveal information about plasma structures in the ionosphere. Sudden compression of the Earth's magnetosphere by a solar wind dynamic pressure enhancement can cause dramatic changes in the E and F region ionospheric plasma. In this study, we investigate the possible ionospheric scintillation induced by solar wind pressure enhancements using ground-based scintillation receivers located at the McMurdo station and the South Pole station in Antarctica. Various studies of scintillation effects have been carried out, mainly in the northern hemisphere, while the southern hemisphere remains less studied. A pool of storm sudden commencements occurring between Jan. 2011 and Dec. 2014 were sorted based on solar wind dynamic pressure enhancement, background conditions, availability of data, and magnitude of scintillation response. Among the 89 events examined, 14 of them exhibited enhanced scintillation and were selected for detailed examination. Besides the scintillation receivers, other datasets have also been used to carry out the above study, including field-aligned currents from AMPERE, and global GPS TEC. Effects of FACs and TEC/TEC gradients on the generation of these scintillations are studied.

Ulysses radio and plasma wave observations in the Jupiter environment

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Stone, R. G.; Pedersen, B. M.; Harvey, C. C.; Canu, P.; Cornilleau-Wehrlin, N.; Desch, M. D.; De Villedary, C.; Fainberg, J.; Farrell, W. M.; Goetz, K.

1992-01-01

The Unified Radio and Plasma Wave (URAP) experiment has produced new observations of the Jupiter environment, owing to the unique capabilities of the instrument and the traversal of high Jovian latitudes. Broad-band continuum radio emission from Jupiter and in situ plasma waves have proved valuable in delineating the magnetospheric boundaries. Simultaneous measurements of electric and magnetic wave fields have yielded new evidence of whistler-mode radiation within the magnetosphere. Observations of auroral-like hiss provided evidence of a Jovian cusp. The source direction and polarization capabilities of URAP have demonstrated that the outer region of the Io plasma torus supported at least five separate radio sources that reoccurred during successive rotations with a measurable corotation lag. Thermal noise measurements of the Io torus densities yielded values in the densest portion that are similar to models suggested on the basis of Voyager observations of 13 years ago. The URAP measurements also suggest complex beaming and polarization characteristics of Jovian radio components. In addition, a new class of kilometer-wavelength striated Jovian bursts has been observed.

Walkie-Talkie Measurements for the Speed of Radio Waves in Air

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Dombi, Andra; Tunyagi, Arthur; Neda, Zoltan

2013-01-01

A handheld emitter-receiver device suitable for the direct estimation of the velocity of radio waves in air is presented. The velocity of radio waves is measured using the direct time-of-flight method, without the need for any tedious and precise settings. The results for two measurement series are reported. Both sets of results give an estimate…

Radio Wave Generation by a Collision or Contact between Various Materials

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Takano, T.; Hanawa, R.; Saegusa, K.; Ikeda, H.

2014-12-01

In fracture of rock, radio wave emission was found experimentally [1]. This phenomenon could be used to detect a rock fracture during an earthquake or a volcanic activity [2]. The cause of the radio wave is expected to be micro-discharges, which are generated by an inhomogeneous potential distribution around micro-cracks. In order to better understand the phenomena and clarify the cause of radio wave emission, we carried out experiments to detect the emission in the cases of a collision or contact between various materials. We used receiving systems with great sensitivities and sufficient frequency bandwidths at 1 MHz-, 300 MHz-, 2 GHz-, and 18 GHz-bands. The specimen materials are as follows: Steel (2) Brass (3) Copper (4)Small coin (5)Celluloid. We obtained the following results: The signal was detected for the specimen of (1) to (4), but not for (5). The signal is composed of intermittent spikes which include waves with a frequency close to the center frequency of each frequency band. The power is strongest at the lower frequencies among all frequency bands. The more details will be given in the presentation. The origin of radio wave emission from the metal is supposed to be discharges between materials in these experiments. It is surprising that even a small coin can generate a significant amount of radio wave. Accordingly, it is inferred that all amount of charges are discharged through a conductive metal. On the other hand, celluloid did not generate radio wave, though the specimen was sufficiently charged by brushing. It is inferred that a quite localized charge was discharged but the remaining charges were blocked due to poor conductivity. Extending this hypothesis, large-scale contact should have occurred between broken fragments for the radio wave generation in the aforementioned rock fracture experiments. Turbulence of the fragments is a candidate for the explanation. [1] K. Maki et al., "An experimental study of microwave emission from compression

High Latitude Scintillation Monitoring at UHF with the COMMX Experiment on TACSat4

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bernhardt, P. A.; Siefring, C. L.; Akins, K.; Nurnberger, M.

2013-12-01

UHF Beacon Transmissions at 253 MHz have provided high latitude scintillation monitoring from Gakona Alaska using the COMMX instrument on TACSat4. TACSat4 was constructed by the Naval Research Laboratory and was launched in September 2011 as an experimental communications satellite. Ground UHF transmissions are uplinked to TACSat4 using the 4 meter diameter antenna deployed to view the earth. These signals are coherently translated to other UHF frequency to be rebroadcast to the ground. Scintillation monitoring is achieved by taking the 401.25 MHz signals from ground DORIS beacons located in Cold Bay, Alaska; Yellowknife, Canada; Kauai, Hawaii; and Soccoro Island, Mexico. These signals are translated to 253 MHz and broadcast with the 4 meter antenna pointed to the UHF receiver located at Gakona, Alaska. The satellite antenna gain is 18 dB in this UHF band and the transmitter power is 2 Watts. The satellite is in an elliptical orbit with an inclination of 63 degrees and a perigee of 12,000 km. Doppler frequency shifts allow separation of each uplink from the ground DORIS beacons. This new scintillation monitoring system has been used to detect natural and artificial field aligned irregularity effects on the amplitude and phase of UHF carriers where typical scintillation amplitudes are 2dB or less. Using the HAARP transmitter in Alaska, TACSat4 was used to discover the artificial ionization clouds produce scintillation with as much as 16 dB and amplitude indices S4 greater than unity. This is the first demonstration of significant effects on radio scintillations using high power HF radio waves to disturb the ionosphere.

Global morphology of ionospheric F-layer scintillations using FS3/COSMIC GPS radio occultation data

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Tsai, Lung-Chih; Su, Shin-Yi

2016-07-01

The FormoSat-3/ Constellation Observing System for Meteorology, Ionosphere and Climate (FS3/COSMIC) has been proven a successful mission on profiling and modeling of ionospheric electron density by the radio occultation (RO) technique. In this study we report FS3/COSMIC limb-viewing observations of the GPS L-band scintillation since mid 2006 and propose to study F-layer irregularity morphology. Generally the FS3/COSMIC has performed >1000 ionospheric RO observations per day. Most of these observations can provide limb-viewing profiles of S4 scintillation index at dual L-band frequencies. There are a few percentage of FS3/COSMIC RO observations having >0.08 S4 values on average. However, seven identified areas at Central Pacific Area (-20∘~ 20∘dip latitude, 160∘E~130∘W), South American Area (-20∘~ 20∘dip latitude, 100∘W~30∘W), African Area (-20∘~ 20∘dip latitude, 30∘W~50∘E), European Area (30∘~55∘N, 0∘~55∘E), Japan See Area (35∘~55∘N, 120∘~150∘E), Arctic Area (> 65∘dip latitude), and Antarctic Area (< -65∘dip latitude) have been designated to have much higher percentage of strong L-band RO scintillation. During these years in most of the last sunspot cycle from mid 2006 to end 2014 the climatology of scintillations, namely, its variations with each identified area, season, local time, magnetic activity and solar activity have been documented.

Sensory illusions: Common mistakes in physics regarding sound, light and radio waves

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Briles, T. M.; Tabor-Morris, A. E.

2013-03-01

Optical illusions are well known as effects that we see that are not representative of reality. Sensory illusions are similar but can involve other senses than sight, such as hearing or touch. One mistake commonly noted among instructors is that students often mis-identify radio signals as sound waves and not as part of the electromagnetic spectrum. A survey of physics students from multiple high schools highlights the frequency of this common misconception, as well as other nuances on this misunderstanding. Many students appear to conclude that, since they experience radio broadcasts as sound, then sound waves are the actual transmission of radio signals and not, as is actually true, a representation of those waves as produced by the translator box, the radio. Steps to help students identify and correct sensory illusion misconceptions are discussed. School of Education

Strong scintillations during atmospheric occultations Theoretical intensity spectra. [radio scattering during spacecraft occultations by planetary atmospheres

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Hinson, D. P.

1986-01-01

Each of the two Voyager spacecraft launched in 1977 has completed a reconnaissance of the Jovian and Saturnian systems. In connection with occultation experiments, strong scintillations were observed. Further theoretical work is required before these scintillations can be interpreted. The present study is, therefore, concerned with the derivation of a theory for strong scattering during atmospheric occultation experiments, taking into account as fundamental quantity of interest the spatial spectrum (or spectral density) of intensity fluctuations. Attention is given to a theory for intensity spectra, and numerical calculations. The new formula derived for Phi-i accounts for strong scattering of electromagnetic waves during atmospheric occultations.

Density Waves in Saturn's Rings from Cassini Radio Occultations

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

French, R. G.; Rappaport, N. J.; Marouf, E. A.; McGhee, C. A.

2005-12-01

The Cassini Radio Science Team conducted a set of optimized diametric occultations by Saturn and its rings from May to September 2005, providing 11 separate probes of Saturn's ionosphere and atmosphere, and 12 optical depth profiles of the complete ring system. Each event was observed by the stations of the Deep Space Net (DSN) at three radio frequencies (S, X, Ka bands, with corresponding wavelengths of ? = 13, 3.6, and 0.9 cm). Very accurate pointing by the spacecraft and ground antennas resulted in stable baseline signal levels, and the relatively large ring opening angle (B=19-25°) permitted us to probe even quite dense ring regions with excellent SNR. The RSS occultation technique enables us to recover very fine detailed radial structure by correcting for diffraction effects. Multiple occultation chords, covering a variety of ring longitudes and ring opening angles, reveal the structure of the rings in remarkable detail, including density and bending waves, satellite wakes, and subtle variations at the 100-m radius scale. Janus and Epimetheus are responsible for a particularly rich set of density waves, and their coorbital interactions result in a complex interplay of time-variable ring structure over the 8-year libration period of the two satellites. We compare the first-order 2:1, 4:3, 5:4, and 6:5 coorbital density waves from multiple occultation chords to linear density wave models based on a dynamical model of the orbital exchange between the moons. From the observed dispersion relation of the wave crests, we infer the surface mass density and eccentricity gradient of particle streamlines, and match the detailed shapes of the wave crests using a non-linear analysis. Second-order coorbital features are also evident, and there are even hints of third-order density waves in the high SNR radio occultation data.

Cross-wind profiling based on the scattered wave scintillation in a telescope focus.

PubMed

Banakh, V A; Marakasov, D A; Vorontsov, M A

2007-11-20

The problem of wind profile reconstruction from scintillation of an optical wave scattered off a rough surface in a telescope focus plane is considered. Both the expression for the spatiotemporal correlation function and the algorithm of cross-wind velocity and direction profiles reconstruction based on the spatiotemporal spectrum of intensity of an optical wave scattered by a diffuse target in a turbulent atmosphere are presented. Computer simulations performed under conditions of weak optical turbulence show wind profiles reconstruction by the developed algorithm.

Moreton wave, "EIT wave", and type II radio burst as manifestations of a single wave front

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kuzmenko, I. V.; Grechnev, V. V.; Uralov, A. M.

2011-12-01

We show that a Moreton wave, an "EIT wave," and a type II radio burst observed during a solar flare of July 13, 2004, might have been a manifestation of a single front of a decelerating shock wave, which appeared in an active region (AR) during a filament eruption. We propose describing a quasi-spheroidal wave propagating upward and along the solar surface by using relations known from a theory of a point-like explosion in a gas whose density changes along the radius according to a power law. By applying this law to fit the drop in density of the coronal plasma enveloping the solar active region, we first managed to bring the measured positions and velocities of surface Moreton wave and "EIT wave" into correspondence with the observed frequency drift rate of the meter type II radio burst. The exponent of the vertical coronal density falloff is selected by fitting the power law to the Newkirk and Saito empirical distributions in the height range of interest. Formal use of such a dependence in the horizontal direction with a different exponent appears to be reasonable up to distances of less than 200 Mm around the eruption center. It is possible to assume that the near-surface shock wave weakens when leaving this radius and finally the active region, entering the region of the quiet Sun where the coronal plasma density and the fast-mode speed are almost constant along the horizontal.

Plasma and radio waves from Neptune: Source mechamisms and propagation

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Menietti, J. Douglas

1994-01-01

The purpose of this project was to conduct a comprehensive investigation of the radio wave emission observed by the planetary radio astronomy (PRA) instrument on board Voyager 2 as it flew by Neptune. The study has included data analysis, theoretical and numerical calculations, and ray tracing to determine the possible source mechanisms and locations of the radiation, including the narrowband bursty and smooth components of the Neptune radio emission.

Estimation of Electron Density profile Using the Propagation Characteristics of Radio Waves by S-520-29 Sounding Rocket

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Itaya, K.; Ishisaka, K.; Ashihara, Y.; Abe, T.; Kumamoto, A.; Kurihara, J.

2015-12-01

S-520-29 sounding rocket experiment was carried out at Uchinoura Space Center (USC) at 19:10 JST on 17 August, 2014. The purpose of this sounding rocket experiments is observation of sporadic E layer that appears in the lower ionosphere at near 100km. Three methods were used in order to observe the sporadic E layer. The first method is an optical method that observe the light of metal ion emitted by the resonance scattering in sporadic E layer using the imager. The second method is observation of characteristic of radio wave propagation that the LF/MF band radio waves transmitted from the ground. The third method is measuring the electron density in the vicinity of sounding rocket using the fast Langmuir probe and the impedance probe. We analyze the propagation characteristics of radio wave in sporadic E layer appeared from the results of the second method observation. This rocket was equipped with LF/MF band radio receiver for observe the LF/MF band radio waves in rocket flight. Antenna of LF/MF band radio receiver is composed of three axis loop antenna. LF/MF band radio receiver receives three radio waves of 873kHz (JOGB), 666kHz (JOBK), 60kHz (JJY) from the ground. 873kHz and 60kHz radio waves are transmitting from north side, and 666kHz radio waves are transmitting from the east side to the trajectory of the rocket. In the sounding rocket experiment, LF/MF band radio receiver was working properly. We have completed the observation of radio wave intensity. We analyze the observation results using a Doppler shift calculations by frequency analysis. Radio waves received by the sounding rocket include the influences of Doppler shift by polarization and the direction of rocket spin and the magnetic field of the Earth. So received radio waves that are separate into characteristics waves using frequency analysis. Then we calculate the Doppler shift from the separated data. As a result, 873kHz, 666kHz radio waves are reflected by the ionosphere. 60kHz wave was able to

Observation of quasi-periodic solar radio bursts associated with propagating fast-mode waves

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Goddard, C. R.; Nisticò, G.; Nakariakov, V. M.; Zimovets, I. V.; White, S. M.

2016-10-01

Aims: Radio emission observations from the Learmonth and Bruny Island radio spectrographs are analysed to determine the nature of a train of discrete, periodic radio "sparks" (finite-bandwidth, short-duration isolated radio features) which precede a type II burst. We analyse extreme ultraviolet (EUV) imaging from SDO/AIA at multiple wavelengths and identify a series of quasi-periodic rapidly-propagating enhancements, which we interpret as a fast wave train, and link these to the detected radio features. Methods: The speeds and positions of the periodic rapidly propagating fast waves and the coronal mass ejection (CME) were recorded using running-difference images and time-distance analysis. From the frequency of the radio sparks the local electron density at the emission location was estimated for each. Using an empirical model for the scaling of density in the corona, the calculated electron density was used to obtain the height above the surface at which the emission occurs, and the propagation velocity of the emission location. Results: The period of the radio sparks, δtr = 1.78 ± 0.04 min, matches the period of the fast wave train observed at 171 Å, δtEUV = 1.7 ± 0.2 min. The inferred speed of the emission location of the radio sparks, 630 km s-1, is comparable to the measured speed of the CME leading edge, 500 km s-1, and the speeds derived from the drifting of the type II lanes. The calculated height of the radio emission (obtained from the density) matches the observed location of the CME leading edge. From the above evidence we propose that the radio sparks are caused by the quasi-periodic fast waves, and the emission is generated as they catch up and interact with the leading edge of the CME. The movie associated to Fig. 2 is available at http://www.aanda.org

3.6 cm signal attenuation in Venus' lower and middle atmosphere observed by the Radio Science experiment VeRa onboard Venus Express

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Oschlisniok, J.; Tellmann, S.; Pätzold, M.; Häusler, B.; Andert, T.; Bird, M.; Remus, S.

2012-09-01

The planet Venus is shrouded within a roughly 20 km thick cloud layer, which extends from the lower to the middle atmosphere (ca. 50 - 70 km). While the clouds are mostly composed of sulfuric acid droplets, a haze layer of sulfuric acid vapor exists below the clouds. Within the cloud and the sub - cloud region Radio signal strength variations (intensity scintillations) caused by atmospheric waves and a decrease in the signal intensity caused by absorption by H2SO4 are observed by radio occultation experiments. The Venus Express spacecraft is orbiting Venus since 2006. The Radio Science Experiment VeRa probes the atmosphere with radio signals at 3.6 cm (XBand) and 13 cm (S-Band) wavelengths. The disturbance of the radio signal intensity is used to investigate the cloud region with respect to atmospheric waves. The absorption of the signal is used to determine the abundance of H2SO4 near the cloud base. This way a detailed study of the H2SO4 abundance within the cloud and sub - cloud region is possible. Results from the intensity scintillations within the cloud deck are presented and compared with gravity wave studies based on temperature variations inferred from VeRa soundings. Vertical absorptivity profiles and resulting sulfuric acid vapor profiles are presented and compared with previous missions. A distinct latitudinal dependence and a southern northern symmetry are clearly visible.

Simple surgical approach with high-frequency radio-wave electrosurgery for conjunctivochalasis.

PubMed

Youm, Dong Ju; Kim, Joon Mo; Choi, Chul Young

2010-11-01

To introduce a new simple surgical approach with high-frequency radio-wave electrosurgery to reduce conjunctivochalasis (CCh). Prospective, noncomparative, interventional case series analysis. Twelve patients (20 eyes) with CCh were recruited from the outpatient service of the Department of Ophthalmology, Kangbuk Samsung Hospital, Seoul, Korea. On the inferior bulbar conjunctiva, subconjunctival coagulation was performed with a fine-needle electrode using a high-frequency radio-wave electrosurgical unit (Ellman Surgitron; Ellman International, Inc., Hewlett, NY) in coagulation mode. Conjunctivochalasis grade; epiphora and dry eye symptoms (the Ocular Surface Disease Index [OSDI]; Allergan Inc., Irvine, CA, holds the copyright); and intraoperative and postoperative complications. Eighteen eyes (90%) recovered a smooth, wet, and noninflamed conjunctival surface within 1 month and remained stable for a follow-up period of 3 months. At 3 months postoperatively, 18 eyes (90%) had grade 0 CCh. There was a statistically significant decrease of the OSDI score at 3 months postoperatively (P < 0.001). A surgical approach with high-frequency radio-wave electrosurgery produced a significant reduction in CCh and an improvement in symptoms. Radio-wave surgical techniques represent a favorable alternative to surgical treatment of CCh. The author(s) have no proprietary or commercial interest in any materials discussed in this article. Copyright © 2010 American Academy of Ophthalmology. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

The Equatorial Scintillations and Space Weather Effects on its Generation during Geomagnetic Storms

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Biktash, Lilia

Great diversity of the ionospheric phenomena leads to a variety of irregularity types with spatial size from many thousands of kilometers to few centimeters and lifetimes from days to fractions of second. Since the ionosphere strongly influences the propagation of radio waves, signal distortions caused by these irregularities affect short-wave transmissions on Earth, transiono-spheric satellite communications and navigation. In this work the solar wind and the equatorial ionosphere parameters, Kp, Dst, AU, AL indices characterized contribution of different mag-netospheric and ionospheric currents to the H-component of geomagnetic field are examined to test the space weather effect on the generation of ionospheric irregularities producing VLF scintillations. According to the results of the current statistical studies, one can predict scintil-lations from Aarons' criteria using the Dst index, which mainly depicts the magnetospheric ring current field. To amplify Aarons' criteria or to propose new criteria for predicting scintillation characteristics is the question. In the present phase of the experimental investigations of elec-tron density irregularities in the ionosphere new ways are opened up because observations in the interaction between the solar wind -magnetosphere -ionosphere during magnetic storms have progressed greatly. We have examined scintillation relation to magnetospheric and ionospheric currents and show that the factor, which presents during magnetic storms to fully inhibit scin-tillation, is the positive Bz-component of the IMF. During the positive Bz IMF F layer cannot raise altitude where scintillations are formed. The auroral indices and Kp do better for the prediction of the ionospheric scintillations at the equator. The interplanetary magnetic field data and models can be used to explain the relationship between the equatorial ionospheric parameters, h'F, foF2, and the equatorial geomagnetic variations with the polar ionosphere cur-rents and

Geophysical analysis of coherent satellite scintillation data

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Fremouw, E. J.; Lansinger, J. M.; Miller, D. A.

1981-11-01

In May of 1976, Air Force Satellite P76-5 was launched with the Defense Nuclear Agency's Wideband beacon, DNA-002, as its sole payload. Several researchers have employed the resulting data in studies of ionospheric structure and its effect on transionospheric radio communications. In the present work, recordings of amplitude and phase scintillation imposed on Wideband's VHF and UHF signals by the ionosphere have been used to study medium-scale structures in the auroral-zone F layer. Results include quantitative identification of a very close relationship between scintillation and solar/geomagnetic activity, together with lack of a seasonal variation in scintillation activity in the Alaskan sector. A surprisingly high correlation (90%) was found between monthly means of phase-scintillation index, on the one hand, and sunspot number and 10-cm solar radio flux, on the other. The high-latitude scintillation boundary was found to be very similar to the soft-electron precipitation boundary, including similarity in expansion rates with increasing magnetic activity. Interestingly, it is systematically shifted poleward of the precipitation boundary on the day side of the earth and equatorward on the night side. Taken together, the results of this research disclose a rather direct relationship between scintillation and soft-electron precipitation, with plasma convection likely playing an important role in generation of the scintillation-producing irregularities.

Study of Sun-Earth interactions using equatorial VHF scintillation in the Indian region

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Banola, Sridhar

Plasma density irregularities in the ionosphere (associated with ESF, plasma bubbles and Spo-radic E layers) cause scintillations in various frequency ranges. VHF radio wave scintillation technique is extensively used to study plasma density irregularities of sub-kilometre size . Ef-fects of magnetic and solar activity on ionospheric irregularities are studied so as to ascertain their role in the space weather of the near earth environment in space. Indian Institute of Ge-omagnetism operated a ground network of 13 stations monitoring amplitude scintillations on 244/251 MHz (FLEETSAT 73° E) signals in placecountry-regionIndia for more than a decade under AICPITS. At present VHF scintillation is being recorded at Mumbai by monitoring 251 MHz signal transmitted by geostationary satellite UFO2(71.2 E). sampling at 20 Hz. During CAWSES campaign (March-April 2006, low sunspot period) occurrence of daytime scintilla-tions was observed higher than the nighttime scintillations. This could be due to the fact that during low sunspot years occurrence of spread-F is limited to a narrow latitude region near the dip equator. To study solar cycle association of scintillations, long series of simultaneous amplitude scintillation data for period Jan 1989 to Dec 2000 at Indian low-latitude stations Tirunelveli/Trivandrum, close to dip equator, Pondicherry/Karur, located at the fringe of elec-trojet, Mumbai (dip lat. 13.5o N), a temperate station and Ujjain (dip lat. 18.6o N), close to anomaly crest region are utilized. Nighttime scintillation occurrence is solar activity dependent. Equatorial scintillations are inhibited with increase in geomagnetic activity.

Ionospheric modification by radio waves: An overview and novel applications

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kosch, M. J.

2008-12-01

High-power high-frequency radio waves, when beamed into the Earth's ionosphere, can heat the plasma by particle collisions in the D-layer or generate wave-plasma resonances in the F-layer. These basic phenomena have been used in many research applications. In the D-layer, ionospheric currents can be modulated through conductance modification to produce artificial ULF and VLF waves, which propagate allowing magnetospheric research. In the mesopause, PMSE can be modified allowing dusty plasma research. In the F-layer, wave-plasma interactions generate a variety of artificially stimulated phenomena, such as (1) magnetic field-aligned plasma irregularities linked to anomalous radio wave absorption, (2) stimulated electromagnetic emissions linked to upper-hybrid resonance, (3) optical emissions linked to electron acceleration and collisions with neutrals, and (4) Langmuir turbulence linked to enhanced radar backscatter. These phenomena are reviewed. In addition, some novel applications of ionospheric heaters will be presented, including HF radar sounding of the magnetosphere, the production of E-region optical emissions, and measurements of D-region electron temperature for controlled PMSE research.

Ionosphere scintillations associated with features of equatorial ionosphere

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Chandra, H.; Vats, H. O.; Sethia, G.; Deshpande, M. R.; Rastogi, R. G.; Sastri, J. H.; Murthy, B. S.

1979-01-01

Amplitude scintillations of radio beacons aboard the ATS-6 satellite on 40 MHz, 140 MHz and 360 MHz recorded during the ATS-6 phase II at an equatorial station Ootacamund (dip 4 deg N) and the ionograms at a nearby station Kodaikanal (dip 3.5 deg N) are examined for scintillation activity. Only sporadic E events, other than Es-q, Es-c or normal E are found to be associated with intense daytime scintillations. Scintillations are also observed during night Es conditions. The amplitude spread is associated with strong scintillations on all frequencies while frequency spread causes weaker scintillations and that mainly at 40 MHz.

10 GHz Standing-Wave Coplanar Stripline on LiNbO3 Crystal for Radio to Optical-Wave Conversion

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Darwis, F.; Wijayanto, Y. N.; Setiawan, A.; Mahmudin, D.; Rahman, A. N.; Daud, P.

2018-04-01

Recently, X-band radar systems are used widely for surveillance and navigation applications. Especially in archipelago or maritime country, the surveillance/navigation radar systems are required to monitoring critical areas and managing marine traffic. Accurate detection and fast analysis should be improved furthermore to provide security and safety condition. Therefore, several radar systems should be installed in many places to coverage the critical areas within radar networks. The radar network can be connected using optical fibers since it has extremely low propagation loss with optical-wave to carry-out the radar-wave. One important component in the scenario is a radio to optical-wave conversion component. In this paper, we report a 10 GHz radio to optical-wave conversion component using standing-wave coplanar stripline (CPS) on LiNbO3 optical crystal as the substrate. The standing-wave CPS electrodes with narrow slot are arranged in an array structure. An optical waveguide is located close to the narrow slot. The CPS electrodes were analysed using electromagnetic analysis software for 10 GHz operational frequency. Responses for slot width and electrode length variation are reported. As results, return loss of -14.580 dB and -19.517 dB are obtained for single and array CPS electrodes respectively. Optimization of the designed radio to optical-wave conversion devices was also done.

Interstellar scintillation as the origin of the rapid radio variability of the quasar J1819+3845.

PubMed

Dennett-Thorpe, J; de Bruyn, A G

2002-01-03

The liberation of gravitational energy as matter falls onto a supermassive black hole at the centre of a galaxy is believed to explain the high luminosity of quasars. The variability of this emission from quasars and other types of active galactic nuclei can provide information on the size of the emitting regions and the physical process of fuelling the black hole. Some active galactic nuclei are variable at optical (and shorter) wavelengths, and display radio outbursts over years and decades. These active galactic nuclei often also show faster intraday variability at radio wavelengths. The origin of this rapid variability has been extensively debated, but a correlation between optical and radio variations in some sources suggests that both are intrinsic. This would, however, require radiation brightness temperatures that seem physically implausible, leading to the suggestion that the rapid variations are caused by scattering of the emission by the interstellar medium inside our Galaxy. Here we show that the rapid variations in the extreme case of quasar J1819+3845 (ref. 10) indeed arise from interstellar scintillation. The transverse velocity of the scattering material reveals the presence of plasma with a surprisingly high velocity close to the Solar System.

Cassini Radio and Plasma Wave Observations at Saturn

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Gurnett, D. A.; Kurth, W. S.; Hospodarsky, G. B.; Persoon, A. M.; Averkamp, T. F.; Ceccni, B.; Lecacheux, A.; Zarka, P.; Canu, P.; Cornilleau-Wehrlin, N.

2005-01-01

Results are presented from the Cassini radio and plasma wave instrument during the approach and first few orbits around Saturn. During the approach the intensity modulation of Saturn Kilometric Radiation (SKR) showed that the radio rotation period of Saturn has increased to 10 hr 45 min plus or minus 36 sec, about 6 min longer than measured by Voyager in 1980-81. Also, many intense impulsive radio signals called Saturn Electrostatic Discharges (SEDs) were detected from saturnian lightning, starting as far as 1.08 AU from Saturn, much farther than terrestrial lightning can be detected from Earth. Some of the SED episodes have been linked to cloud systems observed in Saturn s atmosphere by the Cassini imaging system. Within the magnetosphere plasma wave emissions have been used to construct an electron density profile through the inner region of the magnetosphere. With decreasing radial distance the electron density increases gradually to a peak of about 100 per cubic centimeter near the outer edge of the A ring, and then drops precipitously to values as low as .03 per cubic centimeter over the rings. Numerous nearly monochromatic whistler-mode emissions were observed as the spacecraft passed over the rings that are believed to be produced by meteoroid impacts on the rings. Whistlermode emissions, similar to terrestrial auroral hiss were also observed over the rings, indicating that an electrodynamic interaction, similar to auroral particle acceleration, may be occurring in or near the rings. During the Titan flybys Langmuir probe and plasma wave measurements provided observations of the density and temperature in Titan's ionosphere.

Analysis of strong ionospheric scintillation events measured by means of GPS signals at low latitudes during disturbed conditions

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Forte, B.

2012-08-01

Drifting structures characterized by inhomogeneities in the spatial electron density distribution at ionospheric heights cause the scintillation of radio waves propagating through. The fractional electron density fluctuations and the corresponding scintillation levels may reach extreme values at low latitudes during high solar activity. Different levels of scintillation were observed on experimental data collected in the Asian sector at low latitudes by means of a GPS dual frequency receiver under moderate solar activity (2005). The GPS receiver used in these campaigns was particularly modified in firmware in order to record power estimates on the C/A code as well as on the carriers L1 and L2. Strong scintillation activity was recorded in the post-sunset period (saturatingS4 and SI as high as 20 dB). Spectral modifications and broadening was observed during high levels of scintillation possibly indicating refractive scattering taking place instead of diffractive scattering. A possible interpretation of those events was attempted on the basis of the refractive scattering theory developed by Uscinski (1968) and Booker and MajidiAhi (1981).

Modifying the ionosphere with intense radio waves.

PubMed

Utlaut, W F; Cohen, R

1971-10-15

The ionospheric modification experiments provide an opportunity to better understand the aeronomy of the natural ionosphere and also afford the control of a naturally occurring plasma, which will make possible further progress in plasma physics. The ionospheric modification by powerful radio waves is analogous to studies of laser and microwave heating of laboratory plasmas (20). " Anomalous" reflectivity effects similar to the observed ionospheric attenuation have already been noted in plasmas modulated by microwaves, and anomalous heating may have been observed in plasmas irradiated by lasers. Contacts have now been established between the workers in these diverse areas, which span a wide range of the electromagnetic spectrum. Perhaps ionospheric modification will also be a valuable technique in radio communications.

Relations among low ionosphere parameters and high frequency radio wave absorption

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Cipriano, J. P.

1973-01-01

Charged particle conductivities measured in the very low ionosphere at White Sands Missile Range, New Mexico, and Wallops Island, Virginia, are compared with atmospheric parameters and high frequency radio wave absorption measurements. Charged particle densities are derived from the conductivity data. Between 33 and 58 km, positive conductivity correlated well with neutral atmospheric temperature, with temperature coefficients as large as 4.6%/deg K. Good correlations were also found between HF radio wave absorption and negative conductivity at altitudes as low as 53 km, indicating that the day-to-day absorption variations were principally due to variations in electron loss rate.

Search for transient gravitational waves in coincidence with short-duration radio transients during 2007-2013

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Abbott, B. P.; Abbott, R.; Abbott, T. D.; Abernathy, M. R.; Acernese, F.; Ackley, K.; Adams, C.; Adams, T.; Addesso, P.; Adhikari, R. X.; Adya, V. B.; Affeldt, C.; Agathos, M.; Agatsuma, K.; Aggarwal, N.; Aguiar, O. D.; Aiello, L.; Ain, A.; Ajith, P.; Allen, B.; Allocca, A.; Altin, P. A.; Anderson, S. B.; Anderson, W. G.; Arai, K.; Araya, M. C.; Arceneaux, C. C.; Areeda, J. S.; Arnaud, N.; Arun, K. G.; Ascenzi, S.; Ashton, G.; Ast, M.; Aston, S. M.; Astone, P.; Aufmuth, P.; Aulbert, C.; Babak, S.; Bacon, P.; Bader, M. K. M.; Baker, P. T.; Baldaccini, F.; Ballardin, G.; Ballmer, S. W.; Barayoga, J. C.; Barclay, S. E.; Barish, B. C.; Barker, D.; Barone, F.; Barr, B.; Barsotti, L.; Barsuglia, M.; Barta, D.; Bartlett, J.; Bartos, I.; Bassiri, R.; Basti, A.; Batch, J. C.; Baune, C.; Bavigadda, V.; Bazzan, M.; Behnke, B.; Bejger, M.; Bell, A. S.; Bell, C. J.; Berger, B. K.; Bergman, J.; Bergmann, G.; Berry, C. P. L.; Bersanetti, D.; Bertolini, A.; Betzwieser, J.; Bhagwat, S.; Bhandare, R.; Bilenko, I. A.; Billingsley, G.; Birch, J.; Birney, R.; Biscans, S.; Bisht, A.; Bitossi, M.; Biwer, C.; Bizouard, M. A.; Blackburn, J. K.; Blair, C. D.; Blair, D. G.; Blair, R. M.; Bloemen, S.; Bock, O.; Bodiya, T. P.; Boer, M.; Bogaert, G.; Bogan, C.; Bohe, A.; Bojtos, P.; Bond, C.; Bondu, F.; Bonnand, R.; Boom, B. A.; Bork, R.; Boschi, V.; Bose, S.; Bouffanais, Y.; Bozzi, A.; Bradaschia, C.; Brady, P. R.; Braginsky, V. B.; Branchesi, M.; Brau, J. E.; Briant, T.; Brillet, A.; Brinkmann, M.; Brisson, V.; Brockill, P.; Brooks, A. F.; Brown, D. A.; Brown, D. D.; Brown, N. M.; Buchanan, C. C.; Buikema, A.; Bulik, T.; Bulten, H. J.; Buonanno, A.; Buskulic, D.; Buy, C.; Byer, R. L.; Cadonati, L.; Cagnoli, G.; Cahillane, C.; Calderón Bustillo, J.; Callister, T.; Calloni, E.; Camp, J. B.; Cannon, K. C.; Cao, J.; Capano, C. D.; Capocasa, E.; Carbognani, F.; Caride, S.; Casanueva Diaz, J.; Casentini, C.; Caudill, S.; Cavaglià, M.; Cavalier, F.; Cavalieri, R.; Cella, G.; Cepeda, C. B.; Cerboni Baiardi, L.; Cerretani, G.; Cesarini, E.; Chakraborty, R.; Chalermsongsak, T.; Chamberlin, S. J.; Chan, M.; Chao, S.; Charlton, P.; Chassande-Mottin, E.; Chen, H. Y.; Chen, Y.; Cheng, C.; Chincarini, A.; Chiummo, A.; Cho, H. S.; Cho, M.; Chow, J. H.; Christensen, N.; Chu, Q.; Chua, S.; Chung, S.; Ciani, G.; Clara, F.; Clark, J. A.; Cleva, F.; Coccia, E.; Cohadon, P.-F.; Colla, A.; Collette, C. G.; Cominsky, L.; Constancio, M.; Conte, A.; Conti, L.; Cook, D.; Corbitt, T. R.; Cornish, N.; Corsi, A.; Cortese, S.; Costa, C. A.; Coughlin, M. W.; Coughlin, S. B.; Coulon, J.-P.; Countryman, S. T.; Couvares, P.; Coward, D. M.; Cowart, M. J.; Coyne, D. C.; Coyne, R.; Craig, K.; Creighton, J. D. E.; Cripe, J.; Crowder, S. G.; Cumming, A.; Cunningham, L.; Cuoco, E.; Dal Canton, T.; Danilishin, S. L.; D'Antonio, S.; Danzmann, K.; Darman, N. S.; Dattilo, V.; Dave, I.; Daveloza, H. P.; Davier, M.; Davies, G. S.; Daw, E. J.; Day, R.; DeBra, D.; Debreczeni, G.; Degallaix, J.; De Laurentis, M.; Deléglise, S.; Del Pozzo, W.; Denker, T.; Dent, T.; Dergachev, V.; De Rosa, R.; DeRosa, R. T.; DeSalvo, R.; Dhurandhar, S.; Díaz, M. C.; Di Fiore, L.; Di Giovanni, M.; Di Girolamo, T.; Di Lieto, A.; Di Pace, S.; Di Palma, I.; Di Virgilio, A.; Dojcinoski, G.; Dolique, V.; Donovan, F.; Dooley, K. L.; Doravari, S.; Douglas, R.; Downes, T. P.; Drago, M.; Drever, R. W. P.; Driggers, J. C.; Du, Z.; Ducrot, M.; Dwyer, S. E.; Edo, T. B.; Edwards, M. C.; Effler, A.; Eggenstein, H.-B.; Ehrens, P.; Eichholz, J.; Eikenberry, S. S.; Engels, W.; Essick, R. C.; Etzel, T.; Evans, M.; Evans, T. M.; Everett, R.; Factourovich, M.; Fafone, V.; Fair, H.; Fairhurst, S.; Fan, X.; Fang, Q.; Farinon, S.; Farr, B.; Farr, W. M.; Favata, M.; Fays, M.; Fehrmann, H.; Fejer, M. M.; Ferrante, I.; Ferreira, E. C.; Ferrini, F.; Fidecaro, F.; Fiori, I.; Fiorucci, D.; Fisher, R. P.; Flaminio, R.; Fletcher, M.; Fournier, J.-D.; Frasca, S.; Frasconi, F.; Frei, Z.; Freise, A.; Frey, R.; Frey, V.; Fricke, T. T.; Fritschel, P.; Frolov, V. V.; Fulda, P.; Fyffe, M.; Gabbard, H. A. G.; Gair, J. R.; Gammaitoni, L.; Gaonkar, S. G.; Garufi, F.; Gaur, G.; Gehrels, N.; Gemme, G.; Genin, E.; Gennai, A.; George, J.; Gergely, L.; Germain, V.; Ghosh, Archisman; Ghosh, S.; Giaime, J. A.; Giardina, K. D.; Giazotto, A.; Gill, K.; Glaefke, A.; Goetz, E.; Goetz, R.; Gondan, L.; González, G.; Gonzalez Castro, J. M.; Gopakumar, A.; Gordon, N. A.; Gorodetsky, M. L.; Gossan, S. E.; Gosselin, M.; Gouaty, R.; Grado, A.; Graef, C.; Graff, P. B.; Granata, M.; Grant, A.; Gras, S.; Gray, C.; Greco, G.; Green, A. C.; Groot, P.; Grote, H.; Grunewald, S.; Guidi, G. M.; Guo, X.; Gupta, A.; Gupta, M. K.; Gushwa, K. E.; Gustafson, E. K.; Gustafson, R.; Hacker, J. J.; Hall, B. R.; Hall, E. D.; Hammond, G.; Haney, M.; Hanke, M. M.; Hanks, J.; Hanna, C.; Hannam, M. D.; Hanson, J.; Hardwick, T.; Harms, J.; Harry, G. M.; Harry, I. W.; Hart, M. J.; Hartman, M. T.; Haster, C.-J.; Haughian, K.; Heidmann, A.; Heintze, M. C.; Heitmann, H.; Hello, P.; Hemming, G.; Hendry, M.; Heng, I. S.; Hennig, J.; Heptonstall, A. W.; Heurs, M.; Hild, S.; Hoak, D.; Hodge, K. A.; Hofman, D.; Hollitt, S. E.; Holt, K.; Holz, D. E.; Hopkins, P.; Hosken, D. J.; Hough, J.; Houston, E. A.; Howell, E. J.; Hu, Y. M.; Huang, S.; Huerta, E. A.; Huet, D.; Hughey, B.; Husa, S.; Huttner, S. H.; Huynh-Dinh, T.; Idrisy, A.; Indik, N.; Ingram, D. R.; Inta, R.; Isa, H. N.; Isac, J.-M.; Isi, M.; Islas, G.; Isogai, T.; Iyer, B. R.; Izumi, K.; Jacqmin, T.; Jang, H.; Jani, K.; Jaranowski, P.; Jawahar, S.; Jiménez-Forteza, F.; Johnson, W. W.; Jones, D. I.; Jones, R.; Jonker, R. J. G.; Ju, L.; Haris, K.; Kalaghatgi, C. V.; Kalogera, V.; Kandhasamy, S.; Kang, G.; Kanner, J. B.; Karki, S.; Kasprzack, M.; Katsavounidis, E.; Katzman, W.; Kaufer, S.; Kaur, T.; Kawabe, K.; Kawazoe, F.; Kéfélian, F.; Kehl, M. S.; Keitel, D.; Kelley, D. B.; Kells, W.; Kennedy, R.; Key, J. S.; Khalaidovski, A.; Khalili, F. Y.; Khan, I.; Khan, S.; Khan, Z.; Khazanov, E. A.; Kijbunchoo, N.; Kim, Chunglee; Kim, J.; Kim, K.; Kim, Nam-Gyu; Kim, Namjun; Kim, Y.-M.; King, E. J.; King, P. J.; Kinzel, D. L.; Kissel, J. S.; Kleybolte, L.; Klimenko, S.; Koehlenbeck, S. M.; Kokeyama, K.; Koley, S.; Kondrashov, V.; Kontos, A.; Korobko, M.; Korth, W. Z.; Kowalska, I.; Kozak, D. B.; Kringel, V.; Królak, A.; Krueger, C.; Kuehn, G.; Kumar, P.; Kuo, L.; Kutynia, A.; Lackey, B. D.; Landry, M.; Lange, J.; Lantz, B.; Lasky, P. D.; Lazzarini, A.; Lazzaro, C.; Leaci, P.; Leavey, S.; Lebigot, E. O.; Lee, C. H.; Lee, H. K.; Lee, H. M.; Lee, K.; Lenon, A.; Leonardi, M.; Leong, J. R.; Leroy, N.; Letendre, N.; Levin, Y.; Levine, B. M.; Li, T. G. F.; Libson, A.; Littenberg, T. B.; Lockerbie, N. A.; Logue, J.; Lombardi, A. L.; Lord, J. E.; Lorenzini, M.; Loriette, V.; Lormand, M.; Losurdo, G.; Lough, J. D.; Lück, H.; Lundgren, A. P.; Luo, J.; Lynch, R.; Ma, Y.; MacDonald, T.; Machenschalk, B.; MacInnis, M.; Macleod, D. M.; Magaña-Sandoval, F.; Magee, R. M.; Mageswaran, M.; Majorana, E.; Maksimovic, I.; Malvezzi, V.; Man, N.; Mandic, V.; Mangano, V.; Mansell, G. L.; Manske, M.; Mantovani, M.; Marchesoni, F.; Marion, F.; Márka, S.; Márka, Z.; Markosyan, A. S.; Maros, E.; Martelli, F.; Martellini, L.; Martin, I. W.; Martin, R. M.; Martynov, D. V.; Marx, J. N.; Mason, K.; Masserot, A.; Massinger, T. J.; Masso-Reid, M.; Mastrogiovanni, S.; Matichard, F.; Matone, L.; Mavalvala, N.; Mazumder, N.; Mazzolo, G.; McCarthy, R.; McClelland, D. E.; McCormick, S.; McGuire, S. C.; McIntyre, G.; McIver, J.; McManus, D. J.; McWilliams, S. T.; Meacher, D.; Meadors, G. D.; Meidam, J.; Melatos, A.; Mendell, G.; Mendoza-Gandara, D.; Mercer, R. A.; Merilh, E. L.; Merzougui, M.; Meshkov, S.; Messenger, C.; Messick, C.; Metzdorff, R.; Meyers, P. M.; Mezzani, F.; Miao, H.; Michel, C.; Middleton, H.; Mikhailov, E. E.; Milano, L.; Miller, A. L.; Miller, J.; Millhouse, M.; Minenkov, Y.; Ming, J.; Mirshekari, S.; Mishra, C.; Mitra, S.; Mitrofanov, V. P.; Mitselmakher, G.; Mittleman, R.; Moggi, A.; Mohan, M.; Mohapatra, S. R. P.; Montani, M.; Moore, B. C.; Moore, C. J.; Moraru, D.; Moreno, G.; Morriss, S. R.; Mossavi, K.; Mours, B.; Mow-Lowry, C. M.; Mueller, C. L.; Mueller, G.; Muir, A. W.; Mukherjee, Arunava; Mukherjee, D.; Mukherjee, S.; Mukund, K. N.; Mullavey, A.; Munch, J.; Murphy, D. J.; Murray, P. G.; Mytidis, A.; Nardecchia, I.; Naticchioni, L.; Nayak, R. K.; Necula, V.; Nedkova, K.; Nelemans, G.; Neri, M.; Neunzert, A.; Newton, G.; Nguyen, T. T.; Nielsen, A. B.; Nissanke, S.; Nitz, A.; Nocera, F.; Nolting, D.; Normandin, M. E. N.; Nuttall, L. K.; Oberling, J.; Ochsner, E.; O'Dell, J.; Oelker, E.; Ogin, G. H.; Oh, J. J.; Oh, S. H.; Ohme, F.; Oliver, M.; Oppermann, P.; Oram, Richard J.; O'Reilly, B.; O'Shaughnessy, R.; Ott, C. D.; Ottaway, D. J.; Ottens, R. S.; Overmier, H.; Owen, B. J.; Pai, A.; Pai, S. A.; Palamos, J. R.; Palashov, O.; Palomba, C.; Pal-Singh, A.; Pan, H.; Pankow, C.; Pannarale, F.; Pant, B. C.; Paoletti, F.; Paoli, A.; Papa, M. A.; Paris, H. R.; Parker, W.; Pascucci, D.; Pasqualetti, A.; Passaquieti, R.; Passuello, D.; Patricelli, B.; Patrick, Z.; Pearlstone, B. L.; Pedraza, M.; Pedurand, R.; Pekowsky, L.; Pele, A.; Penn, S.; Pereira, R.; Perreca, A.; Phelps, M.; Piccinni, O. J.; Pichot, M.; Piergiovanni, F.; Pierro, V.; Pillant, G.; Pinard, L.; Pinto, I. M.; Pitkin, M.; Pletsch, H. J.; Poggiani, R.; Popolizio, P.; Post, A.; Powell, J.; Prasad, J.; Predoi, V.; Premachandra, S. S.; Prestegard, T.; Price, L. R.; Prijatelj, M.; Principe, M.; Privitera, S.; Prodi, G. A.; Prokhorov, L.; Puncken, O.; Punturo, M.; Puppo, P.; Pürrer, M.; Qi, H.; Qin, J.; Quetschke, V.; Quintero, E. A.; Quitzow-James, R.; Raab, F. J.; Rabeling, D. S.; Radkins, H.; Raffai, P.; Raja, S.; Rakhmanov, M.; Rapagnani, P.; Raymond, V.; Razzano, M.; Re, V.; Read, J.; Reed, C. M.; Regimbau, T.; Rei, L.; Reid, S.; Reitze, D. H.; Rew, H.; Ricci, F.; Riles, K.; Robertson, N. A.; Robie, R.; Robinet, F.; Rocchi, A.; Rolland, L.; Rollins, J. G.; Roma, V. J.; Romano, J. D.; Romano, R.; Romanov, G.; Romie, J. H.; Rosińska, D.; Rowan, S.; Rüdiger, A.; Ruggi, P.; Ryan, K.; Sachdev, S.; Sadecki, T.; Sadeghian, L.; Salconi, L.; Saleem, M.; Salemi, F.; Samajdar, A.; Sammut, L.; Sanchez, E. J.; Sandberg, V.; Sandeen, B.; Sanders, J. R.; Sassolas, B.; Sathyaprakash, B. S.; Saulson, P. R.; Sauter, O. E. S.; Savage, R. L.; Sawadsky, A.; Schale, P.; Schilling, R.; Schmidt, J.; Schmidt, P.; Schnabel, R.; Schofield, R. M. S.; Schönbeck, A.; Schreiber, E.; Schuette, D.; Schutz, B. F.; Scott, J.; Scott, S. M.; Sellers, D.; Sentenac, D.; Sequino, V.; Sergeev, A.; Serna, G.; Setyawati, Y.; Sevigny, A.; Shaddock, D. A.; Shahriar, M. S.; Shaltev, M.; Shao, Z.; Shapiro, B.; Shawhan, P.; Sheperd, A.; Shoemaker, D. H.; Shoemaker, D. M.; Siellez, K.; Siemens, X.; Sieniawska, M.; Sigg, D.; Silva, A. D.; Simakov, D.; Singer, A.; Singer, L. P.; Singh, A.; Singh, R.; Singhal, A.; Sintes, A. M.; Slagmolen, B. J. J.; Smith, J. R.; Smith, N. D.; Smith, R. J. E.; Son, E. J.; Sorazu, B.; Sorrentino, F.; Souradeep, T.; Srivastava, A. K.; Staley, A.; Steinke, M.; Steinlechner, J.; Steinlechner, S.; Steinmeyer, D.; Stephens, B. C.; Stiles, D.; Stone, R.; Strain, K. A.; Straniero, N.; Stratta, G.; Strauss, N. A.; Strigin, S.; Sturani, R.; Stuver, A. L.; Summerscales, T. Z.; Sun, L.; Sutton, P. J.; Swinkels, B. L.; Szczepańczyk, M. J.; Tacca, M.; Talukder, D.; Tanner, D. B.; Tápai, M.; Tarabrin, S. P.; Taracchini, A.; Taylor, R.; Theeg, T.; Thirugnanasambandam, M. P.; Thomas, E. G.; Thomas, M.; Thomas, P.; Thorne, K. A.; Thrane, E.; Tiwari, S.; Tiwari, V.; Tokmakov, K. V.; Tomlinson, C.; Tonelli, M.; Torres, C. V.; Torrie, C. I.; Töyrä, D.; Travasso, F.; Traylor, G.; Trifirò, D.; Tringali, M. C.; Trozzo, L.; Tse, M.; Turconi, M.; Tuyenbayev, D.; Ugolini, D.; Unnikrishnan, C. S.; Urban, A. L.; Usman, S. A.; Vahlbruch, H.; Vajente, G.; Valdes, G.; van Bakel, N.; van Beuzekom, M.; van den Brand, J. F. J.; Van Den Broeck, C.; Vander-Hyde, D. C.; van der Schaaf, L.; van Heijningen, J. V.; van Veggel, A. A.; Vardaro, M.; Vass, S.; Vasúth, M.; Vaulin, R.; Vecchio, A.; Vedovato, G.; Veitch, J.; Veitch, P. J.; Venkateswara, K.; Verkindt, D.; Vetrano, F.; Viceré, A.; Vinciguerra, S.; Vine, D. J.; Vinet, J.-Y.; Vitale, S.; Vo, T.; Vocca, H.; Vorvick, C.; Voss, D. V.; Vousden, W. D.; Vyatchanin, S. P.; Wade, A. R.; Wade, L. E.; Wade, M.; Walker, M.; Wallace, L.; Walsh, S.; Wang, G.; Wang, H.; Wang, M.; Wang, X.; Wang, Y.; Ward, R. L.; Warner, J.; Was, M.; Weaver, B.; Wei, L.-W.; Weinert, M.; Weinstein, A. J.; Weiss, R.; Welborn, T.; Wen, L.; Weßels, P.; Westphal, T.; Wette, K.; Whelan, J. T.; Whitcomb, S. E.; White, D. J.; Whiting, B. F.; Williams, R. D.; Williamson, A. R.; Willis, J. L.; Willke, B.; Wimmer, M. H.; Winkler, W.; Wipf, C. C.; Wittel, H.; Woan, G.; Worden, J.; Wright, J. L.; Wu, G.; Yablon, J.; Yam, W.; Yamamoto, H.; Yancey, C. C.; Yap, M. J.; Yu, H.; Yvert, M.; ZadroŻny, A.; Zangrando, L.; Zanolin, M.; Zendri, J.-P.; Zevin, M.; Zhang, F.; Zhang, L.; Zhang, M.; Zhang, Y.; Zhao, C.; Zhou, M.; Zhou, Z.; Zhu, X. J.; Zucker, M. E.; Zuraw, S. E.; Zweizig, J.; Archibald, A. M.; Banaszak, S.; Berndsen, A.; Boyles, J.; Cardoso, R. F.; Chawla, P.; Cherry, A.; Dartez, L. P.; Day, D.; Epstein, C. R.; Ford, A. J.; Flanigan, J.; Garcia, A.; Hessels, J. W. T.; Hinojosa, J.; Jenet, F. A.; Karako-Argaman, C.; Kaspi, V. M.; Keane, E. F.; Kondratiev, V. I.; Kramer, M.; Leake, S.; Lorimer, D.; Lunsford, G.; Lynch, R. S.; Martinez, J. G.; Mata, A.; McLaughlin, M. A.; McPhee, C. A.; Penucci, T.; Ransom, S.; Roberts, M. S. E.; Rohr, M. D. W.; Stairs, I. H.; Stovall, K.; van Leeuwen, J.; Walker, A. N.; Wells, B. L.; LIGO Scientific Collaboration; Virgo Collaboration

2016-06-01

We present an archival search for transient gravitational-wave bursts in coincidence with 27 single-pulse triggers from Green Bank Telescope pulsar surveys, using the LIGO, Virgo, and GEO interferometer network. We also discuss a check for gravitational-wave signals in coincidence with Parkes fast radio bursts using similar methods. Data analyzed in these searches were collected between 2007 and 2013. Possible sources of emission of both short-duration radio signals and transient gravitational-wave emission include starquakes on neutron stars, binary coalescence of neutron stars, and cosmic string cusps. While no evidence for gravitational-wave emission in coincidence with these radio transients was found, the current analysis serves as a prototype for similar future searches using more sensitive second-generation interferometers.

Search for Transient Gravitational Waves in Coincidence with Short-Duration Radio Transients During 2007-2013

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Abbott, B. P.; Hughey, Brennan; Zanolin, Michele; Szczepanczyk, Marek; Gill, Kiranjyot; Abbott, R.; Abbott, T. D.; Abernathy, M. R.; Acernese, F.; Ackley, K.;

Roles Played by Electrostatic Waves in Producing Radio Emissions

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Cairns, Iver H.

2000-01-01

Processes in which electromagnetic radiation is produced directly or indirectly via intermediate waves are reviewed. It is shown that strict theoretical constraints exist for electrons to produce nonthermal levels of radiation directly by the Cerenkov or cyclotron resonances. In contrast, indirect emission processes in which intermediary plasma waves are converted into radiation are often favored on general and specific grounds. Four classes of mechanisms involving the conversion of electrostatic waves into radiation are linear mode conversion, hybrid linear/nonlinear mechanisms, nonlinear wave-wave and wave-particle processes, and radiation from localized wave packets. These processes are reviewed theoretically and observational evidence summarized for their occurrence. Strong evidence exists that specific nonlinear wave processes and mode conversion can explain quantitatively phenomena involving type III solar radio bursts and ionospheric emissions. On the other hand, no convincing evidence exists that magnetospheric continuum radiation is produced by mode conversion instead of nonlinear wave processes. Further research on these processes is needed.

Put a Short-Wave Radio in Your Foreign Language Classroom

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Oksenholt, Svein

1977-01-01

Advantages of the short-wave radio as a supplement to foreign language instruction as well as practical hints on wavelength, antenna, and techniques for use are provided. Selective annotated bibliography. (STS)

Scintillation Monitoring Using Asymmetry Index

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Shaikh, Muhammad Mubasshir; Mahrous, Ayman; Abdallah, Amr; Notarpietro, Riccardo

station in Cairo, Egypt (lat= 29.8641 °, long= 31.3172 °). It was observed that the level of asymmetry was significantly increased during the main phase of the geomagnetic storm. This was due to the changes in ionization, which in turn produced large gradients along occulted ray path in the ionosphere. A very good correlation was found between the evaluated ionospheric asymmetry index and the S4 scintillation index. Additionally, the correlation between evaluated ionospheric asymmetry and errors related to the RO inversion products such as peak electron density (delta NmF2) and Vertical TEC (delta VTEC) estimates also showed promising results. This work is carried out under the framework of the TRANSMIT project (Training Research and Applications Network to Support the Mitigation of Ionospheric Threats - www.transmit-ionosphere.net). [1]Basu Sa. and Basu Su., (1981), ‘Equatorial Scintillation - A Review’, Journal of Atmospheric and Solar-Terrestrial Physics, 43, p. 473. [2]Davies K., (1990), ‘Ionospheric Radio’, IEEE Electromagnetic Waves Series 31, Peter Peregrinus Ltd. [3]Spencer, P., Mitchell, C.N., (2007) ‘Imaging of fast moving electron-density structures in the polar cap’, Annals of Geophysics, vol. 50, no. 3, pp. 427-434. [4]Shaikh, M.M., Notarpietro, R., Nava, B., (2013) ‘The Impact of Spherical Symmetry Assumption on Radio Occultation Data Inversion in the Ionosphere: An Assessment Study’, Advances in Space Research, doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.asr.2013.10.025.

Multi-Band (K- Q- and E-Band) Multi-Tone Millimeter-Wave Frequency Synthesizer for Radio Wave Propagation Studies

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Simons, Rainee N.; Wintucky, Edwin G.

2014-01-01

This paper presents the design and test results of a multi-band multi-tone millimeter-wave frequency synthesizer, based on a solid-state frequency comb generator. The intended application of the synthesizer is in a space-borne transmitter for radio wave atmospheric studies at K-band (18 to 26.5 GHz), Q-band (37 to 42 GHz), and E-band (71 to 76 GHz). These studies would enable the design of robust multi-Gbps data rate space-to-ground satellite communication links. Lastly, the architecture for a compact multi-tone beacon transmitter, which includes a high frequency synthesizer, a polarizer, and a conical horn antenna, has been investigated for a notional CubeSat based space-to-ground radio wave propagation experiment.

Interplanetary plasma scintillation parameters measurements retrieved from the spacecraft observations.

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Molera Calvés, Guifré; Pogrebenko, S. V.; Wagner, J.; Maccaferri, G.; Colucci, G.; Kronschnabl, G.; Scilliro, F.; Bianco, G.; Pérez Ayúcar, M.; Cosmovici, C. B.

2010-05-01

Measurement of the Interplanetary Scintillations (IPS) of radio signals propagating through the plasma in the Solar System by the radio astronomical instruments is a powerful tool to characterise and study the spatial and temporal variation of the electron density in the Solar wind. Several techniques based on the observation of natural and artificial radio sources have been developed during the last 50 years. Here we report our results of the IPS parameters measurement based on the multi-station observations of the planetary mission spacecraft. The ESA Venus Express spacecraft was observed at X-band (8.4 GHz) by several European VLBI stations - Metsähovi Radio Observatory (Aalto University , FI), Medicina (INAF-RA, IT), Matera (ASI, IT), Wettzell (BKG, DE), Noto (INAF-IRA, IT) and Yebes (OAN-IGN, ES) during a 2008-2010 campaign in a framework of the PRIDE (Planetary Radio Interferometry and Doppler Experiments) project as a preparatory stage for the European Radio Astronomy VLBI facilities participation in the planned ESA planetary missions (EJSM, TESM, EVE and others). Observational data were processed at Metsähovi Radio Observatory with the on-purpose developed high performance, ultra-high spectral resolution and spacecraft tracking capable software spectrometer-correlator and analysed at the Joint Institute for VLBI in Europe (JIVE, NL). High quality of acquired and analysed data enables us to study and define several parameters of the S/C signal and accompanying "ranging" tones with milli-Hz accuracy, among which the phase fluctuations of the spacecraft signal carrier line can be used to characterise the interplanetary plasma density fluctuations along the signal propagation line at different spatial and temporal scales at different Solar elongations and which exhibits a near-Kolmogorov spectrum. Such essential parameters as the phase scintillation index and bandwidth of scintillations and their dependence on the solar elongation, distance to the target

Prospects of using medium-wave band for radio communication with rescue mobile teams of EMERCOM of Russia

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bazhukov, I. F.; Dulkejt, I. V.; Zavyalov, S. A.; Lvova, Yu V.; Lyashuk, A. N.; Puzyrev, P. I.; Rekunov, S. G.; Chaschin, E. A.; Sharapov, S. V.

2018-01-01

The results of tests in-situ of the prototype of medium-wave mobile radio station «Noema-SV» in Western Siberia, Omsk region and Vorkuta Arctic Integrated Emergency and Rescue Center of EMERCOM of Russia are presented. Radio paths tests in-situ in the Far North show the possibility of radio communication with rescue mobile teams of EMERCOM of Russia in the medium-wave band within distances of several tens of kilometers of rugged topography. The radio range on a flat terrain increases to several hundreds of kilometers. Shortened medium-wave band antennas developed at OmSTU and employed by rescue mobile teams of EMERCOM of Russia were used in.

Equinoctial asymmetry in the zonal distribution of scintillation as observed by GPS receivers in Indonesia

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Abadi, P.; Otsuka, Y.; Shiokawa, K.; Husin, A.; Liu, Huixin; Saito, S.

2017-08-01

We investigate the azimuthal distribution of amplitude scintillation observed by Global Positioning System (GPS) ground receivers at Pontianak (0.0°S, 109.3°E; magnetic latitude: 9.8°S) and Bandung (6.9°S, 107.6°E; magnetic latitude: 16.7°S) in Indonesia in March and September from 2011 to 2015. The scintillation is found to occur more to the west than to the east in March at both stations, whereas no such zonal difference is found in September. We also analyze the zonal scintillation drift as estimated using three closely spaced single-frequency GPS receivers at Kototabang (0.2°S, 100.3°E; magnetic latitude: 9.9°S) in Indonesia during 2003-2015 and the zonal thermospheric neutral wind as measured by the CHAMP satellite at longitudes of 90°-120°E during 2001-2008. We find that the velocities of both the zonal scintillation drift and the neutral wind decrease with increasing latitudes. Interestingly, the latitudinal gradients of both the zonal scintillation drift and the neutral wind are steeper in March than in September. These steeper March gradients may be responsible for the increased westward altitudinal and latitudinal tilting of plasma bubbles in March. This equinoctial asymmetry could be responsible for the observed westward bias in scintillation in March, because the scintillation is more likely to occur when radio waves pass through longer lengths of plasma irregularities in the plasma bubbles.

Robust GPS carrier tracking under ionospheric scintillation

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Susi, M.; Andreotti, M.; Aquino, M. H.; Dodson, A.

2013-12-01

Small scale irregularities present in the ionosphere can induce fast and unpredictable fluctuations of Radio Frequency (RF) signal phase and amplitude. This phenomenon, known as scintillation, can degrade the performance of a GPS receiver leading to cycle slips, increasing the tracking error and also producing a complete loss of lock. In the most severe scenarios, if the tracking of multiple satellites links is prevented, outages in the GPS service can also occur. In order to render a GPS receiver more robust under scintillation, particular attention should be dedicated to the design of the carrier tracking stage, that is the receiver's part most sensitive to these types of phenomenon. This paper exploits the reconfigurability and flexibility of a GPS software receiver to develop a tracking algorithm that is more robust under ionospheric scintillation. For this purpose, first of all, the scintillation level is monitored in real time. Indeed the carrier phase and the post correlation terms obtained by the PLL (Phase Locked Loop) are used to estimate phi60 and S4 [1], the scintillation indices traditionally used to quantify the level of phase and amplitude scintillations, as well as p and T, the spectral parameters of the fluctuations PSD. The effectiveness of the scintillation parameter computation is confirmed by comparing the values obtained by the software receiver and the ones provided by a commercial scintillation monitoring, i.e. the Septentrio PolarxS receiver [2]. Then the above scintillation parameters and the signal carrier to noise density are exploited to tune the carrier tracking algorithm. In case of very weak signals the FLL (Frequency Locked Loop) scheme is selected in order to maintain the signal lock. Otherwise an adaptive bandwidth Phase Locked Loop (PLL) scheme is adopted. The optimum bandwidth for the specific scintillation scenario is evaluated in real time by exploiting the Conker formula [1] for the tracking jitter estimation. The performance

Design, fabrication, and measurement of reflective metasurface for orbital angular momentum vortex wave in radio frequency domain

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Yu, Shixing; Li, Long; Shi, Guangming; Zhu, Cheng; Zhou, Xiaoxiao; Shi, Yan

2016-03-01

In this paper, a reflective metasurface is designed, fabricated, and experimentally demonstrated to generate an orbital angular momentum (OAM) vortex wave in radio frequency domain. Theoretical formula of phase-shift distribution is deduced and used to design the metasurface producing vortex radio waves. The prototype of a practical configuration is designed, fabricated, and measured to validate the theoretical analysis at 5.8 GHz. The simulated and experimental results verify that the vortex waves with different OAM mode numbers can be flexibly generated by using sub-wavelength reflective metasurfaces. The proposed method and metasurface pave a way to generate the OAM vortex waves for radio and microwave wireless communication applications.

On the occurrence of F region irregularities over Haikou retrieved from COSMIC GPS radio occultation and ground-based ionospheric scintillation monitor observations

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Yu, Xiao; Yue, Xinan; Zhen, Weimin; Xu, Jisheng; Liu, Dun; Guo, Shan

2017-01-01

In this paper, the amplitude scintillation index (s4) derived from COSMIC (Constellation Observing System for Meteorology, Ionosphere, and Climate) radio occultation (RO) technique and ground-based Ionospheric Scintillation Monitor (ISM) at Haikou station (geographic latitude: 20.0°N, geographic longitude: 110.3°E, and geomagnetic latitude: 10.02°N) is used to investigate the morphology of F region irregularities in the low latitudes of China. The RO events of tangent point within the range of 10-30°N latitude, 70-160°E longitude, and 150-500 km altitude are adopted to analyze the ionospheric scintillation characteristics. The percentage of ionospheric scintillation occurrence is computed to obtain its diurnal variations, seasonal trends, and the dependence on solar and geomagnetic activities. Based on a statistical analysis of a long-term period data set (years 2007 to 2013), we found that the ionospheric scintillation occurrence from both techniques show similar variations. After sunset (18 LT), the scintillation occurrence increases rapidly and reaches the maximum 3 h later. Then it decreases rapidly till 04 LT and remains low level during the daytime. The ionospheric scintillation tends to occur more frequently during vernal and autumnal equinoxes, especially in March-April and September-October. The equinoctial asymmetry could be seen clearly from the ground-based ISM observations. The peak ionospheric scintillation occurrence time varies with seasons. It is reached latest in summer, while in spring it is very close to that in autumn. The nighttime ionospheric scintillation occurrence tends to increase with increasing solar activities. The increasing tendency is more prominent in vernal and autumnal equinoxes than that in summer and winter. In general, the control of geomagnetic activities is apt to inhibit ionospheric scintillation at equinox nighttime. In summer and winter, the geomagnetic activities could either trigger or inhibit the generation of

Forecasting Ionospheric Real-time Scintillation Tool (FIRST)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Anderson, D. N.; Redmon, R.; Bullett, T.; Caton, R. G.; Retterer, J. M.

2009-05-01

It is well-known that the generation of equatorial, F-region plasma density irregularities, via the Generalized Rayleigh-Taylor instability mechanism is critically dependent on the magnitude of the pre-reversal enhancement (PRE) in upward ExB drift velocity after sunset. These plasma density bubbles that are generated after sunset lead to the scintillation of trans-ionospheric radio wave signals that pass through these bubbles and is commonly referred to as scintillation activity. Communication and Navigation systems can be severely disrupted by these plasma density irregularities. A measure of scintillation activity is given by the S4 Index and a network of Air Force, ground-based UHF and L-band receivers measuring the S4 Index is called the SCIntillation Network Decision Aid (SCINDA) network. After sunset, the height-rise with time of the bottom- side of the F-layer reflects the magnitude of the upward ExB drift velocity. The value of the ionospheric parameter, h'F (the virtual height of the bottom-side F-layer) at 1930 LT reflects the integrated ExB drift effect on lifting the F-layer to an altitude where the Rayleigh-Taylor (R-T) instability mechanism becomes important. It is found that there exists a threshold in the h'F value at 1930 LT and the onset of scintillation activity as measured by the S4 Index value in the Peruvian longitude sector. This h'F threshold value is found to decrease with decreasing F10.7 cm fluxes in a linear manner (R = 0.99). T o examine this relationship, theoretically, we incorporate a suite of first-principle models of the ambient ionosphere (PBMOD) developed at the Air Force Research Lab (AFRL) to investigate R-T growth rates and threshold h'F (1930 LT) values as a function of solar cycle activity. In addition, this paper describes a technique for automatically forecasting, in real-time, the occurrence or non-occurrence of scintillation activity that relies on real-time data from a ground-based ionospheric sounder at or near the

Influence of January 2009 stratospheric warming on HF radio wave propagation in the low-latitude ionosphere

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kotova, Darya; Klimenko, Maksim; Klimenko, Vladimir; Zaharov, Veniamin; Bessarab, Fedor; Korenkov, Yuriy

2016-12-01

We have considered the influence of the January 23-27, 2009 sudden stratospheric warming (SSW) event on HF radio wave propagation in the equatorial ionosphere. This event took place during extremely low solar and geomagnetic activity. We use the simulation results obtained with the Global Self-consistent Model of the Thermosphere, Ionosphere and Protonosphere (GSM TIP) for simulating environmental changes during the SSW event. We both qualitatively and quantitatively reproduced total electron content disturbances obtained from global ground network receiver observations of GPS navigation satellite signals, by setting an additional electric potential and TIME-GCM model output at a height of 80 km. In order to study the influence of this SSW event on HF radio wave propagation and attenuation, we used the numerical model of radio wave propagation based on geometrical optics approximation. It is shown that the sudden stratospheric warming leads to radio signal attenuation and deterioration of radio communication in the daytime equatorial ionosphere.

Characteristics of worst hour rainfall rate for radio wave propagation modelling in Nigeria

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Osita, Ibe; Nymphas, E. F.

2017-10-01

Radio waves especially at the millimeter-wave band are known to be attenuated by rain. Radio engineers and designers need to be able to predict the time of the day when radio signal will be attenuated so as to provide measures to mitigate this effect. This is achieved by characterizing the rainfall intensity for a particular region of interest into worst month and worst hour of the day. This paper characterized rainfall in Nigeria into worst year, worst month, and worst hour. It is shown that for the period of study, 2008 and 2009 are the worst years, while September is the most frequent worst month in most of the stations. The evening time (LT) is the worst hours of the day in virtually all the stations.

Radio observations of atmospheric gravity waves with Callisto

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Monstein, C.

2013-12-01

On December 12th 2013 NOAA reported between 08:04 and 12:08 only radio noise at 245 MHz observed in San Vito. But some European observatories of the e-Callisto network (Germany, UK and Ireland) observed very strange reverse drifting and v-type bursts which was never recognized by the author before. Private communication with P. Zucca from TCD showed that these strange structures are due to focusing effects in the ionosphere. Interestingly it is possible to observe complex ionospheric behavior with cheap and simple radio-telescopes like Callisto. People who are interested in such kind of observations to study ionospheric gravity waves should generate observing programs for frequencies below 100 MHz, ideally with an additional up-converter for frequencies from 15 MHz - 100 MHz. Callisto again proved to be a powerful tool for solar science and radio-monitoring. Below are shown recent observations from Bir castle in Ireland, Essen in Germany and Glasgow in Scotland. For comparison I added an observation from a LOFAR node from Chibolton in UK which was provided by Richard Fallows from Astron NL. And finally a plot from Nançay radio heliograph, provided by Karl-Heinz Gansel, Dingden Amateur Radio- Astronomy Observatory DARO, Germany. Although Callisto instruments are almost identical, the spectra look completely different, depending on their geographical longitude and latitude.

Extreme Radio-wave Scattering Associated with Hot Stars

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Walker, Mark A.; Tuntsov, Artem V.; Bignall, Hayley; Reynolds, Cormac; Bannister, Keith W.; Johnston, Simon; Stevens, Jamie; Ravi, Vikram

2017-07-01

We use data on extreme radio scintillation to demonstrate that this phenomenon is associated with hot stars in the solar neighborhood. The ionized gas responsible for the scattering is found at distances up to 1.75 {pc} from the host star, and on average must comprise ˜105 distinct structures per star. We detect azimuthal velocities of the plasma, relative to the host star, up to 9.7 {km} {{{s}}}-1, consistent with warm gas expanding at the sound speed. The circumstellar plasma structures that we infer are similar in several respects to the cometary knots seen in the Helix and in other planetary nebulae. There the ionized gas appears as a skin around tiny molecular clumps. Our analysis suggests that molecular clumps are ubiquitous circumstellar features, unrelated to the evolutionary state of the star. The total mass in such clumps is comparable to the stellar mass.

Observation of radio-wave-induced red hydroxyl emission at low altitude in the ionosphere.

PubMed

Kagan, L M; Nicolls, M J; Kelley, M C; Carlson, H C; Belikovich, V V; Bakhmet'eva, N V; Komrakov, G P; Trondsen, T S; Donovan, E

2005-03-11

We report the discovery of radio-wave-induced red emission of OH Meinel rotation-vibrational bands at 629.79 nm. These are the first measurements of artificial aurora below 100 km. We believe that the 629.79-nm OH emission was due to radio-wave focusing by sporadic ionization clouds near 80-85 km altitude, thus giving a technique to visualize the low-altitude sporadic ionization and providing insight into ionospheric interactions at these low altitudes.

Measuring ionospheric movements using totally reflected radio waves

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sadler, Elaine M.; Whitehead, J. D.; From, W. R.

1988-02-01

It is shown that for radio waves of a particular frequency reflected totally from the ionosphere the effect of refraction as well as reflection can be simulated by an effective reflecting surface. This mirror-like surface will give the correct angle of arrival and Doppler shift for all radars operating at this frequency. It is theoretically possible for the effective reflecting surface to be folded back on itself, but this is unlikely except for F-region echoes refracted by sporadic E-clouds. If the surface is not folded and exists everywhere, it is always possible to describe its motion and change in terms of wave undulations. Experimental data for F-region echoes show that these wave undulations are very dispersive. However, the matching between the best fitting model and the experimental data is worse than expected for reasons we do not understand.

Measuring ionospheric movements using totally reflected radio waves

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

From, W. R.; Sadler, Elaine M.; Whitehead, J. D.

1988-02-01

It is shown that for radio waves of a particular frequency reflected totally from the ionosphere the effect of refraction as well as reflection can be simulated by an effective reflecting surface. This mirrorlike surface will give the correct angle of arrival and Doppler shift for all radars operating at this frequency. It is theoretically possible for the effective reflecting surface to be folded back on itself, but this is unlikely except for F-region echoes refracted by sporadic E-clouds. If the surface is not folded and exists everywhere, it is always possible to describe its motion and change in terms of wave undulations. Experimental data for F-region echoes show that these wave undulations are very dispersive. However, the matching between the best fitting model and the experimental data is worse than expected for reasons we do not understand.

Atmospheric Waves and Dynamics Beneath Jupiters Clouds from Radio Wavelength Observations

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Cosentino, Richard G.; Butler, Bryan; Sault, Bob; Morales-Juberias, Raul; Simon, Amy; De Pater, Imke

2017-01-01

We observed Jupiter at wavelengths near 2 cm with the Karl G. Jansky Very Large Array (VLA) in February 2015. These frequencies are mostly sensitive to variations in ammonia abundance and probe between approx. 0.5- 2.0 bars of pressure in Jupiters atmosphere; within and below the visible cloud deck which has its base near 0.7 bars. The resultant observed data were projected into a cylindrical map of the planet with spatial resolution of approx. 1500 km at the equator. We have examined the data for atmospheric waves and observed a prominent bright belt of radio hotspot features near 10 N, likely connected to the same equatorial wave associated with the 5-m hotspots. We conducted a passive tracer power spectral wave analysis for the entire map and latitude regions corresponding to eastward and westward jets and compare our results to previous studies. The power spectra analysis revealed that the atmosphere sampled in our observation (excluding the NEB region) is in a 2-D turbulent regime and its dynamics are predominately governed by the shallow water equations. The Great Red Spot (GRS) is also very prominent and has a noticeable meridional asymmetry and we compare it, and nearby storms, with optical images. We find that the meridional radio profile has a global north-south hemisphere distinction and find correlations of it to optical intensity banding and to shear zones of the zonal wind profile over select regions of latitude. Amateur optical images taken before and after our observation complemented the radio wave- length map to investigate dynamics of the equatorial region in Jupiters atmosphere. We find that two radio hotspots at 2 cm are well correlated with optical plumes in the NEB, additionally revealing they are not the same 5 m hotspot features correlated with optical dark patches between adjacent plumes. This analysis exploits the VLAs upgraded sensitivity and explores the opportunities now possible when studying gas giants, especially atmospheric

Excitation of small-scale waves in the F region of the ionosphere by powerful HF radio waves

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Blagoveshchenskaya, N. F.; Chernyshev, M. Y.; Kornienko, V. A.

1998-01-01

Ionospheric small-scale waves in the F region, initiated by heating facilities in Nizhniy Novgorod, have been studied by the method of field-aligned scattering of diagnostic HF radio signals. Experimental data have been obtained on the radio path Kiev-N. Novgorod-St. Petersburg during heating campaigns with heater radiated power ERP = 20 MW and 100 MW. Observations of scattered HF signals have been made by a Doppler spectrum device with high temporal resolution. Analysis of the experimental data shows a relation between the heater power level and the parameters of ionospheric small-scale oscillations falling within the range of Pc 3-4 magnetic pulsations. It is found that the periods of wave processes in the F region of the ionosphere, induced by the heating facility, decrease with increasing heating power. The level of heating power also has an impact on the horizontal east-west component of the electric field E, the vertical component of the Doppler velocity Vd and the amplitude of the vertical displacements M of the heated region. Typical magnitudes of these parameters are the following: E = 1.25 mVm, Vd = 6 ms, M = 600-1500 m for ERP = 20 MW and E = 2.5-4.5 mVm, Vd = 11-25 ms, M = 1000-5000 m for ERP = 100 MW. The results obtained confirm the hypothesis of excitation of the Alfvén resonator by powerful HF radio waves which leads to the generation of magnetic field oscillations in the heated region giving rise to artificial Pc 3-4 magnetic pulsations and ionospheric small-scale wave processes. In this situation an increase of the heater power would lead to a growth of the electric field of hydromagnetic waves propagating in the ionosphere as well as the amplitude of the vertical displacements of the heated region.

Architectural Considerations of Fiber-Radio Millimeter-Wave Wireless Access Systems

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kitayama, Ken-Ichi

The architecture of fiber-radio mm-wave wireless access systems critically depends upon the optical mm-wave generation and transport techniques. Four optical mm-wave generation and transport techniques: 1) optical self-heterodyning, 2) external modulation, 3) up- and downconversion, and 4) optical transceiver, will be assessed. From the technical viewpoints, their advantages and disadvantages are discussed. The economical assessment, focusing on the cost of a base station BS ( ), will suggest that the optical transceiver looks the most promising in the long run, but in the near future, however, the external modulation will be cost-effective. The experimental results of 60 GHz testbeds using the external modulation will support the conclusion.

Separating Nightside Interplanetary and Ionospheric Scintillation with LOFAR

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Fallows, R. A.; Bisi, M. M.; Forte, B.; Ulich, Th.; Konovalenko, A. A.; Mann, G.; Vocks, C.

2016-09-01

Observation of interplanetary scintillation (IPS) beyond Earth-orbit can be challenging due to the necessity to use low radio frequencies at which scintillation due to the ionosphere could confuse the interplanetary contribution. A recent paper by Kaplan et al. presenting observations using the Murchison Widefield Array (MWA) reports evidence of nightside IPS on two radio sources within their field of view. However, the low time cadence of 2 s used might be expected to average out the IPS signal, resulting in the reasonable assumption that the scintillation is more likely to be ionospheric in origin. To check this assumption, this Letter uses observations of IPS taken at a high time cadence using the Low Frequency Array (LOFAR). Averaging these to the same as the MWA observations, we demonstrate that the MWA result is consistent with IPS, although some contribution from the ionosphere cannot be ruled out. These LOFAR observations represent the first of nightside IPS using LOFAR, with solar wind speeds consistent with a slow solar wind stream in one observation and a coronal mass ejection expected to be observed in another.

Radio Spectral Imaging of Reflective MHD Waves during the Impulsive Phase of a Solar Flare

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Yu, S.; Chen, B.; Reeves, K.

2017-12-01

We report a new type of coherent radio bursts observed by the Karl G. Jansky Very Large Array (VLA) in 1-2 GHz during the impulsive phase of a two-ribbon flare on 2014 November 1, which we interpret as MHD waves reflected near the footpoint of flaring loops. In the dynamic spectrum, this burst starts with a positive frequency drift toward higher frequencies until it slows down near its highest-frequency boundary. Then it turns over and drifts toward lower frequencies. The frequency drift rate in its descending and ascending branch is between 50-150 MHz/s, which is much slower than type III radio bursts associated with fast electron beams but close to the well-known intermediate drift bursts, or fiber bursts, which are usually attributed to propagating whistler or Alfvenic waves. Thanks to VLA's unique capability of imaging with spectrometer-like temporal and spectral resolution (50 ms and 2 MHz), we are able to obtain an image of the radio source at every time and frequency in the dynamic spectrum where the burst is present and trace its spatial evolution. From the imaging results, we find that the radio source firstly moves downward toward one of the flaring ribbons before it "bounces off" at the lowest height (corresponding to the turnover frequency in the dynamic spectrum) and moves upward again. The measured speed in projection is at the order of 1-2 Mm/s, which is characteristic of Alfvenic or fast-mode MHD waves in the low corona. We conclude that the radio burst is emitted by trapped nonthermal electrons in the flaring loop carried along by a large-scale MHD wave. The waves are probably launched during the eruption of a magnetic flux rope in the flare impulsive phase.

An investigation of methods for updating ionospheric scintillation models using topside in-situ plasma density measurements

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Secan, James A.

1991-05-01

Modern military communication, navigation, and surveillance systems depend on reliable, noise-free transionospheric radio-frequency channels. They can be severely impacted by small-scale electron-density irregularities in the ionosphere, which cause both phase and amplitude scintillation. Basic tools used in planning and mitigation schemes are climatological in nature and thus may greatly over- and under-estimate the effects of scintillation in a given scenario. This report summarizes the results of the first year of a three-year investigation into the methods for updating ionospheric scintillation models using observations of ionospheric plasma-density irregularities measured by DMSP Scintillation Meter (SM) sensor. Results are reported from the analysis of data from a campaign conducted in January 1990 near Tromso, Norway, in which near coincident in-situ plasma-density and transionospheric scintillation measurements were made. Estimates for the level of intensity and phase scintillation on a transionospheric UHF radio link in the early-evening auroral zone were calculated from DMSP SM data and compared to the levels actually observed.

Detectable radio flares following gravitational waves from mergers of binary neutron stars.

PubMed

Nakar, Ehud; Piran, Tsvi

2011-09-28

Mergers of neutron-star/neutron-star binaries are strong sources of gravitational waves. They can also launch subrelativistic and mildly relativistic outflows and are often assumed to be the sources of short γ-ray bursts. An electromagnetic signature that persisted for weeks to months after the event would strengthen any future claim of a detection of gravitational waves. Here we present results of calculations showing that the interaction of mildly relativistic outflows with the surrounding medium produces radio flares with peak emission at 1.4 gigahertz that persist at detectable (submillijansky) levels for weeks, out to a redshift of 0.1. Slower subrelativistic outflows produce flares detectable for years at 150 megahertz, as well as at 1.4 gigahertz, from slightly shorter distances. The radio transient RT 19870422 (ref. 11) has the properties predicted by our model, and its most probable origin is the merger of a compact neutron-star/neutron-star binary. The lack of radio detections usually associated with short γ-ray bursts does not constrain the radio transients that we discuss here (from mildly relativistic and subrelativistic outflows) because short γ-ray burst redshifts are typically >0.1 and the appropriate timescales (longer than weeks) have not been sampled.

Detection of fundamental and harmonic type III radio emission and the associated Langmuir waves at the source region

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Reiner, M. J.; Stone, R. G.; Fainberg, J.

1992-01-01

Type III radio emission generated in the vicinity of the Ulysses spacecraft has been detected at both the fundamental and harmonic of the local plasma frequency. The observations represent the first clear evidence of locally generated type III radio emission. This local emission shows no evidence of frequency drift, exhibits a relatively short rise time, is less intense than the observed remotely generated radio emission, and is temporally correlated with observed in situ Langmuir waves. The observations were made with the unified radio astronomy and wave (URAP) experiment on the Ulysses spacecraft between 1990 November 4 and 1991 April 30, as it traveled from 1 to 3 AU from the sun. During this time period many thousands of bursts were observed. However, only three examples of local emission and associated Langmuir waves were identified. This supports previous suggestions that type III radio emission is generated in localized regions of the interplanetary medium, rather than uniformly along the extent of the electron exciter beam.

An assessment of the application of in situ ion-density data from DMSP to modeling of transionospheric scintillation

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Secan, James A.; Reinleitner, Lee A.; Bussey, Robert M.

1990-03-01

Modern military communication, navigation, and surveillance systems depend on reliable, noise-free transionospheric radio frequency channels. They can be severely impacted by small scale electron-density irregularities in the ionosphere, which cause both phase and amplitude scintillation. Basic tools used in planning and mitigation schemes are climatological in nature and thus may greatly over- and under-estimate the effects of scintillation in a given scenario. The results are summarized of a 3 year investigation into the feasibility of using in-situ observations of the ionosphere from the USAF DMSP satellite to calculate estimates of irregularity parameters that could be used to update scintillation models in near real time. Estimates for the level of intensity and phase scintillation on a transionospheric UHF radio link in the early evening auroral zone were calculated from DMSP Scintillation Meter (SM) data and compared to the levels actually observed. The intensity scintillation levels predicted and observed compared quite well, but the comparison with the phase scintillation data was complicated by low-frequency phase noise on the UHF radio link. Results are presented from analysis of DMSP SSIES data collected near Kwajalein Island in conjunction with a propagation-effects experiment. Preliminary conclusions to the assessment study are: (1) the DMSP SM data can be used to make quantitative estimates of the level of scintillation at auroral latitudes, and (2) it may be possible to use the data as a qualitative indicator of scintillation activity levels at equatorial latitudes.

Characterization of the Ionospheric Scintillations at High Latitude using GPS Signal

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Mezaoui, H.; Hamza, A. M.; Jayachandran, P. T.

2013-12-01

Transionospheric radio signals experience both amplitude and phase variations as a result of propagation through a turbulent ionosphere; this phenomenon is known as ionospheric scintillations. As a result of these fluctuations, Global Positioning System (GPS) receivers lose track of signals and consequently induce position and navigational errors. Therefore, there is a need to study these scintillations and their causes in order to not only resolve the navigational problem but in addition develop analytical and numerical radio propagation models. In order to quantify and qualify these scintillations, we analyze the probability distribution functions (PDFs) of L1 GPS signals at 50 Hz sampling rate using the Canadian High arctic Ionospheric Network (CHAIN) measurements. The raw GPS signal is detrended using a wavelet-based technique and the detrended amplitude and phase of the signal are used to construct probability distribution functions (PDFs) of the scintillating signal. The resulting PDFs are non-Gaussian. From the PDF functional fits, the moments are estimated. The results reveal a general non-trivial parabolic relationship between the normalized fourth and third moments for both the phase and amplitude of the signal. The calculated higher-order moments of the amplitude and phase distribution functions will help quantify some of the scintillation characteristics and in the process provide a base for forecasting, i.e. develop a scintillation climatology model. This statistical analysis, including power spectra, along with a numerical simulation will constitute the backbone of a high latitude scintillation model.

An Evaluation of a Numerical Prediction Method for Electric Field Strength of Low Frequency Radio Waves based on Wave-Hop Ionospheric Propagation

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kitauchi, H.; Nozaki, K.; Ito, H.; Kondo, T.; Tsuchiya, S.; Imamura, K.; Nagatsuma, T.; Ishii, M.

2014-12-01

We present our recent efforts on an evaluation of the numerical prediction method of electric field strength for ionospheric propagation of low frequency (LF) radio waves based on a wave-hop propagation theory described in Section 2.4 of Recommendation ITU-R P.684-6 (2012), "Prediction of field strength at frequencies below about 150 kHz," made by International Telecommunication Union Radiocommunication Sector (ITU-R). As part of the Japanese Antarctic Research Expedition (JARE), we conduct on-board measurements of the electric field strengths and phases of LF 40 kHz and 60 kHz of radio signals (call sign JJY) continuously along both the ways between Tokyo, Japan and Syowa Station, the Japanese Antarctic station, at 69° 00' S, 39° 35' E on East Ongul Island, Lützow-Holm Bay, East Antarctica. The measurements are made by a newly developed, highly sensitive receiving system installed on board the Japanese Antarctic research vessel (RV) Shirase. We obtained new data sets of the electric field strength up to approximately 13,000-14,000 km propagation of LF JJY 40 kHz and 60 kHz radio waves by utilizing a newly developed, highly sensitive receiving system, comprised of an orthogonally crossed double-loop antenna and digital-signal-processing lock-in amplifiers, on board RV Shirase during the 55th JARE from November 2013 to April 2014. We have made comparisons between those on-board measurements and the numerical predictions of field strength for long-range propagation of low frequency radio waves based on a wave-hop propagation theory described in Section 2.4 of Recommendation ITU-R P.684-6 (2012) to show that our results qualitatively support the recommended wave-hop theory for the great-circle paths approximately 7,000-8,000 km and 13,000-14,000 km propagations.

Study of transionospheric signal scintillation: Quasi- particle approach

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lyle, Ruthie D.

1998-07-01

A quasi-particle approach is applied to study amplitude scintillation of transionospheric signals caused by Bottomside Sinusoidal (BSS) irregularities. The quasi- particle method exploits wave-particle duality, viewing the wave as a distribution of quasi-particles. This is accomplished by transforming the autocorrelation of the wave function into a Wigner distribution function, which serves as a distribution of quasi-particles in the (/vec r,/ /vec k) phase space. The quasi-particle distribution at any instant of time represents the instantaneous state of the wave. Scattering of the signal by the ionospheric irregularities is equivalent to the evolution of the quasi-particle distribution, due to the collision of the quasi-particles with objects arising from the presence of the BSS irregularities. Subsequently, the perturbed quasi-particle distribution facilitates the computation of average space time propagation properties of the wave. Thus, the scintillation index S4 is determined. Incorporation of essential BSS features in the analysis is accomplished by analytically modeling the power spectrum of the BSS irregularities measured in-situ by the low orbiting Atmosphere-E (AE - E) Satellite. The effect of BSS irregularities on transionospheric signals has been studied. The numerical results agree well with multi-satellite scintillation observations made at Huancayo Peru in close time correspondence with BSS irregularities observed by the AE - E satellite over a few nights (December 8-11, 1979). During this period, the severity of the scintillation varied from moderate to intense, S4 = 0.1-0.8.

Radio-wave detection of ultra-high-energy neutrinos and cosmic rays

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Huege, Tim; Besson, Dave

2017-12-01

Radio waves, perhaps because our terrestrial atmosphere and the cosmos beyond are uniquely transparent to them, or perhaps because they are macroscopic, so the basic instruments of detection (antennas) are easily constructible, arguably occupy a privileged position within the electromagnetic spectrum, and, correspondingly, receive disproportionate attention experimentally. Detection of radio-frequency radiation, at macroscopic wavelengths, has blossomed within the last decade as a competitive method for the measurement of cosmic particles, particularly charged cosmic rays and neutrinos. Cosmic-ray detection via radio emission from extensive air showers has been demonstrated to be a reliable technique that has reached a reconstruction quality of the cosmic-ray parameters competitive with more traditional approaches. Radio detection of neutrinos in dense media seems to be the most promising technique to achieve the gigantic detection volumes required to measure neutrinos at energies beyond the PeV-scale flux established by IceCube. In this article, we review radio detection both of cosmic rays in the atmosphere, as well as neutrinos in dense media.

The influence of polarization on millimeter wave propagation through rain. [radio signals

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Bostian, C. W.; Stutzman, W. L.; Wiley, P. H.; Marshall, R. E.

1973-01-01

The measurement and analysis of the depolarization and attenuation that occur when millimeter wave radio signals propagate through rain are described. Progress was made in three major areas: the processing of recorded 1972 data, acquisition and processing of a large amount of 1973 data, and the development of a new theoretical model to predict rain cross polarization and attenuation. Each of these topics is described in detail along with radio frequency system design for cross polarization measurements.

Interstellar scintillation observations for PSR B0355+54

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Xu, Y. H.; Lee, K. J.; Hao, L. F.; Wang, H. G.; Liu, Z. Y.; Yue, Y. L.; Yuan, J. P.; Li, Z. X.; Wang, M.; Dong, J.; Tan, J. J.; Chen, W.; Bai, J. M.

2018-06-01

In this paper, we report our investigation of pulsar scintillation phenomena by monitoring PSR B0355+54 at 2.25 GHz for three successive months using the Kunming 40-m radio telescope. We measured the dynamic spectrum, the two-dimensional correlation function and the secondary spectrum. These observations have a high signal-to-noise ratio (S/N ≥ 100). We detected scintillation arcs, which are rarely observable using such a small telescope. The sub-microsecond scale width of the scintillation arc indicates that the transverse scale of the structures on the scattering screen is as compact as astronomical unit size. Our monitoring shows that the scintillation bandwidth, the time-scale and the arc curvature of PSR B0355+54 were varying temporally. A plausible explanation would need to invoke a multiple-scattering-screen or multiple-scattering-structure scenario, in which different screens or ray paths dominate the scintillation process at different epochs.

Radio and Plasma Wave Observations at Saturn from Cassini's Approach and First Orbit

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Gurnett, D. A.; Kurth, W. S.; Haspodarsky, G. B.; Persoon, A. M.; Averkamp, T. F.; Cecconi, B.; Lecacheux, A.; Zarka, P.; Canu, P.; Cornilleau-Wehrlin, N.

2005-01-01

We report data from the Cassini radio and plasma wave instrument during the approach and first orbit at Saturn. During the approach, radio emissions from Saturn showed that the radio rotation period is now 10 hours 45 minutes 45 k 36 seconds, about 6 minutes longer than measured by Voyager in 1980 to 1981. In addition, many intense impulsive radio signals were detected from Saturn lightning during the approach and first orbit. Some of these have been linked to storm systems observed by the Cassini imaging instrument. Within the magnetosphere, whistler-mode auroral hiss emissions were observed near the rings, suggesting that a strong electrodynamic interaction is occurring in or near the rings.

Stationary Planetary Waves in the Mars Winter Atmosphere as seen by the Radio Science Experiment MaRS on Mars Express

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Tellmann, Silvia; Pätzold, Martin; Häusler, Bernd; Tyler, Leonard G.; Hinson, David P.

2015-11-01

Stationary (Rossby) Waves are excited by the interaction of the zonally varying topography with the strong eastward winter jets. They lead to distinctive longitudinal temperature variations which contribute significantly to the asymmetry of the seasonal polar CO2 ice caps and are also important for the dust redistribution in the planetary atmosphere.Radio Science profiles from the Mars Express Radio Science Experiment MaRS at northern and southern high latitudes are used to gain insight into winter stationary wave structures on both hemispheres.Mars Global Surveyor (MGS) radio occultation measurements from the same season and year with their exceptionally good longitudinal and temporal coverage can be used to estimate the influence of transient eddies. Transient waves are especially important in the northern winter hemisphere.Wave number 2 stationary waves, driven by topography, are dominant in the northern winter latitudes while the wave number 1 wave is the most significant wave number during southern winter. The wave amplitudes peak around winter solstice on both hemispheres.Radio occultation measurements provide the unique opportunity to determine simultaneous measurements of temperature and geopotential height structures. Assuming geostrophic balance, these measurements can be used to determine meridional winds and eddy heat fluxes which provide further insight into the contribution of stationary waves to the heat exchange between the poles and the lower latitudes.

The Radio & Plasma Wave Investigation (RPWI) for JUICE

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wahlund, J.-E.

2013-09-01

We present the Radio & Plasma Waves Investigation (RPWI) selected for implementation on the JUICE mission. RPWI consists of a highly integrated instrument package that provides a whole set of plasma and fields measurements. The RPWI instrument has outstanding new capabilities not previously available to outer planet missions, and that would address many fundamental planetary science objectives. Specifically, RPWI would be able to study the electro-dynamic influence of the Jovian magnetosphere on the exospheres, surfaces and conducting oceans of Ganymede, Europa and Callisto. RPWI would also be able to monitor the sources of radio emissions from auroral regions of Ganymede and Jupiter, and possibly also from lightning activity in Jupiter's clouds. Moreover, RPWI will search for exhaust plumes from cracks on the icy moons, as well as μm-sized dust and related dust-plasmasurface interaction processes occurring near the icy moons of Jupiter.

Unprecedentedly Strong and Narrow Electromagnetic Emissions Stimulated by High-Frequency Radio Waves in the Ionosphere

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Norin, L.; Leyser, T. B.; Nordblad, E.

2009-02-13

Experimental results of secondary electromagnetic radiation, stimulated by high-frequency radio waves irradiating the ionosphere, are reported. We have observed emission peaks, shifted in frequency up to a few tens of Hertz from radio waves transmitted at several megahertz. These emission peaks are by far the strongest spectral features of secondary radiation that have been reported. The emissions are attributed to stimulated Brillouin scattering, long predicted but hitherto never unambiguously identified in high-frequency ionospheric interaction experiments. The experiments were performed at the High-Frequency Active Auroral Research Program (HAARP), Alaska, USA.

Unprecedentedly strong and narrow electromagnetic emissions stimulated by high-frequency radio waves in the ionosphere.

PubMed

Norin, L; Leyser, T B; Nordblad, E; Thidé, B; McCarrick, M

2009-02-13

Experimental results of secondary electromagnetic radiation, stimulated by high-frequency radio waves irradiating the ionosphere, are reported. We have observed emission peaks, shifted in frequency up to a few tens of Hertz from radio waves transmitted at several megahertz. These emission peaks are by far the strongest spectral features of secondary radiation that have been reported. The emissions are attributed to stimulated Brillouin scattering, long predicted but hitherto never unambiguously identified in high-frequency ionospheric interaction experiments. The experiments were performed at the High-Frequency Active Auroral Research Program (HAARP), Alaska, USA.

Antenna Construction & Propagation of Radio Waves, 5-1. Military Curriculum Materials for Vocational and Technical Education.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Marine Corps, Washington, DC.

These military-developed curriculum materials consist of five individualized, self-paced chapters dealing with antenna construction and propagation of radio waves. Covered in the individual lessons are the following topics: basic electricity; antenna transmission-line fundamentals; quarter-wave antennas, half-wave antennas, and associated radio…

Atmospheric waves and dynamics beneath Jupiter's clouds from radio wavelength observations

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Cosentino, Richard G.; Butler, Bryan; Sault, Bob; Morales-Juberías, Raúl; Simon, Amy; de Pater, Imke

2017-08-01

We observed Jupiter at wavelengths near 2 cm with the Karl G. Jansky Very Large Array (VLA) in February 2015. These frequencies are mostly sensitive to variations in ammonia abundance and probe between ∼ 0.5 - 2.0 bars of pressure in Jupiter's atmosphere; within and below the visible cloud deck which has its base near 0.7 bars. The resultant observed data were projected into a cylindrical map of the planet with spatial resolution of ∼1500 km at the equator. We have examined the data for atmospheric waves and observed a prominent bright belt of radio hotspot features near 10°N, likely connected to the same equatorial wave associated with the 5-μm hotspots. We conducted a passive tracer power spectral wave analysis for the entire map and latitude regions corresponding to eastward and westward jets and compare our results to previous studies. The power spectra analysis revealed that the atmosphere sampled in our observation (excluding the NEB region) is in a 2-D turbulent regime and its dynamics are predominately governed by the shallow water equations. The Great Red Spot (GRS) is also very prominent and has a noticeable meridional asymmetry and we compare it, and nearby storms, with optical images. We find that the meridional radio profile has a global north-south hemisphere distinction and find correlations of it to optical intensity banding and to shear zones of the zonal wind profile over select regions of latitude. Amateur optical images taken before and after our observation complemented the radio wavelength map to investigate dynamics of the equatorial region in Jupiter's atmosphere. We find that two radio hotspots at 2 cm are well correlated with optical plumes in the NEB, additionally revealing they are not the same 5 μm hotspot features correlated with optical dark patches between adjacent plumes. This analysis exploits the VLA's upgraded sensitivity and explores the opportunities now possible when studying gas giants, especially atmospheric dynamics

Features of HF Radio Wave Attenuation in the Midlatitude Ionosphere Near the Skip Zone Boundary

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Denisenko, P. F.; Skazik, A. I.

2017-06-01

We briefly describe the history of studying the decameter radio wave attenuation by different methods in the midlatitude ionosphere. A new method of estimating the attenuation of HF radio waves in the ionospheric F region near the skip zone boundary is presented. This method is based on an analysis of the time structure of the interference field generated by highly stable monochromatic X-mode radio waves at the observation point. The main parameter is the effective electron collision frequency νeff, which allows for all energy losses in the form of equivalent heat loss. The frequency νeff is estimated by matching the assumed (model) and the experimentally observed structures. Model calculations are performed using the geometrical-optics approximation. The spatial attenuation caused by the influence of the medium-scale traveling ionospheric disturbances is taken into account. Spherical shape of the ionosphere and the Earth's magnetic field are roughly allowed for. The results of recording of the level of signals from the RWM (Moscow) station at a frequency of 9.996 MHz at point Rostov are used.

Features of solar wind acceleration according to radio occultation data

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Efimov, A. I.

1995-01-01

In addressing one of the fundamental problems in solar physics establishing the mechanism(s) responsible for the solar wind acceleration and the corona heating - it is essential to have a reliable knowledge of the heliocentric radial dependence of the solar wind properties. Adequate data are available for small solar distances R less than 4 R(solar mass) from coronal white light and EUV observations and at distances R greater than 60 R(solar mass) from in situ measurements. One of the few methods available to fill in the gap between these boundaries is the radio scintillation technique. Taking the example of the solar wind velocity, the most reliable such measurements are obtained when phase fluctuation observations of scattered radio waves, which are not susceptible to saturation effects, are recorded at two or more widely-spaced ground stations. Two extensive observation campaigns of this type were carried out with the Venus-orbiting satellites Venera 10 in 1976 and Venera 15/16 in 1984. The observations were performed over the course of three months near superior conjunction at solar offset distances R approximately 6-80 R(solar mass). The main results from the subsequent analysis of these data are: (1) velocities vary between 250 and 380 km s(exp -1) for R greater than 20 R(solar mass), agreeing with similar measurements using natural sources (IPS); (2) velocities derived from two-station phase fluctuation observations varv between 70 and 120 km s(exp -1) for R less than 12 R(solar mass), i.e. values substantially lower than those derived from conventional IPS data; and (3) it is suggested that the different velocity profiles derived from the two data sets at small R may be due to the effects of magnetosonic and Alfvenic waves on radio wave scattering. Further analysis of additional radio sounding data should help resolve the apparent discrepancy.

SDN based millimetre wave radio over fiber (RoF) network

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Amate, Ahmed; Milosavljevic, Milos; Kourtessis, Pandelis; Robinson, Matthew; Senior, John M.

2015-01-01

This paper introduces software-defined, millimeter Wave (mm-Wave) networks with Radio over Fiber (RoF) for the delivery of gigabit connectivity required to develop fifth generation (5G) mobile. This network will enable an effective open access system allowing providers to manage and lease the infrastructure to service providers through unbundling new business models. Exploiting the inherited benefits of RoF, complete base station functionalities are centralized at the edges of the metro and aggregation network, leaving remote radio heads (RRHs) with only tunable filtering and amplification. A Software Defined Network (SDN) Central Controller (SCC) is responsible for managing the resource across several mm-Wave Radio Access Networks (RANs) providing a global view of the several network segments. This ensures flexible resource allocation for reduced overall latency and increased throughput. The SDN based mm-Wave RAN also allows for inter edge node communication. Therefore, certain packets can be routed between different RANs supported by the same edge node, reducing latency. System level simulations of the complete network have shown significant improvement of the overall throughput and SINR for wireless users by providing effective resource allocation and coordination among interfering cells. A new Coordinated Multipoint (CoMP) algorithm exploiting the benefits of the SCC global network view for reduced delay in control message exchange is presented, accounting for a minimum packet delay and limited Channel State Information (CSI) in a Long Term Evolution-Advanced (LTE-A), Cloud RAN (CRAN) configuration. The algorithm does not require detailed CSI feedback from UEs but it rather considers UE location (determined by the eNB) as the required parameter. UE throughput in the target sector is represented using a Cumulative Distributive Function (CDF). The drawn characteristics suggest that there is a significant 60% improvement in UE cell edge throughput following the

Propagation of radio frequency waves through density fluctuations

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Valvis, S. I.; Papagiannis, P.; Papadopoulos, A.; Hizanidis, K.; Glytsis, E.; Bairaktaris, F.; Zisis, A.; Tigelis, I.; Ram, A. K.

2017-10-01

On their way to the core of a tokamak plasma, radio frequency (RF) waves, excited in the vacuum region, have to propagate through a variety of density fluctuations in the edge region. These fluctuations include coherent structures, like blobs that can be field aligned or not, as well as turbulent and filamentary structures. We have been studying the effect of fluctuations on RF propagation using both theoretical (analytical) and computational models. The theoretical results are being compared with those obtained by two different numerical codes ``a Finite Difference Frequency Domain code and the commercial COMSOL package. For plasmas with arbitrary distribution of coherent and turbulent fluctuations, we have formulated an effective dielectric permittivity of the edge plasma. This permittivity tensor is then used in numerical simulations to study the effect of multi-scale turbulence on RF waves. We not only consider plane waves but also Gaussian beams in the electron cyclotron and lower hybrid range of frequencies. The analytical theory and results from simulations on the propagation of RF waves will be presented. Supported in part by the Hellenic National Programme on Controlled Thermonuclear Fusion associated with the EUROfusion Consortium and by DoE Grant DE-FG02-91ER-54109.

Searching for Fast Radio Bursts with the Advanced Laser Interferometer Gravitational-wave Observatory (LIGO)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Fisher, Ryan Patrick; Hughey, Brennan; Howell, Eric; LIGO Collaboration

2018-01-01

Although Fast Radio Bursts (FRB) are being detected with increasing frequency, their progenitor systems are still mostly a mystery. We present the plan to conduct targeted searches for gravitational-wave counterparts to these FRB events in the data from the first and second observing runs of the Advanced Laser Interferometer Gravitational-wave Observatory (LIGO).

Radio Wave Propagation Handbook for Communication on and Around Mars

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Ho, Christian; Golshan, Nasser; Kliore, Arvydas

2002-01-01

This handbook examines the effects of the Martian environment on radio wave propagation on Mars and in the space near the planet. The environmental effects include these from the Martian atmosphere, ionosphere, global dust storms, aerosols, clouds, and geomorphologic features. Relevant Martian environmental parameters were extracted from the measurements of Mars missions during the past 30 years, especially from Mars Pathfinder and Mars Global Surveyor. The results derived from measurements and analyses have been reviewed through an extensive literature search. The updated parameters have been theoretically analyzed to study their effects on radio propagation. This handbook also provides basic information about the entire telecommunications environment on and around Mars for propagation researchers, system engineers, and link analysts. Based on these original analyses, some important recommendations have been made, including the use of the Martian ionosphere as a reflector for Mars global or trans-horizon communication between future Martian colonies, reducing dust storm scattering effects, etc. These results have extended our wave propagation knowledge to a planet other than Earth; and the tables, models, and graphics included in this handbook will benefit telecommunication system engineers and scientific researchers.

Generation and Upper Atmospheric Propagation of Acoustic Gravity Waves according to Numerical Modeling and Radio Tomography

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Vorontsov, Artem; Andreeva, Elena; Nesterov, Ivan; Padokhin, Artem; Kurbatov, Grigory

2016-04-01

The acoustic-gravity waves (AGW) in the upper atmosphere and ionosphere can be generated by a variety of the phenomena in the near-Earth environment and atmosphere as well as by some perturbations of the Earth's ground or ocean surface. For instance, the role of the AGW sources can be played by the earthquakes, explosions, thermal heating, seisches, tsunami waves. We present the examples of AGWs excited by the tsunami waves traveling in the ocean, by seisches, and by ionospheric heating by the high-power radio wave. In the last case, the gravity waves are caused by the pulsed modulation of the heating wave. The AGW propagation in the upper atmosphere induces the variations and irregularities in the electron density distribution of the ionosphere, whose structure can be efficiently reconstructed by the method of the ionospheric radio tomography (RT) based on the data from the global navigational satellite systems (GNSS). The input data for RT diagnostics are composed of the 150/400 MHz radio signals from the low-orbiting (LO) satellites and 1.2-1.5 GHz radio signals from the high-orbiting (HO) satellites with their orbits at ~1000 and ~20000 km above the ground, respectively. These data enable ionospheric imaging on different spatiotemporal scales with different spatiotemporal resolution and coverage, which is suitable, inter alia, for tracking the waves and wave-like features in the ionosphere. In particular, we demonstrate the maps of the ionospheric responses to the tornado at Moore (Oklahoma, USA) of May 20, 2013, which are reconstructed from the HO data. We present the examples of LORT images containing the waves and wavelike disturbances associated with various sources (e.g., auroral precipitation and high-power heating of the ionosphere). We also discuss the results of modeling the AGW generation by the surface and volumetric sources. The millihertz AGW from these sources initiate the ionospheric perturbation with a typical scale of a few hundred km at the

High Power Radio Wave Interactions within the D-Region Ionosphere

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Moore, R. C.

2014-12-01

This paper highlights the best results obtained during D-region modification experiments performed by the University of Florida at the High-frequency Active Auroral Research Program (HAARP) observatory between 2007 and 2014. Over this period, we have seen a tremendous improvement in ELF/VLF wave generation efficiency. We have identified methods to characterize ambient and modified ionospheric properties and to discern and quantify specific types of interactions. We have demonstrated several important implications of HF cross-modulation effects, including "Doppler Spoofing" on HF radio waves. Throughout this talk, observations are compared with the predictions of an ionospheric HF heating model to provide context and guidance for future D-region modification experiments.

Validating the use of scintillation proxies to study ionospheric scintillation over the Ugandan region

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Amabayo, Emirant B.; Jurua, Edward; Cilliers, Pierre J.

2015-06-01

In this study, we compare the standard scintillation indices (S4 and σΦ) from a SCINDA receiver with scintillation proxies (S4p and | sDPR |) derived from two IGS GPS receivers. Amplitude (S4) and phase (σΦ) scintillation data were obtained from the SCINDA installed at Makerere University (0.34°N, 32.57°E). The corresponding amplitude (S4p) and phase (| sDPR |) scintillation proxies were derived from data archived by IGS GPS receivers installed at Entebbe (0.04°N, 32.44°E) and Mbarara (0.60°S, 30.74°E). The results show that for most of the cases analysed in this study, σΦ and | sDPR | are in agreement. Amplitude scintillation occurrence estimated using the S4p are fairly consistent with the standard S4, mainly between 17:00 UT and 21:00 UT, despite a few cases of over and under estimation of scintillation levels by S4p. Correlation coefficients between σΦ and the | sDPR | proxy revealed positive correlation. Generally, S4p and S4 exhibits both moderate and strong positive correlation. TEC depletions associated with equatorial plasma bubbles are proposed as the cause of the observed scintillation over the region. These equatorial plasma bubbles were evident along the ray paths to satellites with PRN 2, 15, 27 and 11 as observed from MBAR and EBBE. In addition to equatorial plasma bubbles, atmospheric gravity waves with periods similar to those of large scale traveling ionospheric disturbances were also observed as one of the mechanisms for scintillation occurrence. The outcome of this study implies that GPS derived scintillation proxies can be used to quantify scintillation levels in the absence of standard scintillation data in the equatorial regions.

Laboratory studies on the removal of radon-born lead from KamLAND's organic liquid scintillator

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Keefer, G.; Grant, C.; Piepke, A.; Ebihara, T.; Ikeda, H.; Kishimoto, Y.; Kibe, Y.; Koseki, Y.; Ogawa, M.; Shirai, J.; Takeuchi, S.; Mauger, C.; Zhang, C.; Schweitzer, G.; Berger, B. E.; Dazeley, S.; Decowski, M. P.; Detwiler, J. A.; Djurcic, Z.; Dwyer, D. A.; Efremenko, Y.; Enomoto, S.; Freedman, S. J.; Fujikawa, B. K.; Furuno, K.; Gando, A.; Gando, Y.; Gratta, G.; Hatakeyama, S.; Heeger, K. M.; Hsu, L.; Ichimura, K.; Inoue, K.; Iwamoto, T.; Kamyshkov, Y.; Karwowski, H. J.; Koga, M.; Kozlov, A.; Lane, C. E.; Learned, J. G.; Maricic, J.; Markoff, D. M.; Matsuno, S.; McKee, D.; McKeown, R. D.; Miletic, T.; Mitsui, T.; Motoki, M.; Nakajima, Kyo; Nakajima, Kyohei; Nakamura, K.; O`Donnell, T.; Ogawa, H.; Piquemal, F.; Ricol, J.-S.; Shimizu, I.; Suekane, F.; Suzuki, A.; Svoboda, R.; Tajima, O.; Takemoto, Y.; Tamae, K.; Tolich, K.; Tornow, W.; Watanabe, Hideki; Watanabe, Hiroko; Winslow, L. A.; Yoshida, S.

2015-01-01

The removal of radioactivity from liquid scintillator has been studied in preparation of a low background phase of KamLAND. This paper describes the methods and techniques developed to measure and efficiently extract radon decay products from liquid scintillator. We report the radio-isotope reduction factors obtained when applying various extraction methods. During this study, distillation was identified as the most efficient method for removing radon-born lead from liquid scintillator.

Generation of Artificial Ionospheric Irregularities in the Midlatitude Ionosphere Modified by High-Power High-Frequency X-Mode Radio Waves

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Frolov, V. L.; Bolotin, I. A.; Komrakov, G. P.; Pershin, A. V.; Vertogradov, G. G.; Vertogradov, V. G.; Vertogradova, E. G.; Kunitsyn, V. E.; Padokhin, A. M.; Kurbatov, G. A.; Akchurin, A. D.; Zykov, E. Yu.

2014-11-01

We consider the properties of the artificial ionospheric irregularities excited in the ionospheric F 2 region modified by high-power high-frequency X-mode radio waves. It is shown that small-scale (decameter) irregularities are not generated in the midlatitude ionosphere. The intensity of irregularities with the scales l ⊥ ≈50 m to 3 km is severalfold weaker compared with the case where the irregularities are excited by high-power O-mode radio waves. The intensity of the larger-scale irregularities is even stronger attenuated. It is found that the generation of large-scale ( l ⊥ ≈5-10 km) artificial ionospheric irregularities is enhanced at the edge of the directivity pattern of a beam of high-power radio waves.

Searching for Correlated Radio Transients & Gravitational Wave Bursts

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kavic, Michael; Shawhan, P. S.; Yancey, C.; Cutchin, S.; Simonetti, J. H.; Bear, B.; Tsai, J.

2013-01-01

We will discuss an ongoing multi-messenger search for transient radio pulses and gravitational wave bursts. This work is being conducted jointly by the Long Wavelength Array (LWA) and the LIGO Scientific Collaboration (LSC). A variety of astrophysical sources can produce simultaneous emission of gravitational waves and coherent low-frequency electromagnetic radiation. The primary common source motivating this work is the merger of neutron star binaries for which the LWA and LSC instruments have comparable sensitivity. Additional common sources include supernovae, long timescale GRBs and cosmic string cusp events. Data taken by both instruments can be compared to search for correlated signals. Identification of correlated signals can be used to increase the sensitivity of both instruments. We will summarize the coincident observations which have already been conducted and outline plans for future work. We will describe the process being used for synthesizing these data set and present preliminary results.

Magnetic field orientations in Saturn's upper ionosphere inferred from Voyager radio occultations

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Hinson, D. P.

1984-01-01

The radio scintillations observed during occultations of Voyagers 1 and 2 by Saturn are analyzed to determine the morphology of plasma irregularities and hence the magnetic field orientation in Saturn's upper atmosphere. The measurement techniques, the weak scattering theory, and the method used to relate the observed radio scintillations to physical properties of the ionospheric irregularities are briefly described. Results on the spatial characteristics of the irregularities are presented, and the magnetic field orientation in Saturn's ionosphere is inferred. Although the occultation measurements generally confirm the accuracy of the Saturnian magnetic field model of Connerney et al. (1982), it is found that a small adjustment of the coefficients in that model's zonal harmonic expansion would remove the discrepancy between the model predictions and the measurements. A strategy for obtaining improved measurements of Saturn's magnetic field from radio occultation observations of scintillations and Faraday rotation using an orbiting spacecraft is briefly discussed.

Aspects of scintillation modelling in LEO-ground free-space optical communications

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Moll, Florian

2017-10-01

Free-space optical communications can be used to transmit data from low Earth orbit satellites to ground with very high data rate. In the last section of the downlink, the electro-magnetic wave propagates through the turbulent atmosphere which is characterized by random index of refraction fluctuations. The propagating wave experiences phase distortions that lead to intensity scintillation in the aperture plane of the receiving telescope. For quantification, an appropriate scintillation model is needed. Approaches to analytically model the scintillation exist. Parameterization of the underlying turbulence profile (Cn2 profile) is however difficult. The Cn2 profiles are often site-specific and thus inappropriate or generic and thus too complex for a feasible deployment. An approach that directly models the scintillation effect based on measurements without claiming to be generic is therefore more feasible. Since measurements are sparse, a combination with existing theoretical framework is feasible to develop a new scintillation model that focuses on low earth orbit to ground free-space optical communications link design with direct detection. The paper addresses several questions one has to answer while analyzing the measurements data and selection of the theoretical models for the LEO downlink scenario. The first is the question of a suitable yet ease to use simple Cn2 profile. The HAP model is analyzed for its feasibility in this scenario since it includes a more realistic boundary layer profile decay than the HV model. It is found that the HAP model needs to be modified for a feasible deployment in the LEO downlink scenario for night time. The validity of the plane wave assumption in the downlink is discussed by model calculations of the scintillation index for a plane and Gaussian beam wave. Inaccuracies when using the plane earth model instead of the spherical earth model are investigated by analyzing the Rytov index. Impact of beam wander and non

Studies of LSO:Tb radio-luminescence properties using white beam hard X-ray synchrotron irradiation

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Cecilia, A.; Rack, A.; Pelliccia, D.; Douissard, P.-A.; Martin, T.; Couchaud, M.; Dupré, K.; Baumbach, T.

A radio-luminescence set-up was installed at the synchrotron light source ANKA to characterise scintillators under the high X-ray photon flux density of white beam synchrotron radiation. The system allows for investigating the radio-luminescence spectrum of the material under study as well as analysing in situ changes of its scintillation behaviour (e.g. under heat load and/or intensive ionising radiation). In this work we applied the radio-luminescence set-up for investigating the radiation damage effects on the luminescence properties of a new kind of thin single crystal scintillator for high resolution X-ray imaging based on a layer of modified Lu2SiO5 grown by liquid phase epitaxy on a dedicated substrate within the framework of an EC project (SCINTAX).

Statistical evaluation of GLONASS amplitude scintillation over low latitudes in the Brazilian territory

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

de Oliveira Moraes, Alison; Muella, Marcio T. A. H.; de Paula, Eurico R.; de Oliveira, César B. A.; Terra, William P.; Perrella, Waldecir J.; Meibach-Rosa, Pâmela R. P.

2018-04-01

The ionospheric scintillation, generated by the ionospheric plasma irregularities, affects the radio signals that pass through it. Their effects are widely studied in the literature with two different approaches. The first one deals with the use of radio signals to study and understand the morphology of this phenomenon, while the second one seeks to understand and model how much this phenomenon interferes in the radio signals and consequently in the services to which these systems work. The interest of several areas, particularly to those that are life critical, has increased using the concept of satellite multi-constellation, which consists of receiving, processing and using data from different navigation and positioning systems. Although there is a vast literature analyzing the effects of ionospheric scintillation on satellite navigation systems, the number of studies using signals received from the Russian satellite positioning system (named GLONASS) is still very rare. This work presents for the first time in the Brazilian low-latitude sector a statistical analysis of ionospheric scintillation data for all levels of magnetic activities obtained by a set of scintillation monitors that receive signals from the GLONASS system. In this study, data collected from four stations were used in the analysis; Fortaleza, Presidente Prudente, São José dos Campos and Porto Alegre. The GLONASS L-band signals were analyzed for the period from December 21, 2012 to June 20, 2016, which includes the peak of the solar cycle 24 that occurred in 2014. The main characteristics of scintillation presented in this study include: (1) the statistical evaluation of seasonal and solar activity, showing the chances that an user on similar geophysical conditions may be susceptible to the effects of ionospheric scintillation; (2) a temporal analysis based on the local time distribution of scintillation at different seasons and intensity levels; and (3) the evaluation of number of

Involuntary human hand movements due to FM radio waves in a moving van.

PubMed

Huttunen, P; Savinainen, A; Hänninen, Osmo; Myllylä, R

2011-06-01

Finland TRACT Involuntary movements of hands in a moving van on a public road were studied to clarify the possible role of frequency modulated radio waves on driving. The signals were measured in a direct 2 km test segment of an international road during repeated drives to both directions. Test subjects (n=4) had an ability to sense radio frequency field intensity variations of the environment. They were sitting in a minivan with arm movement detectors in their hands. A potentiometer was used to register the hand movements to a computer which simultaneously collected data on the amplitude of the RF signal of the local FM tower 30 km distance at a frequency of about 100 MHz. Involuntary hand movements of the test subjects correlated with electromagnetic field, i.e. FM radio wave intensity measured. They reacted also on the place of a geomagnetic anomaly crossing the road, which was found on the basis of these recordings and confirmed by the public geological maps of the area.In conclusion, RF irradiation seems to affect the human hand reflexes of sensitive persons in a moving van along a normal public road which may have significance in traffic safety.

Physics of the Geospace Response to Powerful HF Radio Waves

DTIC Science & Technology

2012-10-31

studies of the response of the Earth’s space plasma to high-power HF radio waves from the High-frequency Active Auroral Research Program ( HAARP ...of HF heating and explored to simulate artificial ducts. DMSP- HAARP experiments revealed that HF-created ion outflows and artificial density ducts...in the topside ionosphere appeared faster than predicted by the models, pointing to kinetic (suprathermal) effects. CHAMP/GRACE- HAARP experiments

Interstellar scintillations of PSR B1919+21: space-ground interferometry

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Shishov, V. I.; Smirnova, T. V.; Gwinn, C. R.; Andrianov, A. S.; Popov, M. V.; Rudnitskiy, A. G.; Soglasnov, V. A.

2017-07-01

We carried out observations of pulsar PSR B1919+21 at 324 MHz to study the distribution of interstellar plasma in the direction of this pulsar. We used the RadioAstron (RA) space radio telescope, together with two ground telescopes: Westerbork (WB) and Green Bank (GB). The maximum baseline projection for the space-ground interferometer was about 60 000 km. We show that interstellar scintillation of this pulsar consists of two components: diffractive scintillations from inhomogeneities in a layer of turbulent plasma at a distance z1 = 440 pc from the observer or homogeneously distributed scattering material to the pulsar; and weak scintillations from a screen located near the observer at z2 = 0.14 ± 0.05 pc. Furthermore, in the direction to the pulsar we detected a prism that deflects radiation, leading to a shift in observed source position. We show that the influence of the ionosphere can be ignored for the space-ground baseline. Analysis of the spatial coherence function for the space-ground baseline (RA-GB) yielded a scattering angle in the observer plane of θscat = 0.7 mas. An analysis of the time-frequency correlation function for weak scintillations yielded an angle of refraction in the direction to the pulsar θref, 0 = 110 ms and a distance to the prism zprism ≤ 2 pc.

Refraction of Radio Waves on the Radio-Occultation Satellite-to-Satellite Paths as a Characteristic of the Atmospheric State

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Matyugov, S. S.; Yakovlev, O. I.; Pavelyev, A. G.; Pavelyev, A. A.; Anufriev, V. A.

2017-10-01

We present the results of analyzing the radio-wave refractive characteristics measured on the radio-occultation paths between the GPS navigation satellites and the FORMOSAT-3 research satellites in the central region of the European territory of Russia in 2007-2013. The diurnal, seasonal, and annual variations in the refraction angle at altitudes of 2 to 25 km are discussed. It is shown that the refraction angle can be used as an independent characteristic of the atmospheric state and its long-term variation trends. Diurnal and nocturnal variations in the refraction angle in the winter and summer seasons are analyzed. Trends in the atmospheric refraction variations over seven years are discussed.

Analysis of Ionospheric Scintillation Characteristics in Sub-Antarctica Region with GNSS Data at Macquarie Island.

PubMed

Guo, Kai; Liu, Yang; Zhao, Yan; Wang, Jinling

2017-01-12

Ionospheric scintillation has a great impact on radio propagation and electronic system performance, thus is extensively studied currently. The influence of scintillation on Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) is particularly evident, making GNSS an effective medium to study characteristics of scintillation. Ionospheric scintillation varies greatly in relation with temporal and spatial distribution. In this paper, both temporal and spatial characteristics of scintillation are investigated based on Macquarie Island's GNSS scintillation data collected from 2011 to 2015. Experiments demonstrate that occurrence rates of amplitude scintillation have a close relationship with solar activity, while phase scintillation is more likely to be generated by geomagnetic activity. In addition, scintillation distribution behaviors related to elevation and azimuth angles are statistically analyzed for both amplitude and phase scintillation. The proposed work is valuable for a deeper understanding of theoretical mechanisms of ionospheric scintillation in this region, and provides a reference for GNSS applications in certain regions around sub-Antarctica.

A Minimal Radio and Plasma Wave Investigation For a Mercury Orbiter Mission

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Kurth, W. S.

2001-01-01

The primary thrust of the effort at The University of Iowa for the definition of an orbiter mission to Mercury is a minimum viable radio and plasma wave investigation. While it is simple to add sensors and capability to any payload, the challenge is to do reasonable science within limited resources; and viable missions to Mercury are especially limited in payload mass. For a wave investigation, this is a serious concern, as the sensor mass often makes up a significant fraction of the instrumentation mass.

Laboratory studies on the removal of radon-born lead from KamLAND׳s organic liquid scintillator

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Keefer, G.; Grant, C.; Piepke, A.

We studied the removal of radioactivity from liquid scintillator in preparation of a low background phase of KamLAND. We describe the methods and techniques developed to measure and efficiently extract radon decay products from liquid scintillator. Lastly, we report the radio-isotope reduction factors obtained when applying various extraction methods. During this study, distillation was identified as the most efficient method for removing radon daughters from liquid scintillator.

Laboratory studies on the removal of radon-born lead from KamLAND׳s organic liquid scintillator

DOE PAGES

Keefer, G.; Grant, C.; Piepke, A.; ...

2014-09-28

We studied the removal of radioactivity from liquid scintillator in preparation of a low background phase of KamLAND. We describe the methods and techniques developed to measure and efficiently extract radon decay products from liquid scintillator. Lastly, we report the radio-isotope reduction factors obtained when applying various extraction methods. During this study, distillation was identified as the most efficient method for removing radon daughters from liquid scintillator.

Analysis of an Interplanetary Coronal Mass Ejection by a Spacecraft Radio Signal: A Case Study

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Molera Calvés, G.; Kallio, E.; Cimo, G.; Quick, J.; Duev, D. A.; Bocanegra Bahamón, T.; Nickola, M.; Kharinov, M. A.; Mikhailov, A. G.

2017-11-01

Tracking radio communication signals from planetary spacecraft with ground-based telescopes offers the possibility to study the electron density and the interplanetary scintillation of the solar wind. Observations of the telemetry link of planetary spacecraft have been conducted regularly with ground antennae from the European Very Long Baseline Interferometry Network, aiming to study the propagation of radio signals in the solar wind at different solar elongations and distances from the Sun. We have analyzed the Mars Express spacecraft radio signal phase fluctuations while, based on a 3-D heliosphere plasma simulation, an interplanetary coronal mass ejection (ICME) crossed the radio path during one of our observations on 6 April 2015. Our measurements showed that the phase scintillation indices increased by a factor of 4 during the passage of the ICME. The method presented here confirms that the phase scintillation technique based on spacecraft signals provides information of the properties and propagation of the ICMEs in the heliosphere.

THE ABUNDANCE OF X-SHAPED RADIO SOURCES: IMPLICATIONS FOR THE GRAVITATIONAL WAVE BACKGROUND

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Roberts, David H.; Saripalli, Lakshmi; Subrahmanyan, Ravi, E-mail: roberts@brandeis.edu

Coalescence of supermassive black holes (SMBHs) in galaxy mergers is potentially the dominant contributor to the low frequency gravitational wave background (GWB). It was proposed by Merritt and Ekers that X-shaped radio galaxies are signposts of such coalescences and that their abundance might be used to predict the magnitude of the GWB. In Roberts et al. we presented radio images of all 52 X-shaped radio source candidates out of the sample of 100 selected by Cheung for which archival VLA data were available. These images indicate that at most 21% of the candidates might be genuine X-shaped radio sources thatmore » were formed by a restarting of beams in a new direction following a major merger. This suggests that fewer than 1.3% of extended radio sources appear to be candidates for genuine axis reorientations (“spin flips”), much smaller than the 7% suggested by Leahy and Parma. Thus, the associated GWB may be substantially smaller than previous estimates. These results can be used to normalize detailed calculations of the SMBH coalescence rate and the GWB.« less

Radio triangulation - mapping the 3D position of the solar radio emission

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Magdalenic, Jasmina

2016-04-01

Understanding the relative position of the sources of the radio emission and the associated solar eruptive phenomena (CME and the associated shock wave) has always been a challenge. While ground-based radio interferometer observations provide us with the 2D position information for the radio emission originating from the low corona (up to 2.5 Ro), this is not the case for the radio emission originating at larger heights. The radio triangulation measurements (also referred to as direction-finding or goniopolarimetric measurements) from two or more widely separated spacecraft can provide information on the 3D positions of the sources of the radio emission. This type of interplanetary radio observations are currently performed by STEREO WAVES and WIND WAVES instruments, providing a unique possibility for up to three simultaneous radio triangulations (using up to three different pairs of spacecraft). The recent results of the radio triangulation studies bring new insight into the causal relationship of the solar radio emission and CMEs. In this presentation I will discuss some of the most intriguing results on the source positions of: a) type III radio bursts indicating propagation of the fast electrons accelerated along the open field lines, b) type II radio bursts indicating interaction of the CME-driven shocks and other coronal structures e.g. streamers and c) type IV-like radio bursts possibly associated with CME-CME interaction.

Effect exerted by a radio wave electromagnetic field on the rheological properties of water and portland-cement systems

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Azharonok, V. V.; Belous, N. Kh.; Rodtsevich, S. P.; Koshevar, V. D.; Shkadretsova, V. G.; Goncharik, S. V.; Chubrik, N. I.; Orlovich, A. I.

2013-09-01

We have studied the effect of the regimes of high-frequency (radio wave) electromagnetic treatment of gauging water on the process of structurization and on the technological characteristics of portland-cement systems. It has been established that the radio wave electromagnetic activation of water leads to a reduction in its surface tension, dynamic viscosity, and shear stress, as well as intensifies the formation of coagulation structures in a portlandcement slurry and aids in increasing the mobility of cement-sand mixtures.

Verification of nonlinear particle simulation of radio frequency waves in fusion plasmas

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kuley, Animesh; Bao, Jian; Lin, Zhihong

2015-11-01

Nonlinear global particle simulation model has been developed in GTC to study the nonlinear interactions of radio frequency (RF) waves with plasmas in tokamak. In this model, ions are considered as fully kinetic particles using the Vlasov equation and electrons are treated as guiding centers using the drift kinetic. Boris push scheme for the ion motion has been implemented in the toroidal geometry using magnetic coordinates and successfully verified for the ion cyclotron, ion Bernstein and lower hybrid waves. The nonlinear GTC simulation of the lower hybrid wave shows that the amplitude of the electrostatic potential is oscillatory due to the trapping of resonant electrons by the electric field of the lower hybrid wave. The nonresonant parametric decay is observed an IBW sideband and an ion cyclotron quasimode (ICQM). The ICQM induces an ion perpendicular heating with a heating rate proportional to the pump wave intensity. This work is supported by PPPL subcontract number S013849-F and US Department of Energy (DOE) SciDAC GSEP Program.

The lower ionosphere response to its disturbances by powerful radio waves

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bakhmetieva, N. V.; Frolov, V. L.; Vyakhirev, V. D.; Kalinina, E. E.; Akchurin, A. D.; Zykov, E. Yu.

2018-04-01

The paper presents data from some campaigns at Sura heating facility in 2011-1016. The experiments on probing of the artificial disturbed region of the lower ionosphere were carried out at two observation sites. One of them was located near Vasil'sursk 1 km from Sura facility (56.1°N; 46.1°E) and the other site was located at the Observatory (55.85°N; 48.8°E) of Kazan State University, 170 km to the East. Investigation of the features of the disturbed region of the lower ionosphere based on its diagnostics by the methods of the vertical sounding and oblique backscattering is the main goal of this paper. Ionosphere disturbance was fulfilled by the effect of the powerful radio wave of the ordinary or extraordinary polarization emitted by transmitters of the Sura facility with effective radiated power ERP = 50-120 MW at the frequency of 4.3, 4.7 and 5.6 MHz. Pumping waves were emitted with period from 30 s to 15 min. The disturbed region of the ionosphere in Vasil'sursk was probed by the vertical sounding technique using the partial reflexion radar at the frequency of 2.95 and 4.7 MHz. For the oblique sounding of the disturbed region the modified ionosonde Cyclon-M, operating at ten frequencies from 2.01 to 6.51 MHz was used at the Observatory site. On many heating sessions simultaneous variations of the probing partial reflection signals in Vasil'sursk and backscattered signals in Observatory were observed at the height at 40-100 km below the reflection height of the pumping wave. These observations were correlated with the pumping periods of the Sura facility. Possible mechanisms of the appearance of the disturbance in the lower ionosphere and its effect on the probing radio waves are discussed.

Reflected ray retrieval from radio occultation data using radio holographic filtering of wave fields in ray space

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Gorbunov, Michael E.; Cardellach, Estel; Lauritsen, Kent B.

2018-03-01

Linear and non-linear representations of wave fields constitute the basis of modern algorithms for analysis of radio occultation (RO) data. Linear representations are implemented by Fourier Integral Operators, which allow for high-resolution retrieval of bending angles. Non-linear representations include Wigner Distribution Function (WDF), which equals the pseudo-density of energy in the ray space. Representations allow for filtering wave fields by suppressing some areas of the ray space and mapping the field back from the transformed space to the initial one. We apply this technique to the retrieval of reflected rays from RO observations. The use of reflected rays may increase the accuracy of the retrieval of the atmospheric refractivity. Reflected rays can be identified by the visual inspection of WDF or spectrogram plots. Numerous examples from COSMIC data indicate that reflections are mostly observed over oceans or snow, in particular over Antarctica. We introduce the reflection index that characterizes the relative intensity of the reflected ray with respect to the direct ray. The index allows for the automatic identification of events with reflections. We use the radio holographic estimate of the errors of the retrieved bending angle profiles of reflected rays. A comparison of indices evaluated for a large base of events including the visual identification of reflections indicated a good agreement with our definition of reflection index.

Waves in the middle and upper atmosphere of Mars as seen by the Radio Science Experiment MaRS on Mars Express

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Tellmann, S.; Paetzold, M.; Häusler, B.; Hinson, D. P.; Peter, K.; Tyler, G. L.

2017-12-01

Atmospheric waves play a crucial role in the Martian atmosphere. They are responsible for the redistribution of momentum, energy and dust and for the coupling of the different atmospheric regions on Mars. Almost all kinds of waves have been observed in the lower atmosphere (e.g. stationary and transient waves, baroclinic waves as well as migrating and non-migrating thermal tides, gravity waves, etc...). Atmospheric waves are also known to exist in the middle atmosphere of Mars ( 70-120 km, e.g. by the SPICAM instrument on Mars Express). In the thermosphere, thermal tides have been observed e.g. by radio occultation or accelerometer measurements on MGS. Recently, the NGIMS instrument on MAVEN reported gravity waves in the thermosphere of Mars. Radio Science profiles from the Mars Express Radio Science experiment MaRS on Mars Express can analyse the temperature, pressure and neutral number density profiles in the lower atmosphere (from a few hundred metres above the surface up to 40-50 km) and electron density profiles in the ionosphere of Mars. Wavelike structures have been detected below the main ionospheric layers (M1 & M2) and in the topside of the ionosphere. The two coherent frequencies of the MaRS experiment allow to discriminate between plasma density fluctuations in the ionosphere and Doppler related frequency shifts caused by spacecraft movement. A careful analysis of the observed electron density fluctuations in combination with sensitivity studies of the radio occultation technique will be used to classify the observed fluctuations. The MaRS experiment is funded by DLR under grant 50QM1401.

Waves in the middle and upper atmosphere of Mars as seen by the Radio Science Experiment MaRS on Mars Express

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Tellmann, Silvia Anna; Paetzold, Martin; Häusler, Bernd; Hinson, David P.; Peter, Kerstin; Tyler, G. Leonard

2017-10-01

Atmospheric waves play a crucial role for the dynamics in the Martian atmosphere. They are responsible for the redistribution of momentum, energy and dust and the coupling of the different atmospheric regions on Mars.Almost all kinds of waves have been observed in the lower atmosphere (e.g. stationary and transient waves, baroclinic waves as well as migrating and non-migrating thermal tides, and gravity waves). Atmospheric waves are also known to exist in the middle atmosphere of Mars (~70-120 km, e.g. by the SPICAM instrument on Mars Express). In the thermosphere, thermal tides have been observed e.g. by radio occultation or accelerometer measurements on MGS. Recently, the NGIMS instrument on MAVEN reported gravity waves in the thermosphere of Mars.Radio Science profiles from the Mars Express Radio Science experiment MaRS on Mars Express can analyse the temperature, pressure and neutral number density profiles in the lower atmosphere (from a few hundred metres above the surface up to ~ 40-50 km) and electron density profiles in the ionosphere of Mars.Wavelike structures have been detected below the main ionospheric layers (M1 & M2) and in the topside of the ionosphere. The two coherent frequencies of the MaRS experiment allow to discriminate between plasma density fluctuations in the ionosphere and Doppler related frequency shifts caused by spacecraft movement.A careful analysis of the observed electron density fluctuations in combination with sensitivity studies of the radio occultation technique will be used to classify the observed fluctuations.The MaRS experiment is funded by DLR under grant 50QM1401.

Nonlinear interaction of an intense radio wave with ionospheric D/E layer plasma

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sodha, Mahendra Singh; Agarwal, Sujeet Kumar

2018-05-01

This paper considers the nonlinear interaction of an intense electromagnetic wave with the D/E layer plasma in the ionosphere. A simultaneous solution of the electromagnetic wave equation and the equations describing the kinetics of D/E layer plasma is obtained; the phenomenon of ohmic heating of electrons by the electric field of the wave causes enhanced collision frequency and ionization of neutral species. Electron temperature dependent recombination of electrons with ions, electron attachment to O 2 molecules, and detachment of electrons from O2 - ions has also been taken into account. The dependence of the plasma parameters on the square of the electric vector of the wave E0 2 has been evaluated for three ionospheric heights (viz., 90, 100, and 110 km) corresponding to the mid-latitude mid-day ionosphere and discussed; these results are used to investigate the horizontal propagation of an intense radio wave at these heights.

Observational study of ionospheric irregularities and GPS scintillations associated with the 2012 tropical cyclone Tembin passing Hong Kong

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Yang, Zhe; Liu, Zhizhao

2016-05-01

This study presents the ionospheric responses observed in Hong Kong to a Typhoon, namely, Tembin, from the aspects of the occurrence of ionospheric irregularities and scintillations, using Global Positioning System (GPS) observations from a ground-based GPS scintillation monitoring station in Hong Kong and from GPS receivers on board the Constellation Observing System for Meteorology, Ionosphere, and Climate (COSMIC) satellites. The ionospheric irregularities and scintillations are characterized by the rate of total electron content variation index (ROTI) and the amplitude scintillation index S4, respectively. The typhoon Tembin formed over the western North Pacific during 18-30 August 2012 and approached Hong Kong during 24-27 August 2012 with the closest distance 290 km from Hong Kong at around 17 universal time (UT) on 25 August 2012. The ground-based observations indicate that in the nighttime period of 20:00-02:00 local time (LT = UT + 8 h) on 26 August when Tembin passed closely to Hong Kong, the ionospheric irregularities and scintillations of GPS signals were observed in the south of Hong Kong, over the area of 13°N ~ 23°N in latitude and 110°E ~ 120°E in longitude. From the COSMIC observations, it shows that the number of radio occultation scintillation events peaks on 26 August 2012 during the passage of Tembin. Without the presence of strong geomagnetic or solar activity, it is suspected that gravity waves might be generated in the lower atmosphere and likely seed the formation of ionospheric plasma irregularities. This work for the first time from Hong Kong observes the sign of coupling between the lower atmosphere and ionosphere in a tropical cyclone event, combining both ground- and space-based GPS observation data.

High power water load for microwave and millimeter-wave radio frequency sources

DOEpatents

Ives, R. Lawrence; Mizuhara, Yosuke M.; Schumacher, Richard V.; Pendleton, Rand P.

1999-01-01

A high power water load for microwave and millimeter wave radio frequency sources has a front wall including an input port for the application of RF power, a cylindrical dissipation cavity lined with a dissipating material having a thickness which varies with depth, and a rear wall including a rotating reflector for the reflection of wave energy inside the cylindrical cavity. The dissipation cavity includes a water jacket for removal of heat generated by the absorptive material coating the dissipation cavity, and this absorptive material has a thickness which is greater near the front wall than near the rear wall. Waves entering the cavity reflect from the rotating reflector, impinging and reflecting multiple times on the absorptive coating of the dissipation cavity, dissipating equal amounts of power on each internal reflection.

Frequency correlation of probe waves backscattered from small scale ionospheric irregularities generated by high power HF radio waves

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Puchkov, V. A.

2016-09-01

Aspect sensitive scattering of multi-frequency probe signals by artificial, magnetic field aligned density irregularities (with transverse size ∼ 1- 10 m) generated in the ionosphere by powerful radio waves is considered. Fluctuations of received signals depending on stochastic properties of the irregularities are calculated. It is shown that in the case of HF probe waves two mechanisms may contribute to the scattered signal fluctuations. The first one is due to the propagation of probe waves in the ionospheric plasma as in a randomly inhomogeneous medium. The second one lies in non-stationary stochastic behavior of irregularities which satisfy the Bragg conditions for the scattering geometry and therefore constitute centers of scattering. In the probe wave frequency band of the order of 10-100 MHz the second mechanism dominates which delivers opportunity to recover some properties of artificial irregularities from received signals. Correlation function of backscattered probe waves with close frequencies is calculated, and it is shown that detailed spatial distribution of irregularities along the scattering vector can be found experimentally from observations of this correlation function.

Phase Coupling in Langmuir Wave Packets: Evidence for Four Wave Interactions in Solar Type III Radio Bursts

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Thejappa, G.; MacDowall, R. J.; Bergamo, M.

2012-01-01

The four wave interaction process, known as the oscillating two stream instability (OTSI) is considered as one of the mechanisms responsible for stabilizing the electron beams associated with solar type III radio bursts. It has been reported that (1) an intense localized Langmuir wave packet associated with a type III burst contains the spectral characteristics of the OTSI: (a) a resonant peak at the local electron plasma frequency, f(sub pe), (b) a Stokes peak at a frequency slightly lower than f(sub pe), (c) anti-Stokes peak at a frequency slightly higher than f(sub pe), and (d) a low frequency enhancement below a few hundred Hz, (2) the frequencies and wave numbers of these spectral components satisfy the resonance conditions of the OTSI, and (3) the peak intensity of the wave packet is well above the thresholds for the OTSI as well as spatial collapse of envelope solitons. Here, for the first time, applying the trispectral analysis on this wave packet, we show that the tricoherence, which measures the degree of coherent four-wave coupling amongst the observed spectral components exhibits a peak. This provides an additional evidence for the OTSI and related spatial collapse of Langmuir envelope solitons in type III burst sources.

Scintillation analysis of pseudo-Bessel-Gaussian Schell-mode beams propagating through atmospheric turbulence with wave optics simulation

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zheng, Guo; Wang, Jue; Wang, Lin; Zhou, Muchun; Chen, Yanru; Song, Minmin

2018-03-01

The scintillation index of pseudo-Bessel-Gaussian Schell-mode (PBGSM) beams propagating through atmospheric turbulence is analyzed with the help of wave optics simulation due to the analytic difficulties. It is found that in the strong fluctuation regime, the PBGSM beams are more resistant to the turbulence with the appropriate parameters β and δ . However, the case is contrary in the weak fluctuation regime. Our simulation results indicate that the PBGSM beams may be applied to free-space optical (FSO) communication systems only when the turbulence is strong or the propagation distance is long.

Some new results on the statistics of radio wave scintillation. I - Empirical evidence for Gaussian statistics

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Rino, C. L.; Livingston, R. C.; Whitney, H. E.

1976-01-01

This paper presents an analysis of ionospheric scintillation data which shows that the underlying statistical structure of the signal can be accurately modeled by the additive complex Gaussian perturbation predicted by the Born approximation in conjunction with an application of the central limit theorem. By making use of this fact, it is possible to estimate the in-phase, phase quadrature, and cophased scattered power by curve fitting to measured intensity histograms. By using this procedure, it is found that typically more than 80% of the scattered power is in phase quadrature with the undeviated signal component. Thus, the signal is modeled by a Gaussian, but highly non-Rician process. From simultaneous UHF and VHF data, only a weak dependence of this statistical structure on changes in the Fresnel radius is deduced. The signal variance is found to have a nonquadratic wavelength dependence. It is hypothesized that this latter effect is a subtle manifestation of locally homogeneous irregularity structures, a mathematical model proposed by Kolmogorov (1941) in his early studies of incompressible fluid turbulence.

The Ionospheric Scintillation Effects on the BeiDou Signal Receiver

PubMed Central

He, Zhijun; Zhao, Hongbo; Feng, Wenquan

2016-01-01

Irregularities in the Earth’s ionosphere can make the amplitude and phase of radio signals fluctuate rapidly, which is known as ionospheric scintillation. Severe ionospheric scintillation could affect the performance of the Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS). Currently, the Multiple Phase Screen (MPS) technique is widely used in solving problems caused by weak and strong scintillations. Considering that Southern China is mainly located in the area where moderate and intense scintillation occur frequently, this paper built a model based on the MPS technique and discussed the scintillation impacts on China’s BeiDou navigation system. By using the BeiDou B1I signal, this paper analyzed the scintillation effects on the receiver, which includes the acquisition and tracking process. For acquisition process, this paper focused on the correlation peak and acquisition probability. For the tracking process, this paper focused on the carrier tracking loop and the code tracking loop. Simulation results show that under high scintillation intensity, the phase fluctuation could be −1.13 ± 0.087 rad to 1.40 ± 0.087 rad and the relative amplitude fluctuation could be −10 dB to 8 dB. As the scintillation intensity increased, the average correlation peak would decrease more than 8%, which could thus degrade acquisition performance. On the other hand, when the signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) is comparatively lower, the influence of strong scintillation on the phase locked loop (PLL) is much higher than that of weak scintillation. As the scintillation becomes more intense, PLL variance could consequently results in an error of more than 2.02 cm in carrier-phase based ranging. In addition, the delay locked loop (DLL) simulation results indicated that the pseudo-range error caused by strong scintillation could be more than 4 m and the consequent impact on positioning accuracy could be more than 6 m. PMID:27834867

Oscillations and Waves in Radio Source of Drifting Pulsation Structures

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Karlický, Marian; Rybák, Ján; Bárta, Miroslav

2018-04-01

Drifting pulsation structures (DPSs) are considered to be radio signatures of the plasmoids formed during magnetic reconnection in the impulsive phase of solar flares. In the present paper we analyze oscillations and waves in seven examples of drifting pulsation structures, observed by the 800 - 2000 MHz Ondřejov Radiospectrograph. For their analysis we use a new type of oscillation maps, which give us much more information as regards processes in DPSs than that in previous analyses. Based on these oscillation maps, made from radio spectra by the wavelet technique, we recognized quasi-periodic oscillations with periods ranging from about 1 to 108 s in all studied DPSs. This strongly supports the idea that DPSs are generated during a fragmented magnetic reconnection. Phases of most the oscillations in DPSs, especially for the period around 1 s, are synchronized ("infinite" frequency drift) in the whole frequency range of DPSs. For longer periods in some DPSs we found that the phases of the oscillations drift with the frequency drift in the interval from -17 to +287 MHz s^{-1}. We propose that these drifting phases can be caused (a) by the fast or slow magnetosonic waves generated during the magnetic reconnection and propagating through the plasmoid, (b) by a quasi-periodic structure in the plasma inflowing to the reconnection forming a plasmoid, and (c) by a quasi-periodically varying reconnection rate in the X-point of the reconnection close to the plasmoid.

Scintillation index of higher order mode laser beams in strong turbulence

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Baykal, Yahya

2017-03-01

The scintillation index of higher order laser modes is examined in strong atmospheric turbulence. In our formulation, modified Rytov theory is employed with the inclusion of existing modified turbulence spectrum which presents the atmospheric turbulence spectrum as a linear filter having refractive and diffractive spatial frequency cutoffs. Variations of the scintillation index in strong atmospheric turbulence are shown against the weak turbulence plane wave scintillation index for various higher order laser modes of different sizes. Use of higher order modes in optical wireless communication links operating in strongly turbulent atmosphere is found to be advantageous in reducing the scintillation noise.

Ion Acoustic Wave Frequencies and Onset Times During Type 3 Solar Radio Bursts

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Cairns, Iver H.; Robinson, P. A.

1995-01-01

Conflicting interpretations exist for the low-frequency ion acoustic (S) waves often observed by ISEE 3 in association with intense Langmuir (L) waves in the source regions of type III solar radio bursts near 1 AU. Two indirect lines of observational evidence, as well as plasma theory, suggest they are produced by the electrostatic (ES) decay L yields L(PRIME) + S. However, contrary to theoretical predictions, an existing analysis of the wave frequencies instead favors the electromagnetic (EM) decays L yields T + S, where T denotes an EM wave near the plasma frequency. This conflict is addressed here by comparing the observed wave frequencies and onset times with theoretical predictions for the ES and EM decays, calculated using the time-variable electron beam and magnetic field orientation data, rather than the nominal values used previously. Field orientation effects and beam speed variations are shown analytically to produce factor-of-three effects, greater than the difference in wave frequencies predicted for the ES and EM decays; effects of similar magnitude occur in the events analyzed here. The S-wave signals are extracted by hand from a sawtooth noise background, greatly improving the association between S waves and intense L waves. Very good agreement exists between the time-varying predictions for the ES decay and the frequencies of most (but not all) wave bursts. The waves occur only after the ES decay becomes kinematically allowed, which is consistent with the ES decay proceeding and producing most of the observed signals. Good agreement exists between the EM decay's predictions and a significant fraction of the S-wave observations while the EM decay is kinematically allowed. The wave data are not consistent, however, with the EM decay being the dominant nonlinear process. Often the observed waves are sufficiently broadband to overlap simultaneously the frequency ranges predicted for the ES and EM decays. Coupling the dominance of the ES decay with this

Scintillation analysis of truncated Bessel beams via numerical turbulence propagation simulation.

PubMed

Eyyuboğlu, Halil T; Voelz, David; Xiao, Xifeng

2013-11-20

Scintillation aspects of truncated Bessel beams propagated through atmospheric turbulence are investigated using a numerical wave optics random phase screen simulation method. On-axis, aperture averaged scintillation and scintillation relative to a classical Gaussian beam of equal source power and scintillation per unit received power are evaluated. It is found that in almost all circumstances studied, the zeroth-order Bessel beam will deliver the lowest scintillation. Low aperture averaged scintillation levels are also observed for the fourth-order Bessel beam truncated by a narrower source window. When assessed relative to the scintillation of a Gaussian beam of equal source power, Bessel beams generally have less scintillation, particularly at small receiver aperture sizes and small beam orders. Upon including in this relative performance measure the criteria of per unit received power, this advantageous position of Bessel beams mostly disappears, but zeroth- and first-order Bessel beams continue to offer some advantage for relatively smaller aperture sizes, larger source powers, larger source plane dimensions, and intermediate propagation lengths.

Radio Wave Propagation: A Handbook of Practical Techniques for Computing Basic Transmission Loss and Field Strength

DTIC Science & Technology

1982-09-01

MARK A. WEISSBEGU KALLE R. XONTSON Project Msnaqer, IUTRZ Assistant Director Contractor Operations Approved by CRARLES L. FLYNN, 001, us A. M. MESSE...34 BSTJ, 1946. 2-4priis, H.T., "Introduction to Radio and Antennas," IEEE Spectrum, April, 1971 . RADIO WAVE PROPAGATION: A HANDBOOK OF PRACTICAL...Propagation Tests, TR-0177-71.01, Gautney & Jones Communications, Inc., Falls Church, VA, June 1971 . 3 -7 Comparison of Predicted VLF/LF Signal

Seasonal ionospheric scintillation analysis during increasing solar activity at mid-latitude

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ahmed, Wasiu Akande; Wu, Falin; Agbaje, Ganiyu Ishola; Ednofri, Ednofri; Marlia, Dessi; Zhao, Yan

2017-09-01

Monitoring of ionospheric parameters (such as Total Electron Content and scintillation) is of great importance as it affects and contributes to the errors encountered by radio signals. It thus requires constant measurements to avoid disastrous situation for space agencies, parastatals and departments that employ GNSS applications in their daily operations. The research objective is to have a better understanding of the behaviour of ionospheric scintillation at midlatitude as it threatens the performances of satellite communication, navigation systems and military operations. This paper adopts seasonal ionospheric scintillation scenario. The mid-latitude investigation of ionospheric effect of scintillation was conducted during the increasing solar activity from 2011-2015. Ionospheric scintillation data were obtained from four ionospheric monitoring stations located at mid-latitude (i.e Shenzhen North Station, Beijing Changping North Station Branch, Beijing North Station and Beijing Miyun ground Station). The data was collected from January 2011 to December 2015. There were absence of data due to software problem or system failure at some locations. The scintillation phenomenon was computed using Global Ionospheric Scintillation and TEC Monitoring Model. There are four seasons which existed in China namely: Spring, Summer, Autumn and Winter. The relationship between TEC, amplitude and phase scintillation were observed for each of these seasons. The results indicated that the weak amplitude scintillation was observed as against phase scintillation which was high. Phase scintillation was gradually enhanced from 2011 to 2012 and later declined till 2014. TEC was also at peak around 00:00-10:00 UT (08:00-18:00 LT). The seasonal events temporal density characteristics comply with solar cycle prediction as such it ascended from 2011 to 2013 and then scintillation parameters declined significantly afterwards.

Remote sensing of tropospheric turbulence using GPS radio occultation

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Shume, Esayas; Ao, Chi

2016-07-01

Radio occultation (RO) measurements are sensitive to the small-scale irregularities in the atmosphere. In this study, we present a new technique to estimate tropospheric turbulence strength (namely, scintillation index) by analyzing RO amplitude fluctuations in impact parameter domain. GPS RO observations from the COSMIC (Constellation Observing System for Meteorology, Ionosphere, and Climate) satellites enabled us to calculate global maps of scintillation measures, revealing the seasonal, latitudinal, and longitudinal characteristics of the turbulent troposphere. Such information are both difficult and expensive to obtain especially over the oceans. To verify our approach, simulation experiments using the multiple phase screen (MPS) method were conducted. The results show that scintillation indices inferred from the MPS simulations are in good agreement with scintillation measures estimated from COSMIC observations.

First IPS Radio Sources Detected By MEXART

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Mejia-Ambriz, J.; Gonzalez-Esparza, A.; Carrillo-Vargas, A.; Villanueva-Hernandez, P.; Aguilar-Rodriguez, E.; Andrade-Mascote, E.; Vazquez-Hernandez, S.; Sierra-Figueredo, P.; Ananthakrishnan, S.; Manoharan, P.

2008-12-01

We present a first study of strong radio sources that are known to exhibit interplanetary scintillations (IPS) detected by the Mexican Array Radio Telescope (MEXART). These observations were made using one quarter of the total antenna (16 rows of 64 dipoles each) and a Butler Matrix (BM) of 16X16 ports. The BM displays 16 beams at different declinations (from -48 to +88 degrees). We report the directionality and efficiency of the beams. These first observations of radio IPS sources and the calibration of the BM is the first step to initiate MEXART IPS maps in the near future.

Evidence for four- and three-wave interactions in solar type III radio emissions

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Thejappa, G.; MacDowall, R. J.; Bergamo, M.

2013-08-01

The high time resolution observations obtained by the STEREO/WAVES experiment show that in the source regions of solar type III radio bursts, Langmuir waves often occur as intense localized wave packets with short durations of only few ms. One of these wave packets shows that it is a three-dimensional field structure with WLneTe ~ 10-3, where WL is the peak energy density, and ne and Te are the electron density and temperature, respectively. For this wave packet, the conditions of the oscillating two-stream instability (OTSI) and supersonic collapse are satisfied within the error range of determination of main parameters. The density cavity, observed during this wave packet indicates that its depth, width and temporal coincidence are consistent with those of a caviton, generated by the ponderomotive force of the collapsing wave packet. The spectrum of each of the parallel and perpendicular components of the wave packet contains a primary peak at fpe, two secondary peaks at fpe ± fS and a low-frequency enhancement below fS, which, as indicated by the frequency and wave number resonance conditions, and the fast Fourier transform (FFT)-based tricoherence spectral peak at (fpe, fpe, fpe + fS, fpe - fS), are coupled to each other by the OTSI type of four-wave interaction (fpe is the local electron plasma frequency and fS is the frequency of ion sound waves). In addition to the primary peak at fpe, each of these spectra also contains a peak at 2fpe, which as indicated by the frequency and wave number resonance conditions, and the wavelet-based bicoherence spectral peak at (fpe, fpe), appears to correspond to the second harmonic electromagnetic waves generated as a result of coalescence of oppositely propagating sidebands excited by the OTSI. Thus, these observations for

MULTI-MESSENGER ASTRONOMY OF GRAVITATIONAL-WAVE SOURCES WITH FLEXIBLE WIDE-AREA RADIO TRANSIENT SURVEYS

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Yancey, Cregg C.; Shawhan, Peter; Bear, Brandon E.

We explore opportunities for multi-messenger astronomy using gravitational waves (GWs) and prompt, transient low-frequency radio emission to study highly energetic astrophysical events. We review the literature on possible sources of correlated emission of GWs and radio transients, highlighting proposed mechanisms that lead to a short-duration, high-flux radio pulse originating from the merger of two neutron stars or from a superconducting cosmic string cusp. We discuss the detection prospects for each of these mechanisms by low-frequency dipole array instruments such as LWA1, the Low Frequency Array and the Murchison Widefield Array. We find that a broad range of models may bemore » tested by searching for radio pulses that, when de-dispersed, are temporally and spatially coincident with a LIGO/Virgo GW trigger within a ∼30 s time window and ∼200–500 deg{sup 2} sky region. We consider various possible observing strategies and discuss their advantages and disadvantages. Uniquely, for low-frequency radio arrays, dispersion can delay the radio pulse until after low-latency GW data analysis has identified and reported an event candidate, enabling a prompt radio signal to be captured by a deliberately targeted beam. If neutron star mergers do have detectable prompt radio emissions, a coincident search with the GW detector network and low-frequency radio arrays could increase the LIGO/Virgo effective search volume by up to a factor of ∼2. For some models, we also map the parameter space that may be constrained by non-detections.« less

Multi-messenger astronomy of gravitational-wave sources with flexible wide-area radio transient surveys

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kavic, Michael; Cregg C. Yancey, Brandon E. Bear, Bernadine Akukwe, Kevin Chen, Jayce Dowell, Jonathan D. Gough, Jonah Kanner, Kenneth Obenberger, Peter Shawhan, John H. Simonetti , Gregory B. Taylor , Jr-Wei Tsai

2016-01-01

We explore opportunities for multi-messenger astronomy using gravitational waves (GWs) and prompt, transient low-frequency radio emission to study highly energetic astrophysical events. We review the literature on possible sources of correlated emission of GWs and radio transients, highlighting proposed mechanisms that lead to a short-duration, high-flux radio pulse originating from the merger of two neutron stars or from a superconducting cosmic string cusp. We discuss the detection prospects for each of these mechanisms by low-frequency dipole array instruments such as LWA1, the Low Frequency Array and the Murchison Widefield Array. We find that a broad range of models may be tested by searching for radio pulses that, when de-dispersed, are temporally and spatially coincident with a LIGO/Virgo GW trigger within a ˜30 s time window and ˜200-500 deg(2) sky region. We consider various possible observing strategies and discuss their advantages and disadvantages. Uniquely, for low-frequency radio arrays, dispersion can delay the radio pulse until after low-latency GW data analysis has identified and reported an event candidate, enabling a prompt radio signal to be captured by a deliberately targeted beam. If neutron star mergers do have detectable prompt radio emissions, a coincident search with the GW detector network and low-frequency radio arrays could increase the LIGO/Virgo effective search volume by up to a factor of ˜2. For some models, we also map the parameter space that may be constrained by non-detections.

Multi-messenger Astronomy of Gravitational-wave Sources with Flexible Wide-area Radio Transient Surveys

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Yancey, Cregg C.; Bear, Brandon E.; Akukwe, Bernadine; Chen, Kevin; Dowell, Jayce; Gough, Jonathan D.; Kanner, Jonah; Kavic, Michael; Obenberger, Kenneth; Shawhan, Peter; Simonetti, John H.; -Wei Tsai, Gregory B. Taylor, Jr.

2015-10-01

We explore opportunities for multi-messenger astronomy using gravitational waves (GWs) and prompt, transient low-frequency radio emission to study highly energetic astrophysical events. We review the literature on possible sources of correlated emission of GWs and radio transients, highlighting proposed mechanisms that lead to a short-duration, high-flux radio pulse originating from the merger of two neutron stars or from a superconducting cosmic string cusp. We discuss the detection prospects for each of these mechanisms by low-frequency dipole array instruments such as LWA1, the Low Frequency Array and the Murchison Widefield Array. We find that a broad range of models may be tested by searching for radio pulses that, when de-dispersed, are temporally and spatially coincident with a LIGO/Virgo GW trigger within a ˜30 s time window and ˜200-500 deg2 sky region. We consider various possible observing strategies and discuss their advantages and disadvantages. Uniquely, for low-frequency radio arrays, dispersion can delay the radio pulse until after low-latency GW data analysis has identified and reported an event candidate, enabling a prompt radio signal to be captured by a deliberately targeted beam. If neutron star mergers do have detectable prompt radio emissions, a coincident search with the GW detector network and low-frequency radio arrays could increase the LIGO/Virgo effective search volume by up to a factor of ˜2. For some models, we also map the parameter space that may be constrained by non-detections.

A Simple Demonstration for Exploring the Radio Waves Generated by a Mobile Phone

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Hare, Jonathan

2010-01-01

Described is a simple low cost home-made device that converts the radio wave energy from a mobile phone signal into electricity for lighting an LED. No battery or complex circuitry is required. The device can form the basis of a range of interesting experiments on the physics and technology of mobile phones. (Contains 5 figures.)

Radio variability in complete samples of extragalactic radio sources at 1.4 GHz

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Rys, S.; Machalski, J.

1990-09-01

Complete samples of extragalactic radio sources obtained in 1970-1975 and the sky survey of Condon and Broderick (1983) were used to select sources variable at 1.4 GHz, and to investigate the characteristics of variability in the whole population of sources at this frequency. The radio structures, radio spectral types, and optical identifications of the selected variables are discussed. Only compact flat-spectrum sources vary at 1.4 GHz, and all but four are identified with QSOs, BL Lacs, or other (unconfirmed spectroscopically) stellar objects. No correlation of degree of variability at 1.4 GHz with Galactic latitude or variability at 408 MHz has been found, suggesting that most of the 1.4-GHz variability is intrinsic and not caused by refractive scintillations. Numerical models of the variability have been computed.

Plasma Pancakes and Deep Cavities Generated by High Power Radio Waves from the Arecibo Observatory

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bernhardt, P. A.; Briczinski, S. J., Jr.; Zawdie, K.; Huba, J.; Siefring, C. L.; Sulzer, M. P.; Nossa, E.; Aponte, N.; Perillat, P.; Jackson-Booth, N.

2017-12-01

Breakdown of the neutral atmosphere at ionospheric altitudes can be achieved with high power HF waves that reflect on the bottomside of the ionosphere. For overdense heating (i.e., wave frequency < maximum plasma frequency in the F-layer), the largest electric fields in the plasma are found just below the reflection altitude. There, electromagnetic waves are converted into electron plasma (Langmir) waves and ion acoustic waves. These waves are measured by scattering of the 430 MHz radar at Arecibo to from an enhanced plasma line. The photo-electron excitation of Langmuir waves yields a weaker plasma-line profile that shows the complete electron profile with the radar. Once HF enhanced Langmuir waves are formed, they can accelerate the photo-electron population to sufficient energies for neutral breakdown and enhanced ionization inside the HF Radio Beam. Plasma pancakes are produced because the breakdown process continues to build up plasma on bottom of the breakdown clouds and recombination occurs on the older breakdown plasma at the top of these clouds. Thus, the plasma pancake falls with altitude from the initial HF wave reflection altitude near 250 km to about 160 km where ion-electron recombination prevents the plasma cloud from being sustained by the high power HF. Experiments in March 2017 have produced plasma pancakes with about 100 Mega-Watts effective radiated power 5.1 MHz with the Arecibo HF Facility. Observations using the 430 MHz radar show falling plasma pancakes that disappear at low altitudes and reform at the F-layer critical reflection altitude. Sometimes the periodic and regular falling motion of the plasma pancakes is influenced by Acoustic Gravity Waves (AGW) propagating through the modified HF region. A rising AGW can cause the plasma pancake to reside at nearly constant altitude for 10 to 20 minutes. Dense cavities are also produced by high power radio waves interacting with the F-Layer. These structures are observed with the Arecibo 430 MHz

Modeling of the Dynamics of Radio Wave Reflection and Absorption in a Smoothly Ionomogeneous Plasma with Electromagnetically Driven Strong Langmuir Turbulence

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kochetov, A. V.

2018-05-01

This work was initiated by experiments on studying the self-action of radio waves incident on the ionosphere from a ground-based transmitter at the stage of electromagnetic excitation of Langmuir turbulence (Langmuir effect). The emphasis is on the impact of "self-consistent" collisionless absorption of radio waves by the Langmuir turbulence, which develops when the incident-wave field swells in the resonant region of a smoothly inhomogeneous plasma, on the dynamics of the radio wave reflection. Electrodynamic characteristics of the nonlinear-plasma layer, which has a linear unperturbed profile of the plasma density, with different features of the absorption development are obtained for a high intensity of the incident radiation. Calculations of "soft" and "hard" regimes of the absorption occurrence, as well as hysteresis modes in which the damping switch-on and off thresholds differ several times, are carried out. The algorithms we devised and the results of the study can serve as the basis for a more adequate and more detailed numerical simulation for interpretation of the experimental data obtained at the stage of the Langmuir effect in the ionosphere.

EFFECTS OF ALFVEN WAVES ON ELECTRON CYCLOTRON MASER EMISSION IN CORONAL LOOPS AND SOLAR TYPE I RADIO STORMS

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Zhao, G. Q.; Chen, L.; Wu, D. J.

Solar type I radio storms are long-lived radio emissions from the solar atmosphere. It is believed that these type I storms are produced by energetic electrons trapped within a closed magnetic structure and are characterized by a high ordinary (O) mode polarization. However, the microphysical nature of these emissions is still an open problem. Recently, Wu et al. found that Alfven waves (AWs) can significantly influence the basic physics of wave-particle interactions by modifying the resonant condition. Taking the effects of AWs into account, this work investigates electron cyclotron maser emission driven by power-law energetic electrons with a low-energy cutoffmore » distribution, which are trapped in coronal loops by closed solar magnetic fields. The results show that the emission is dominated by the O mode. It is proposed that this O mode emission may possibly be responsible for solar type I radio storms.« less

Observation of beat oscillation generation by coupled waves associated with parametric decay during radio frequency wave heating of a spherical tokamak plasma.

PubMed

Nagashima, Yoshihiko; Oosako, Takuya; Takase, Yuichi; Ejiri, Akira; Watanabe, Osamu; Kobayashi, Hiroaki; Adachi, Yuuki; Tojo, Hiroshi; Yamaguchi, Takashi; Kurashina, Hiroki; Yamada, Kotaro; An, Byung Il; Kasahara, Hiroshi; Shimpo, Fujio; Kumazawa, Ryuhei; Hayashi, Hiroyuki; Matsuzawa, Haduki; Hiratsuka, Junichi; Hanashima, Kentaro; Kakuda, Hidetoshi; Sakamoto, Takuya; Wakatsuki, Takuma

2010-06-18

We present an observation of beat oscillation generation by coupled modes associated with parametric decay instability (PDI) during radio frequency (rf) wave heating experiments on the Tokyo Spherical Tokamak-2. Nearly identical PDI spectra, which are characterized by the coexistence of the rf pump wave, the lower-sideband wave, and the low-frequency oscillation in the ion-cyclotron range of frequency, are observed at various locations in the edge plasma. A bispectral power analysis was used to experimentally discriminate beat oscillation from the resonant mode for the first time. The pump and lower-sideband waves have resonant mode components, while the low-frequency oscillation is exclusively excited by nonlinear coupling of the pump and lower-sideband waves. Newly discovered nonlocal transport channels in spectral space and in real space via PDI are described.

Predicting ionospheric scintillation: Recent advancements and future challenges

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Carter, B. A.; Currie, J. L.; Terkildsen, M.; Bouya, Z.; Parkinson, M. L.

2017-12-01

Society greatly benefits from space-based infrastructure and technology. For example, signals from Global Navigation Satellite Systems (GNSS) are used across a wide range of industrial sectors; including aviation, mining, agriculture and finance. Current trends indicate that the use of these space-based technologies is likely to increase over the coming decades as the global economy becomes more technology-dependent. Space weather represents a key vulnerability to space-based technology, both in terms of the space environment effects on satellite infrastructure and the influence of the ionosphere on the radio signals used for satellite communications. In recent decades, the impact of the ionosphere on GNSS signals has re-ignited research interest into the equatorial ionosphere, particularly towards understanding Equatorial Plasma Bubbles (EPBs). EPBs are a dominant source of nighttime plasma irregularities in the low-latitude ionosphere, which can cause severe scintillation on GNSS signals and subsequent degradation on GNSS product quality. Currently, ionospheric scintillation event forecasts are not being routinely released by any space weather prediction agency around the world, but this is likely to change in the near future. In this contribution, an overview of recent efforts to develop a global ionospheric scintillation prediction capability within Australia will be given. The challenges in understanding user requirements for ionospheric scintillation predictions will be discussed. Next, the use of ground- and space-based datasets for the purpose of near-real time ionospheric scintillation monitoring will be explored. Finally, some modeling that has shown significant promise in transitioning towards an operational ionospheric scintillation forecasting system will be discussed.

Waves in the Martian Atmosphere: Results from MGS Radio Occultations

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Flasar, F. M.; Hinson, D. P.; Tyler, G. L.

1999-01-01

Temperatures retrieved from Mars Global Surveyor radio occultations have been searched for evidence of waves. Emphasis has been on the initial series of occultations between 29 deg N and 64 deg S, obtained during the early martian southern summer, L(sub s) = 264 deg - 308 deg. The profiles exhibit an undulatory behavior that is suggestive of vertically propagating waves. wavelengths approximately 10 km are often dominant, but structure on smaller scales is evident. The undulatory structure is most pronounced between latitudes 29 deg N and 10 deg S, usually in regions of "interesting" topography, e.g., in the Tharsis region and near the edge of Syrtis Major. Several temperature profiles, particularly within 30 deg of the equator, exhibit lapse rates that locally become superadiabatic near the 0.4-mbar level or at higher altitudes. This implies that the waves are "breaking" and depositing horizontal momentum into the atmosphere. Such a deposition may play an important role in modulating the atmospheric winds, and characterizing the spatial and temporal distribution of these momentum transfers can provide important clues to understanding how the global circulation is maintained.

Radio and Plasma Wave Observations During Cassini's Grand Finale

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kurth, W. S.; Bostrom, R.; Canu, P.; Cecconi, B.; Cornilleau-Wehrlin, N.; Farrell, W. M.; Fischer, G.; Galopeau, P. H. M.; Gurnett, D. A.; Gustafsson, G.; Hospodarsky, G. B.; Lamy, L.; Lecacheux, A.; Louarn, P.; MacDowall, R. J.; Menietti, J. D.; Modolo, R.; Morooka, M.; Pedersen, A.; Persoon, A. M.; Sulaiman, A. H.; Wahlund, J. E.; Ye, S.; Zarka, P. M.

2017-12-01

Cassini ends its 13-year exploration of the Saturnian system in 22 high inclination Grand Finale orbits with perikrones falling between the inner edge of the D ring and the upper limits of Saturn's atmosphere. The Cassini Radio and Plasma Wave Science (RPWS) instrument makes a variety of observations in these unique orbits including Saturn kilometric radiation, plasma waves such as auroral hiss associated with Saturn's auroras, dust via impacts with Cassini, and the upper reaches of Saturn's ionosphere. This paper will provide an overview of the RPWS results from this final phase of the Cassini mission with the unique opportunities afforded by the orbit. Based on early Grand Finale orbits, we can already say that the spacecraft has passed through cyclotron maser source regions of the Saturn kilometric radiation a number of times, found only small amounts of micron-sized dust in the equatorial region, and observed highly variable densities of cold plasma of order 1000 cm-3 in the ionosphere at altitudes of a few thousand km.

Intermediate-scale plasma irregularities in the polar ionosphere inferred from GPS radio occultation

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Shume, E. B.; Komjathy, A.; Langley, R. B.; Verkhoglyadova, O.; Butala, M. D.; Mannucci, A. J.

2015-02-01

We report intermediate-scale plasma irregularities in the polar ionosphere inferred from high-resolution radio occultation (RO) measurements using GPS (Global Positioning System) to CASSIOPE (CAScade Smallsat and IOnospheric Polar Explorer) satellite radio links. The high inclination of CASSIOPE and the high rate of signal reception by the GPS Attitude, Positioning, and Profiling RO receiver on CASSIOPE enable a high-resolution investigation of the dynamics of the polar ionosphere with unprecedented detail. Intermediate-scale, scintillation-producing irregularities, which correspond to 1 to 40 km scales, were inferred by applying multiscale spectral analysis on the RO phase measurements. Using our multiscale spectral analysis approach and satellite data (Polar Operational Environmental Satellites and Defense Meteorological Satellite Program), we discovered that the irregularity scales and phase scintillations have distinct features in the auroral oval and polar cap. We found that large length scales and more intense phase scintillations are prevalent in the auroral oval compared to the polar cap implying that the irregularity scales and phase scintillation characteristics are a function of the solar wind and magnetospheric forcings.

Quasi-periodic Radio Bursts Associated with Fast-mode Waves near a Magnetic Null Point

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Kumar, Pankaj; Nakariakov, Valery M.; Cho, Kyung-Suk, E-mail: pankaj.kumar@nasa.gov

This paper presents an observation of quasi-periodic rapidly propagating waves observed in the Atmospheric Image Assembly (AIA) 171/193 Å channels during the impulsive phase of an M1.9 flare that occurred on 2012 May 7. The instant period was found to decrease from 240 to 120 s, and the speed of the wavefronts was in the range of ∼664–1416 km s{sup −1}. Almost simultaneously, quasi-periodic bursts with similar instant periods, ∼70 and ∼140 s, occur in the microwave emission and in decimetric type IV and type III radio bursts, and in the soft X-ray emission. The magnetic field configuration of themore » flare site was consistent with a breakout topology, i.e., a quadrupolar field along with a magnetic null point. The quasi-periodic rapidly propagating wavefronts of the EUV emission are interpreted as a fast magnetoacoustic wave train. The observations suggest that the fast-mode waves are generated during the quasi-periodic magnetic reconnection in the cusp region above the flare arcade loops. For the first time, we provide evidence of a tadpole wavelet signature at about 70–140 s in decimetric (245/610 MHz) radio bursts, along with the direct observation of a coronal fast-mode wave train in EUV. In addition, at AIA 131/193 Å we observed quasi-periodic EUV disturbances with periods of 95 and 240 s propagating downward at apparent speeds of 172–273 km s{sup −1}. The nature of these downward propagating disturbances is not revealed, but they could be connected to magnetoacoustic waves or periodically shrinking loops.« less

VLF Radio Wave Propagation Across the Day/Night Terminator

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Burch, H.; Moore, R. C.

2016-12-01

In May 2016, a new array of VLF radio receivers was deployed spanning the East Coast of the United States. We present preliminary observations from the array, which was designed in part to track the propagation of the narrowband VLF transmitter signal, NAA (24.0 kHz), down the coast from Cutler, Maine. Amplitude, phase, and polarization observations are compared over multiple days and at different times of year to investigate the dependence of VLF propagation characteristics on solar zenith angle. Measurements are compared to simulations using the Long Wave Propagation Capability code (LWPC) in order to evaluate the accuracy of LWPC's built-in ionosphere model. Efforts to improve the ionosphere model based on observations are discussed.

Inorganic scintillating materials and scintillation detectors

PubMed Central

YANAGIDA, Takayuki

2018-01-01

Scintillation materials and detectors that are used in many applications, such as medical imaging, security, oil-logging, high energy physics and non-destructive inspection, are reviewed. The fundamental physics understood today is explained, and common scintillators and scintillation detectors are introduced. The properties explained here are light yield, energy non-proportionality, emission wavelength, energy resolution, decay time, effective atomic number and timing resolution. For further understanding, the emission mechanisms of scintillator materials are also introduced. Furthermore, unresolved problems in scintillation phenomenon are considered, and my recent interpretations are discussed. These topics include positive hysteresis, the co-doping of non-luminescent ions, the introduction of an aimed impurity phase, the excitation density effect and the complementary relationship between scintillators and storage phosphors. PMID:29434081

Imaging spectroscopy of solar radio burst fine structures.

PubMed

Kontar, E P; Yu, S; Kuznetsov, A A; Emslie, A G; Alcock, B; Jeffrey, N L S; Melnik, V N; Bian, N H; Subramanian, P

2017-11-15

Solar radio observations provide a unique diagnostic of the outer solar atmosphere. However, the inhomogeneous turbulent corona strongly affects the propagation of the emitted radio waves, so decoupling the intrinsic properties of the emitting source from the effects of radio wave propagation has long been a major challenge in solar physics. Here we report quantitative spatial and frequency characterization of solar radio burst fine structures observed with the Low Frequency Array, an instrument with high-time resolution that also permits imaging at scales much shorter than those corresponding to radio wave propagation in the corona. The observations demonstrate that radio wave propagation effects, and not the properties of the intrinsic emission source, dominate the observed spatial characteristics of radio burst images. These results permit more accurate estimates of source brightness temperatures, and open opportunities for quantitative study of the mechanisms that create the turbulent coronal medium through which the emitted radiation propagates.

Radio Wave Propagation for Communication on and around Mars. Part 1; Highlights: Propagation Through Mars Environment

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Ho, Christian; Golshan, Nasser

1999-01-01

We recommend to use the dayside Martian ionosphere as a reflector for global communication, because the dayside ionosphere has stable density peak and usable critic frequency. This is very crucial for the future Mars ground to around communication. The dayside ionosphere has been well modeled as a Chapman layer. We suggest to perform the Martian nightside ionospheric modeling study. Because the nightside ionosphere has very little measurements available, we propose to drop a digital ionosond instrument into the Mars surface for data collection. Even though the Martian tropospheric radio refractivity has small value, it still can cause the ray bending and multipath effects. We recommend to perform an accurate calculation on excess phase and group delays (range and time delays). Other effects, such as range rate errors, appearance angle deviation, defocusing loss on Mars, etc. are also needed to be estimated. Ice depolarization effects due to Martian clouds on radio waves is unknown yet, which is expected to be small, because lower optical depth and thinner layer of cloud: Total Martian atmospheric gaseous attenuation is expected to be less than 1 dB on microwaves band, because the Martian atmosphere has very low concentration in uncondensed H2O and O2. An accurate calculation for zenith opacity requires the information about scale heights of H2O and O2 distribution. An accurate water vapor altitude profile at Mars is not available yet. Under the normal condition, CO2 and N2 gases do not have electric or magnetic dipoles and do not absorb electromagnetic energy from the waves. However, they may generate the dipoles through a collision and interact with waves under a high density condition and absorb electromagnetic waves in the infrared and visible band. Dust storm is most dominant factor to the radio wave attenuation. Large Martian dust storm can cause at least 3 dB or higher loss to Ka band wave. For a normal dust storm, the attenuation is about 1 dB. The

Space-based Scintillation Nowcasting with the Communications/Navigation Outage Forecast System

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Groves, K.; Starks, M.; Beach, T.; Basu, S.

2008-12-01

The Air Force Research Laboratory's Communication/Navigation Outage Forecast System (C/NOFS) fuses ground- and space-based data in a near real-time physics-based model aimed at forecasting and nowcasting equatorial scintillations and their impacts on satellite communications and navigation. A key component of the system is the C/NOFS satellite that was launched into a low-inclination (13°) elliptical orbit (400 km x 850 km) in April 2008. The satellite contains six sensors to measure space environment parameters including electron density and temperature, ion density and drift, electric and magnetic fields and neutral wind, as well as a tri-band radio beacon transmitting at 150 MHz, 400 MHz and 1067 MHz. Scintillation nowcasts are derived from measuring the one-dimensional in situ electron density fluctuations and subsequently modeling the propagation environment for satellite-to-ground radio links. The modeling process requires a number of simplifying assumptions regarding the three-dimensional structure of the ionosphere and the results are readily validated by comparisons with ground-based measurements of the satellite's tri-band beacon signals. In mid-September 2008 a campaign to perform detailed analyses of space-based scintillation nowcasts with numerous ground observations was conducted in the vicinity of Kwajalein Atoll, Marshall Islands. To maximize the collection of ground-truth data, the ALTAIR radar was employed to obtain detailed information on the spatial structure of the ionosphere during the campaign and to aid the improvement of space-based nowcasting algorithms. A comparison of these results will be presented; it appears that detailed information on the electron density structure is a limiting factor in modeling the scintillation environment from in situ observations.

Comparison of the effects induced by the ordinary (O-mode) and extraordinary (X-mode) polarized powerful HF radio waves in the high-latitude ionospheric F region

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Blagoveshchenskaya, N. F.; Borisova, T. D.; Kalishin, A. S.; Kayatkin, V. N.; Yeoman, T. K.; Häggström, I.

2018-01-01

Using the results of coordinated experiments on the modification of the high-latitude ionosphere by powerful HF radio emission of the EISCAT/Heating facility, effects of the impact of powerful HF radio waves of the ordinary (O-mode) and extraordinary (X-mode) polarization on the high-latitude ionospheric F region have been compared. During the experiments, a powerful HF radio wave was emitted in the magnetic zenith direction at frequencies within the 4.5-7.9 MHz range. The effective power of the emission was 150-650 MW. The behavior and characteristics of small-scale artificial ionospheric irregularities (SAIIs) during O- and X-heating at low and high frequencies are considered in detail. A principal difference has been found in the development of the Langmuir and ion-acoustic turbulence (intensified by the heating of the plasma and ion-acoustic lines in the spectrum of the EISCAT radar of incoherent scatter of radio waves) in the O- and X-heating cycles after switching on the heating facility. It has been shown that, under the influence on the ionospheric plasma of a powerful HF radio wave of the X-polarization, intense spectral components in the spectrum of the narrow-band artificial ionospheric radio emission (ARI) were registered at distances on the order of 1200 km from the heating facility.

Diffuse Interplanetary Radio Emission (DIRE) Accompanying Type II Radio Bursts

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Teklu, T. B.; Gopalswamy, N.; Makela, P. A.; Yashiro, S.; Akiyama, S.; Xie, H.

2015-12-01

We report on an unusual drifting feature in the radio dynamic spectra at frequencies below 14 MHz observed by the Radio and Plasma Wave (WAVES) experiment on board the Wind spacecraft. We call this feature as "Diffuse Interplanetary Radio Emission (DIRE)". The DIRE events are generally associated with intense interplanetary type II radio bursts produced by shocks driven by coronal mass ejections (CMEs). DIREs drift like type II bursts in the dynamic spectra, but the drifting feature consist of a series of short-duration spikes (similar to a type I chain). DIREs occur at higher frequencies than the associated type II bursts, with no harmonic relationship with the type II burst. The onset of DIREs is delayed by several hours from the onset of the eruption. Comparing the radio dynamic spectra with white-light observations from the Solar and Heliospheric Observatory (SOHO) mission, we find that the CMEs are generally very energetic (fast and mostly halos). We suggest that the DIRE source is typically located at the flanks of the CME-driven shock that is still at lower heliocentric distances.

Modeling solar wind with boundary conditions from interplanetary scintillations

DOE PAGES

Manoharan, P.; Kim, T.; Pogorelov, N. V.; ...

2015-09-30

Interplanetary scintillations make it possible to create three-dimensional, time- dependent distributions of the solar wind velocity. Combined with the magnetic field observations in the solar photosphere, they help perform solar wind simulations in a genuinely time-dependent way. Interplanetary scintillation measurements from the Ooty Radio Astronomical Observatory in India provide directions to multiple stars and may assure better resolution of transient processes in the solar wind. In this paper, we present velocity distributions derived from Ooty observations and compare them with those obtained with the Wang-Sheeley-Arge (WSA) model. We also present our simulations of the solar wind flow from 0.1 AUmore » to 1 AU with the boundary conditions based on both Ooty and WSA data.« less

Electro-opto-mechanical radio-frequency oscillator driven by guided acoustic waves in standard single-mode fiber

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

London, Yosef; Diamandi, Hilel Hagai; Zadok, Avi

2017-04-01

An opto-electronic radio-frequency oscillator that is based on forward scattering by the guided acoustic modes of a standard single-mode optical fiber is proposed and demonstrated. An optical pump wave is used to stimulate narrowband, resonant guided acoustic modes, which introduce phase modulation to a co-propagating optical probe wave. The phase modulation is converted to an intensity signal at the output of a Sagnac interferometer loop. The intensity waveform is detected, amplified, and driven back to modulate the optical pump. Oscillations are achieved at a frequency of 319 MHz, which matches the resonance of the acoustic mode that provides the largest phase modulation of the probe wave. Oscillations at the frequencies of competing acoustic modes are suppressed by at least 40 dB. The linewidth of the acoustic resonance is sufficiently narrow to provide oscillations at a single longitudinal mode of the hybrid cavity. Competing longitudinal modes are suppressed by at least 38 dB as well. Unlike other opto-electronic oscillators, no radio-frequency filtering is required within the hybrid cavity. The frequency of oscillations is entirely determined by the fiber opto-mechanics.

First tsunami gravity wave detection in ionospheric radio occultation data

DOE PAGES

Coïsson, Pierdavide; Lognonné, Philippe; Walwer, Damian; ...

2015-05-09

After the 11 March 2011 earthquake and tsunami off the coast of Tohoku, the ionospheric signature of the displacements induced in the overlying atmosphere has been observed by ground stations in various regions of the Pacific Ocean. We analyze here the data of radio occultation satellites, detecting the tsunami-driven gravity wave for the first time using a fully space-based ionospheric observation system. One satellite of the Constellation Observing System for Meteorology, Ionosphere and Climate (COSMIC) recorded an occultation in the region above the tsunami 2.5 h after the earthquake. The ionosphere was sounded from top to bottom, thus providing themore » vertical structure of the gravity wave excited by the tsunami propagation, observed as oscillations of the ionospheric Total Electron Content (TEC). The observed vertical wavelength was about 50 km, with maximum amplitude exceeding 1 total electron content unit when the occultation reached 200 km height. We compared the observations with synthetic data obtained by summation of the tsunami-coupled gravity normal modes of the Earth/Ocean/atmosphere system, which models the associated motion of the ionosphere plasma. These results provide experimental constraints on the attenuation of the gravity wave with altitude due to atmosphere viscosity, improving the understanding of the propagation of tsunami-driven gravity waves in the upper atmosphere. They demonstrate that the amplitude of the tsunami can be estimated to within 20% by the recorded ionospheric data.« less

Scintillation measurements at Bahir Dar during the high solar activity phase of solar cycle 24

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kriegel, Martin; Jakowski, Norbert; Berdermann, Jens; Sato, Hiroatsu; Wassaie Mersha, Mogese

2017-01-01

Small-scale ionospheric disturbances may cause severe radio scintillations of signals transmitted from global navigation satellite systems (GNSSs). Consequently, small-scale plasma irregularities may heavily degrade the performance of current GNSSs such as GPS, GLONASS or Galileo. This paper presents analysis results obtained primarily from two high-rate GNSS receiver stations designed and operated by the German Aerospace Center (DLR) in cooperation with Bahir Dar University (BDU) at 11.6° N, 37.4° E. Both receivers collect raw data sampled at up to 50 Hz, from which characteristic scintillation parameters such as the S4 index are deduced. This paper gives a first overview of the measurement set-up and the observed scintillation events over Bahir Dar in 2015. Both stations are located close to one another and aligned in an east-west, direction which allows us to estimate the zonal drift velocity and spatial dimension of equatorial ionospheric plasma irregularities. Therefore, the lag times of moving electron density irregularities and scintillation patterns are derived by applying cross-correlation analysis to high-rate measurements of the slant total electron content (sTEC) along radio links between a GPS satellite and both receivers and to the associated signal power, respectively. Finally, the drift velocity is derived from the estimated lag time, taking into account the geometric constellation of both receiving antennas and the observed GPS satellites.

Large scale atmospheric waves in the Venus mesosphere as seen by the VeRa Radio Science instrument on Venus Express

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Tellmann, Silvia; Häusler, Bernd; Hinson, David P.; Tyler, G. Leonard; Andert, Thomas P.; Bird, Michael K.; Imamura, Takeshi; Pätzold, Martin; Remus, Stefan

2015-04-01

Atmospheric waves on all spatial scales play a crucial role in the redistribution of energy, momentum, and atmospheric constituent in planetary atmosphere and are thought to be involved in the development and maintenance of the atmospheric superrotation on Venus. The Venus Express Radio-Science Experiment VeRa sounded the Venus neutral atmosphere and ionosphere in Earth occultation geometry using the spacecraft radio subsystem at two coherent frequencies. Radial profiles of neutral number density, covering the altitude range 40-90 km, are then converted to vertical profiles of temperature and pressure, assuming hydrostatic equilibrium. The extensive VeRa data set enables us to study global scale atmospheric wave phenomena like thermal tides in the mesosphere and troposphere. A pronounced local time dependency of the temperature is found in the mesosphere at different altitude levels. Wave-2 structures dominate the low latitude range in the upper mesosphere while the higher latitudes show a strong wave-1 structure at the top of the cloud layer. The investigation of these wave structures provides valuable information about the energy transport in the atmosphere.

Science Priorities of the RadioAstron Space VLBI Mission

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Langston, Glen; Kardashev, N.; International Space VLBI Collaboration

2006-12-01

The main scientific goal of the RadioAstron Space VLBI mission is study of Active Galactic Nuclei (AGN), Masers and other astronomical objects with unprecedented angular resolution, up to few millionths of an arc-second. The resolution achieved with RadioAstron will allow study the following phenomena and problems: * Central engine of AGN and physical processes near super massive black holes providing an acceleration of cosmic rays size, velocity and shape of emitting region in the core, spectrum, polarization and variability of emitting components; * Cosmological models, dark matter and dark energy by studying dependence of above mentioned AGN's parameters with redshift, and by observing gravitational lensing; * Structure and dynamics of star and planets forming regions in our Galaxy and in AGN by studying maser and Mega maser radio emission; * Neutron (quark?) stars and black holes in our Galaxy, their structure and dynamics by VLBI and measurements of visibility scintillations, proper motions and parallaxes; * Structure and distribution of interstellar and interplanetary plasma by fringe visibility scintillations of pulsars; The RadioAstron mission uses the satellite SPECTR (astrophysical module), developed by Lavochkin Association of Russian Aviation and Space Agency (RASA). This module will be used in several other scientific missions. The total mass of the scientific payload is about 2500 kg, of which the unfolding parabolic 10-m radio astronomy antenna's mass is about 1500 kg, and scientific package holding the receivers, power supply, synthesizers, control units, frequency standards and data transmission radio system. The mass of the whole system (satellite and scientific payload) to be carried into orbit by the powerful "Zenit-2SB"-"Fregat-2CB" launcher is about 5000 kg. The RadioAstron project is an international collaboration between RASA and ground radio telescope facilities around the world.

Radio Counterparts of Compact Binary Mergers Detectable in Gravitational Waves: A Simulation for an Optimized Survey

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hotokezaka, K.; Nissanke, S.; Hallinan, G.; Lazio, T. J. W.; Nakar, E.; Piran, T.

2016-11-01

Mergers of binary neutron stars and black hole-neutron star binaries produce gravitational-wave (GW) emission and outflows with significant kinetic energies. These outflows result in radio emissions through synchrotron radiation. We explore the detectability of these synchrotron-generated radio signals by follow-up observations of GW merger events lacking a detection of electromagnetic counterparts in other wavelengths. We model radio light curves arising from (I) sub-relativistic merger ejecta and (II) ultra-relativistic jets. The former produce radio remnants on timescales of a few years and the latter produce γ-ray bursts in the direction of the jet and orphan-radio afterglows extending over wider angles on timescales of weeks. Based on the derived light curves, we suggest an optimized survey at 1.4 GHz with five epochs separated by a logarithmic time interval. We estimate the detectability of the radio counterparts of simulated GW-merger events to be detected by advanced LIGO and Virgo by current and future radio facilities. The detectable distances for these GW merger events could be as high as 1 Gpc. Around 20%-60% of the long-lasting radio remnants will be detectable in the case of the moderate kinetic energy of 3\\cdot {10}50 erg and a circum-merger density of 0.1 {{cm}}-3 or larger, while 5%-20% of the orphan-radio afterglows with kinetic energy of 1048 erg will be detectable. The detection likelihood increases if one focuses on the well-localizable GW events. We discuss the background noise due to radio fluxes of host galaxies and false positives arising from extragalactic radio transients and variable active galactic nuclei, and we show that the quiet radio transient sky is of great advantage when searching for the radio counterparts.

The Scintillation Prediction Observations Research Task (SPORT) Mission

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Spann, James; Swenson, Charles; Durao, Otavio; Loures, Luis; Heelis, Rod; Bishop, Rebecca; Le, Guan; Abdu, Mangalathayil; Krause, Linda; Denardin, Clezio;

Making Waves: Pirate Radio and Popular Music.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Jones, Steve

The history of pirate radio--radio broadcasts offered by unlicensed broadcasters as alternatives to licensed, commercial radio programming--is difficult to trace, both in America and the United Kingdom (UK) since mention of pirate broadcasts of a less-then-thrilling nature are rarely found. Also, until 1927, the U.S. government did not formally…

Radial distribution of compressive waves in the solar corona revealed by Akatsuki radio occultation observations

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Miyamoto, Mayu; Imamura, Takeshi; Ando, Hiroki

Radial variations of the amplitude and the energy flux of compressive waves in the solar corona were explored for the first time using a spacecraft radio occultation technique. By applying wavelet analysis to the frequency time series taken at heliocentric distances of 1.5-20.5 R{sub S} (solar radii), quasi-periodic density disturbances were detected at almost all distances. The period ranges from 100 to 2000 s. The amplitude of the fractional density fluctuation increases with distance and reaches ∼30% around 5 R{sub S} , implying that nonlinearity of the wave field is potentially important. We further estimate the wave energy flux onmore » the assumption that the observed periodical fluctuations are manifestations of acoustic waves. The energy flux increases with distance below ∼6 R{sub S} and seems to saturate above this height, suggesting that the acoustic waves do not propagate from the low corona but are generated in the extended corona, probably through nonlinear dissipation of Alfvén waves. The compressive waves should eventually dissipate through shock generation to heat the corona.« less

Interplanetary Scintillation Observations with a New Generation of Radio Telescopes: First results from the MWA

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Morgan, J. S.; Macquart, J. P.; Ekers, R.; Bisi, M. M.; Jackson, B. V.; Tokumaru, M.; Manoharan, P. K.; Chhetri, R.

2016-12-01

Interplanetary scintillation (IPS) is a phenomenon which can be used to probe both the heliospheric plasma and the structure of compact astrophysical radio sources. It is a vital tool for near-real-time monitoring of space weather. Previous IPS studies have generally relied on single concentrated collecting areas (either phased arrays or dishes). The Murchison Widefield Array (MWA) by contrast is a new-generation instrument consisting of a 128-element interferometer with an extremely wide field of view, and outstanding instantaneous imaging capability. This enables IPS studies of 1000 sources simultaneously, increasing the number of daily measurements that can be made by a factor of two or more. Here we report on progress from an ongoing IPS survey with the MWA where observations are made simultaneously at 80MHz and 150MHz. Dual-frequency observations allow solar wind velocities to be determined even with a single station, more accurately than from the analyses of a single-frequency IPS spectrum alone. Furthermore, the different refractive indices at different wavelengths leads to a lag in the cross correlation of the two frequency bands. This allows the bulk density of the outer solar corona to be probed along multiple lines of sight. We will discuss recent results and how they might be integrated into international Space Weather Prediction efforts such as the Worldwide IPS Stations (WIPSS) Network.

Low Frequency Radio-wave System for subsurface investigation

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Soldovieri, Francesco; Gennarelli, Gianluca; Kudelya, Anatoliy; Denisov, Alexander

2015-04-01

Low frequency radio-wave methods (RWM) allow subsurface investigations in terms of lithological structure characterization, detection of filtration flows of ground water, anthropogenic and natural cavities. In this contribution, we present a RWM that exploits two coils working at frequencies of few MHz as transmitting and receiving antennas. The basic principle of this inductive method is as follows. The primary alternating electromagnetic field radiated by the transmitting coil induces eddy currents in the subsurface mainly due to the conductivity anomalies. These eddy currents generate a secondary (scattered) magnetic field which overlaps to the incident magnetic field and is detected by the receiving coil. Despite the simple operation of the system, the complexity of the electromagnetic scattering phenomenon at hand must be properly modeled to achieve adequate performance. Therefore, an advanced data processing technique, belonging to the class of the inverse scattering approaches, has been developed by the authors in a full 3D geometry. The proposed method allows to deal with data collected on a scanning surface under a dipole inductive profiling (DIP) modality, where the transmitting/receiving coils are moved simultaneously with fixed offset (multi-bistatic configuration). The hardware, called Dipole Inductive Radio-wave System (DIRS), is composed by an electronic unit and transmitting and receiving loop antennas radiating at frequencies of few MHz (2-4 MHz), which are installed on theodolite supports. The compactness of DIRS and its robustness to external electromagnetic interference offers the possibility to perform geophysical research up to the depth of some tens of meters and under several types of ground and water surfaces, vegetation, and weather conditions. The light weight and small size of system (the single antenna with support weights about 5 kg and has a diameter of 0.5m) allows two operators to perform geophysical research without disturbing the

Scintillation-based Search for Off-pulse Radio Emission from Pulsars

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ravi, Kumar; Deshpande, Avinash A.

2018-05-01

We propose a new method to detect off-pulse (unpulsed and/or continuous) emission from pulsars using the intensity modulations associated with interstellar scintillation. Our technique involves obtaining the dynamic spectra, separately for on-pulse window and off-pulse region, with time and frequency resolutions to properly sample the intensity variations due to diffractive scintillation and then estimating their mutual correlation as a measure of off-pulse emission, if any. We describe and illustrate the essential details of this technique with the help of simulations, as well as real data. We also discuss the advantages of this method over earlier approaches to detect off-pulse emission. In particular, we point out how certain nonidealities inherent to measurement setups could potentially affect estimations in earlier approaches and argue that the present technique is immune to such nonidealities. We verify both of the above situations with relevant simulations. We apply this method to the observation of PSR B0329+54 at frequencies of 730 and 810 MHz made with the Green Bank Telescope and present upper limits for the off-pulse intensity at the two frequencies. We expect this technique to pave the way for extensive investigations of off-pulse emission with the help of existing dynamic spectral data on pulsars and, of course, with more sensitive long-duration data from new observations.

A theory for narrow-banded radio bursts at Uranus - MHD surface waves as an energy driver

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Farrell, W. M.; Curtis, S. A.; Desch, M. D.; Lepping, R. P.

1992-01-01

A possible scenario for the generation of the narrow-banded radio bursts detected at Uranus by the Voyager 2 planetary radio astronomy experiment is described. In order to account for the emission burstiness which occurs on time scales of hundreds of milliseconds, it is proposed that ULF magnetic surface turbulence generated at the frontside magnetopause propagates down the open/closed field line boundary and mode-converts to kinetic Alfven waves (KAW) deep within the polar cusp. The oscillating KAW potentials then drive a transient electron stream that creates the bursty radio emission. To substantiate these ideas, Voyager 2 magnetometer measurements of enhanced ULF magnetic activity at the frontside magnetopause are shown. It is demonstrated analytically that such magnetic turbulence should mode-convert deep in the cusp at a radial distance of 3 RU.

On Spatial Structuring of the F2 Layer Studied by the Satellite Radio Sounding of the Ionosphere Disturbed by High-Power HF Radio Waves

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Tereshchenko, E. D.; Turyansky, V. A.; Khudukon, B. Z.; Yurik, R. Yu.; Frolov, V. L.

2018-01-01

We present the results of studying the characteristics of the artificial plasma structures excited in the ionospheric F2 region modified by high-power HF radio waves. The experiments were carried out at the Sura heating facility using satellite radio sounding of the ionosphere. The plasma density profile was reconstructed with the highest possible spatial resolution for today, about 4 km. In a direction close to the magnetic zenith of the pump wave, the following phenomena were observed: the formation of a cavity with a 15% lower plasma density at the altitudes of the F2 layer and below; the formation of an area with plasma density increased by 12% at altitudes greater than 400 km. With a long-term quasiperiodic impact of the pump wave on the ionosphere, wavy large-scale electron-density perturbations (the meridional scale λx ≈ 130 km and the vertical scale λz ≈ 440 km) are also formed above the Sura facility. These perturbations can be due to the plasma density modulation by an artificial acoustic-gravity wave with a period of 10.6 m, which was formed by the heat source inside a large-scale cavity with low plasma density; there is generation of the electron density irregularities for the electrons with ΔNe/Ne ≈ 3% in the form of layers having the sizes 10-12 km along and about 24 km across the geomagnetic field, which are found both below and above the F2-layer maximum. The mechanisms of the formation of these plasma structures are discussed.

A multi-instrument case study of high-latitude ionospheric GNSS scintillation due to drifting plasma irregularities

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

van der Meeren, C.; Oksavik, K.; Moen, J. I.; Romano, V.

2013-12-01

For this study, GPS receiver scintillation and Total Electron Content (TEC) data from high-latitude locations on Svalbard have been combined with several other data sets, including the EISCAT Svalbard Radar (ESR) and allsky cameras, to perform a multi-instrument case study of high-latitude GPS ionospheric scintillations in relation to drifting plasma irregularities at night over Svalbard on 31 October 2011. Scintillations are rapid amplitude and phase fluctuations of electromagnetic signals. GNSS-based systems may be disturbed by ionospheric plasma irregularities and structures such as plasma patches (areas of enhanced electron density in the polar cap) and plasma gradients. When the GNSS radio signals propagate through such areas, in particular gradients, the signals experience scintillations that at best increases positioning errors and at worst may break the receiver's signal lock, potentially resulting in the GNSS receiver losing track of its position. Due to the importance of many GNSS applications, it is desirable to study the scintillation environment to understand the limitations of the GNSS systems. We find scintillation mainly localised to plasma gradients, with predominantly phase scintillation at the leading edge of patches and both phase and amplitude scintillation at the trailing edge. A single edge may also contain different scintillation types at different locations.

Satellite radio occultation investigations of internal gravity waves in the planetary atmospheres

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kirillovich, Ivan; Gubenko, Vladimir; Pavelyev, Alexander

Internal gravity waves (IGWs) modulate the structure and circulation of the Earth’s atmosphere, producing quasi-periodic variations in the wind velocity, temperature and density. Similar effects are anticipated for the Venus and Mars since IGWs are a characteristic of stably stratified atmosphere. In this context, an original method for the determination of IGW parameters from a vertical temperature profile measurement in a planetary atmosphere has been developed [Gubenko et al., 2008, 2011, 2012]. This method does not require any additional information not contained in the profile and may be used for the analysis of profiles measured by various techniques. The criterion for the IGW identification has been formulated and argued. In the case when this criterion is satisfied, the analyzed temperature fluctuations can be considered as wave-induced. The method is based on the analysis of relative amplitudes of the wave field and on the linear IGW saturation theory in which these amplitudes are restricted by dynamical (shear) instability processes in the atmosphere. When the amplitude of an internal wave reaches the shear instability threshold, energy is assumed to be dissipated in such a way that the IGW amplitude is maintained at the instability threshold level as the wave propagates upwards. We have extended the developed technique [Gubenko et al., 2008] in order to reconstruct the complete set of wave characteristics including such important parameters as the wave kinetic and potential energy per unit mass and IGW fluxes of the energy and horizontal momentum [Gubenko et al., 2011]. We propose also an alternative method to estimate the relative amplitudes and to extract IGW parameters from an analysis of perturbations of the Brunt-Vaislala frequency squared [Gubenko et al., 2011]. An application of the developed method to the radio occultation (RO) temperature data has given the possibility to identify the IGWs in the Earth's, Martian and Venusian atmospheres and

Radio Wave Propagation through a Medium Containing Electron Density Fluctuations Described by an Anisotropic Goldreich-Sridhar Spectrum

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Chandran, B. D. G.; Backer, D. C.

2002-09-01

We study the propagation of radio waves through a medium possessing density fluctuations that are elongated along the ambient magnetic field and described by an anisotropic Goldreich-Sridhar power spectrum. We derive general formulae for the wave phase structure function Dφ, visibility, angular broadening, diffraction pattern length scales, and scintillation timescale for arbitrary distributions of turbulence along the line of sight and specialize these formulae to idealized cases. In general, Dφ~(δr)5/3 when the baseline δr is in the inertial range of the turbulent density spectrum, and Dφ~(δr)2 when δr is in the dissipation range, just as for an isotropic Kolmogorov spectrum of fluctuations. When the density structures that dominate the scattering have an axial ratio R>>1 (typically R~103), the axial ratio of the broadened image of a point source in the standard Markov approximation is at most ~R1/2, and this maximum value is obtained in the unrealistic case that the scattering medium is confined to a thin screen in which the magnetic field has a single direction. If the projection of the magnetic field within the screen onto the plane of the sky rotates through an angle Δψ along the line of sight from one side of the screen to the other, and if R-1/2<<Δψ<<1, then the axial ratio of the resulting broadened image of a point source is 2(8/3)3/5/Δψ~=3.6/Δψ. The error in this formula increases with Δψ but reaches only ~15% when Δψ=π. This indicates that a moderate amount of variation in the direction of the magnetic field along the line of sight dramatically decreases the anisotropy of a broadened image. When R>>1, the observed anisotropy will in general be determined by the degree of variation of the field direction along the sight line and not by the degree of density anisotropy. Although this makes it difficult to determine observationally the degree of anisotropy in interstellar density fluctuations, observed anisotropies in broadened images

Fast scintillation counter system and performance

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Sasaki, H.; Nishioka, A.; Ohmori, N.; Kusumose, M.; Nakatsuka, T.; Horiki, T.; Hatano, Y.

1985-01-01

An experimental study of the fast scintillation counter (FS) system to observe a shower disk structure at Mt. Norikura is described, especially the system performance and a pulse wave-form by a single charge particles. The photomultiplier tube (PT) pulse appears at the leading edge of the main pulse. To remove this PT-pulse from the main pulse, the frame of the scintillator vessel was changed. The fast triggering system was made to decrease the dead time which came from the use of the function of the self triggering of the storage oscilloscope (OSC). To provide a new field on the multi-parameter study of the cosmic ray showers, the system response of the FS system also improved as a result of many considerations.

Juno Detects a Ham Radio HI from Earth

NASA Image and Video Library

2013-12-10

During its close flyby of Earth, NASA Jupiter-bound Juno spacecraft listened for a coordinated, global transmission from amateur radio operators using its radio and plasma wave science instrument, known as Waves.

Study of Radio sources and interferences detected by MEXART

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Villanueva Hernandez, P.; Gonzalez Esparza, J. A.; Carrillo, A.; Andrade, E.; Jeyacumar, S.; Kurtz, S.

2007-05-01

The Mexican Array Radio Telescope (MEXART) is a radio telescope that will perform studies of solar wind disturbances using the Interplanetary Scintillation (IPS) technique. The radiotelescope is its final calibration stage, and in this work we report two testings: the interference signals detected around the operation frequency, and the transit of the main radio sources detected by individual lines of 64 dipoles. These radio sources are: Sun, Casiopea, Crab nebula, Cygnus and Virgo. These testings allow us to know the response of the array elements in order to calibrate them. The final operation of the MEXART requires that the signal detected and transmitted by each East-West line of 64 dipoles arrives at the butler matrix (control room) with the same phase and amplitude.

A review of ionospheric effects on Earth-space propagation

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Klobuchar, J. A.

1984-01-01

A short description is given of each ionospheric total electron content (TEC) effect upon radio waves, along with a representative value of the magnitude of each of these effects under normal ionospheric conditions. A discussion is given of the important characteristics of average ionospheric TEC behavior and the temporal and spatial variability of TEC. Radio waves undergo several effects when they pass through the Earth's ionosphere. One of the most important of these effects is a retardation, or group delay, on the modulation or information carried on the radio wave that is due to its encounter with the free, thermal electrons in the Earth's ionosphere. Other effects the ionosphere has on radio waves include: radio frequency (RF) carrier phase advance; Doppler shift of the RF carrier of the radio wave; Faraday rotation of the plane of polarization of linearly polarized waves; angular refraction or bending of the radio wave path as it travels through the ionosphere; and amplitude and phase scintillations.

Application of the nudged elastic band method to the point-to-point radio wave ray tracing in IRI modeled ionosphere

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Nosikov, I. A.; Klimenko, M. V.; Bessarab, P. F.; Zhbankov, G. A.

2017-07-01

Point-to-point ray tracing is an important problem in many fields of science. While direct variational methods where some trajectory is transformed to an optimal one are routinely used in calculations of pathways of seismic waves, chemical reactions, diffusion processes, etc., this approach is not widely known in ionospheric point-to-point ray tracing. We apply the Nudged Elastic Band (NEB) method to a radio wave propagation problem. In the NEB method, a chain of points which gives a discrete representation of the radio wave ray is adjusted iteratively to an optimal configuration satisfying the Fermat's principle, while the endpoints of the trajectory are kept fixed according to the boundary conditions. Transverse displacements define the radio ray trajectory, while springs between the points control their distribution along the ray. The method is applied to a study of point-to-point ionospheric ray tracing, where the propagation medium is obtained with the International Reference Ionosphere model taking into account traveling ionospheric disturbances. A 2-dimensional representation of the optical path functional is developed and used to gain insight into the fundamental difference between high and low rays. We conclude that high and low rays are minima and saddle points of the optical path functional, respectively.

Conversion of Radio-Frequency Pulses to Continuous-Wave Sinusoids by Fast Switching and Narrowband Filtering

DTIC Science & Technology

2016-09-01

Switching and Narrowband Filtering by Gregory J Mazzaro, Andrew J Sherbondy, Kenneth I Ranney, and Kelly D Sherbondy...Switching and Narrowband Filtering by Gregory J Mazzaro, Andrew J Sherbondy, Kenneth I Ranney, and Kelly D Sherbondy Sensors and Electron Devices...08/2016 4. TITLE AND SUBTITLE Conversion of Radio-Frequency Pulses to Continuous-Wave Sinusoids by Fast Switching and Narrowband Filtering 5a

Developments in photonic and mm-wave component technology for fiber radio

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Iezekiel, Stavros

2013-01-01

A review of photonic component technology for fiber radio applications at 60 GHz will be given. We will focus on two architectures: (i) baseband-over-fiber and (ii) RF-over-fiber. In the first approach, up-conversion to 60 GHz is performed at the picocell base stations, with data being transported over fiber, while in the second both the data and rum­ wave carrier are transported over fiber. For the baseband-over-fiber scheme, we examine techniques to improve the modulation efficiency of directly­ modulated fiber links. These are based on traveling-wave structures applied to series cascades of lasers. This approach combines the improvement in differential quantum efficiency with the ability to tailor impedance matching as required. In addition, we report on various base station transceiver architectures based on optically-controlled :tvfMIC self­ oscillating mixers, and their application to 60 GHz fiber radio. This approach allows low cost optoelectronic transceivers to be used for the baseband fiber link, whilst minimizing the impact of dispersion. For the RF-over-fiber scheme, we report on schemes for optical generation of 100 GHz. These use modulation of a Mach-Zehnder modulator at Vπ bias in cascade with a Mach-Zehnder driven by 1.25 Gb/s data. One of the issues in RF-over-fiber is dispersion, while reduced modulation efficiency due to the presence of the optical carrier is also problematic. We examine the use of silicon nitride micro-ring resonators for the production of optical single sideband modulation in order to combat dispersion, and for the reduction of optical carrier power in order to improve link modulation efficiency.

Global ionospheric effects of geomagnetic storm on May 2-3, 2010 and their influence on HF radio wave propagation

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kotova, Daria; Klimenko, Maxim; Klimenko, Vladimir; Zakharov, Veniamin

2013-04-01

In this work we have investigated the global ionospheric response to geomagnetic storm on May 2-3, 2010 using GSM TIP (Global Self-consistent Model of the Thermosphere, Ionosphere and Protonosphere) simulation results. In the GSM TIP storm time model runs, several input parameters such as cross-polar cap potential difference and R2 FAC (Region 2 Field-Aligned Currents) varied as a function of the geomagnetic activity AE-index. Current simulation also uses the empirical model of high-energy particle precipitation by Zhang and Paxton. In this model, the energy and energy flux of precipitating electrons depend on a 3 hour Kp-index. We also have included the 30 min time delay of R2 FAC variations with respect to the variations of cross-polar cap potential difference. In addition, we use the ground-based ionosonde data for comparison our model results with observations. We present an analysis of the physical mechanisms responsible for the ionospheric effects of geomagnetic storms. The obtained simulation results are used by us as a medium for HF radio wave propagation at different latitudes in quiet conditions, and during main and recovery phase of a geomagnetic storm. To solve the problem of the radio wave propagation we used Zakharov's (I. Kant BFU) model based on geometric optics. In this model the solution of the eikonal equation for each of the two normal modes is reduced using the method of characteristics to the integration of the six ray equation system for the coordinates and momentum. All model equations of this system are solved in spherical geomagnetic coordinate system by the Runge-Kutta method. This model was tested for a plane wave in a parabolic layer. In this study, the complex refractive indices of the ordinary and extraordinary waves at ionospheric heights was calculated for the first time using the global first-principal model of the thermosphere-ionosphere system that describes the parameters of an inhomogeneous anisotropic medium during a

Variability of Kelvin wave momentum flux from high-resolution radiosonde and radio occultation data

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sjoberg, J. P.; Zeng, Z.; Ho, S. P.; Birner, T.; Anthes, R. A.; Johnson, R. H.

2017-12-01

Direct measurement of momentum flux from Kelvin waves in the stratosphere remains challenging. Constraining this flux from observations is an important step towards constraining the flux from models. Here we present results from analyses using linear theory to estimate the Kelvin wave amplitudes and momentum fluxes from both high-resolution radiosondes and from radio occultation (RO) data. These radiosonde data are from a contiguous 11-year span of soundings performed at two Department of Energy Atmospheric Radiation Measurement sites, while the RO data span 14 years from multiple satellite missions. Daily time series of the flux from both sources are found to be in quantitative agreement with previous studies. Climatological analyses of these data reveal the expected seasonal cycle and variability associated with the quasi-biennial oscillation. Though both data sets provide measurements on distinct spatial and temporal scales, the estimated flux from each provides insight into separate but complimentary aspects of how the Kelvin waves affect the stratosphere. Namely, flux derived from radiosonde sites provide details on the regional Kelvin wave variability, while the flux from RO data are zonal mean estimates.

Development of data communication system with ultra high frequency radio wave for implantable artificial hearts.

PubMed

Tsujimura, Shinichi; Yamagishi, Hiroto; Sankai, Yoshiyuki

2009-01-01

In order to minimize infection risks of patients with artificial hearts, wireless data transmission methods with electromagnetic induction or light have been developed. However, these methods tend to become difficult to transmit data if the external data transmission unit moves from its proper position. To resolve this serious problem, the purpose of this study is to develop a prototype wireless data communication system with ultra high frequency radio wave and confirm its performance. Due to its high-speed communication rate, low power consumption, high tolerance to electromagnetic disturbances, and secure wireless communication, we adopted Bluetooth radio wave technology for our system. The system consists of an internal data transmission unit and an external data transmission unit (53 by 64 by 16 mm, each), and each has a Bluetooth module (radio field intensity: 4 dBm, receiver sensitivity: -80 dBm). The internal unit also has a micro controller with an 8-channel 10-bit A/D converter, and the external unit also has a RS-232C converter. We experimented with the internal unit implanted into pig meat, and carried out data transmission tests to evaluate the performance of this system in tissue thickness of up to 3 mm. As a result, data transfer speeds of about 20 kbps were achieved within the communication distance of 10 m. In conclusion, we confirmed that the system can wirelessly transmit the data from the inside of the body to the outside, and it promises to resolve unstable data transmission due to accidental movements of an external data transmission unit.

Mitigating effect on turbulent scintillation using non-coherent multi-beam overlapped illumination

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zhou, Lu; Tian, Yuzhen; Wang, Rui; Wang, Tingfeng; Sun, Tao; Wang, Canjin; Yang, Xiaotian

2017-12-01

In order to find an effective method to mitigate the turbulent scintillation for applications involved laser propagation through atmosphere, we demonstrated one model using non-coherent multi-beam overlapped illumination. Based on lognormal distribution and the statistical moments of overlapped field, the reduction effect on turbulent scintillation of this method was discussed and tested against numerical wave optics simulation and laboratory experiments with phase plates. Our analysis showed that the best mitigating effect, the scintillation index of overlapped field reduced to 1/N of that when using single beam illuminating, could be obtained using this method when the intensity of N emitting beams equaled to each other.

Ionospheric Caustics in Solar Radio Observations

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Koval, A.; Chen, Y.; Stanislavsky, A.

2016-12-01

The Earth ionosphere possesses by natural focusing and defocusing effects on radio waves due to presence of variable ionospheric irregularities which could act like convergent and divergent lenses on incident radiation. In particular, the focusing of emission from the Sun was firstly detected on the Nançay Decameter Array dynamic spectra in the 1980s. On time-frequency spectrograms the intensity variations form specific structures different from well-known solar radio bursts and clearly distinguishing on a background of solar radiation. Such structures have been identified as ionospheric caustics (ICs) and considered to be the result of radio waves refraction on medium scale travelling ionospheric disturbances (MSTIDs). Although nowadays the ICs are registered by different radio observatories due to augmentation of low-frequency radio telescopes, the most recent papers devoted to ICs in solar radio records date back to the 1980s. In this study, we revisit the ICs issue with some new results by conducting a statistical analysis of occurrence rate of ICs in solar dynamic spectra in meter-decameter wavelength range for long continuous period (15 years). The seasonal variations in ICs appearance have been found for the first time. Besides, we report the possible solar cycle dependence of ICs emergence. The radio waves propagation in the ionosphere comprising MSTIDs will be considered. The present research renews the subject of ICs in the low-frequency solar radio astronomy after about 35-year letup.

Radio Jove: Citizen Science for Jupiter Radio Astronomy

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Higgins, C. A.; Thieman, J.; Reyes, F. J.; Typinski, D.; Flagg, R. F.; Greenman, W.; Brown, J.; Ashcraft, T.; Sky, J.; Cecconi, B.; Garcia, L. N.

2016-12-01

The Radio Jove Project (http://radiojove.gsfc.nasa.gov) has been operating as an educational activity for 18 years to introduce radio astronomy activities to students, teachers, and the general public. Participants may build a simple radio telescope kit, make scientific observations, and interact with radio observatories in real-time over the Internet. Recently some of our dedicated citizen science observers have upgraded their systems to better study radio emission from Jupiter and the Sun by adding dual-polarization spectrographs and wide-band antennas in the frequency range of 15-30 MHz. Some of these observations are being used in conjunction with professional telescopes such as the Long Wavelength Array (LWA), the Nancay Decametric Array, and the Ukrainian URAN2 Radio Telescope. In particular, there is an effort to support the Juno Mission radio waves instrument at Jupiter by using citizen science ground-based data for comparison and polarization verification. These data will be archived through a Virtual European Solar and Planetary Access (VESPA) archive (https://voparis-radiojove.obspm.fr/radiojove/welcome) for use by the amateur and professional radio science community. We overview the program and display recent observations that will be of interest to the science community.

Ionospheric electron heating, optical emissions, and striations induced by powerful HF radio waves at high latitudes: Aspect angle dependence

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Rietveld, M. T.; Kosch, M. J.; Blagoveshchenskaya, N. F.; Kornienko, V. A.; Leyser, T. B.; Yeoman, T. K.

2003-04-01

In recent years, large electron temperature increases of 300% (3000 K above background) caused by powerful HF-radio wave injection have been observed during nighttime using the EISCAT incoherent scatter radar near Tromsø in northern Norway. In a case study we examine the spatial structure of the modified region. The electron heating is accompanied by ion heating of about 100 degrees and magnetic field-aligned measurements show ion outflows increasing with height up to 300 m s-1 at 582 km. The electron density decreases by up to 20%. When the radar antenna was scanned between three elevations from near field-aligned to vertical, the strongest heating effects were always obtained in the field-aligned position. When the HF-pump beam was scanned between the same three positions, the heating was still almost always strongest in the field-aligned direction. Simultaneous images of the 630 nm O(1D) line in the radio-induced aurora showed that the enhancement caused by the HF radio waves also remained localized near the field-aligned position. Coherent HF radar backscatter also appeared strongest when the pump beam was pointed field-aligned. These results are similar to some Langmuir turbulence phenomena which also show a strong preference for excitation by HF rays launched in the field-aligned direction. The correlation of the position of largest temperature enhancement with the position of the radio-induced aurora suggests that a common mechanism, upper-hybrid wave turbulence, is responsible for both effects. Why the strongest heating effects occur for HF rays directed along the magnetic field is still unclear, but self-focusing on field-aligned striations is a candidate mechanism, and possibly ionospheric tilts may be important.

Non-contact radio frequency shielding and wave guiding by multi-folded transformation optics method

PubMed Central

Madni, Hamza Ahmad; Zheng, Bin; Yang, Yihao; Wang, Huaping; Zhang, Xianmin; Yin, Wenyan; Li, Erping; Chen, Hongsheng

2016-01-01

Compared with conventional radio frequency (RF) shielding methods in which the conductive coating material encloses the circuits design and the leakage problem occurs due to the gap in such conductive material, non-contact RF shielding at a distance is very promising but still impossible to achieve so far. In this paper, a multi-folded transformation optics method is proposed to design a non-contact device for RF shielding. This “open-shielded” device can shield any object at a distance from the electromagnetic waves at the operating frequency, while the object is still physically open to the outer space. Based on this, an open-carpet cloak is proposed and the functionality of the open-carpet cloak is demonstrated. Furthermore, we investigate a scheme of non-contact wave guiding to remotely control the propagation of surface waves over any obstacles. The flexibilities of such multi-folded transformation optics method demonstrate the powerfulness of the method in the design of novel remote devices with impressive new functionalities. PMID:27841358

Intuitive model for the scintillations of a partially coherent beam

DOE PAGES

Efimov, Anatoly

2014-12-23

We developed an intuitive model for the scintillation index of a partially coherent beam in which essentially the only critical parameter is the properly defined Fresnel number equal to the ratio of the “working” aperture area to the area of the Fresnel zone. The model transpired from and is supported by numerical simulations using Rytov method for weak fluctuations regime and Tatarskii turbulence spectrum with inner scale. The ratio of the scintillation index of a partially coherent beam to that of a plane wave displays a characteristic minimum, the magnitude of which and its distance from the transmitter are easilymore » explained using the intuitive model. Furthermore, a theoretical asymptotic is found for the scintillation index of a source with decreasing coherence at this minimum.« less

ON THE BRIGHTNESS AND WAITING-TIME DISTRIBUTIONS OF A TYPE III RADIO STORM OBSERVED BY STEREO/WAVES

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Eastwood, J. P.; Hudson, H. S.; Krucker, S.

2010-01-10

Type III solar radio storms, observed at frequencies below {approx}16 MHz by space-borne radio experiments, correspond to the quasi-continuous, bursty emission of electron beams onto open field lines above active regions. The mechanisms by which a storm can persist in some cases for more than a solar rotation whilst exhibiting considerable radio activity are poorly understood. To address this issue, the statistical properties of a type III storm observed by the STEREO/WAVES radio experiment are presented, examining both the brightness distribution and (for the first time) the waiting-time distribution (WTD). Single power-law behavior is observed in the number distribution asmore » a function of brightness; the power-law index is {approx}2.1 and is largely independent of frequency. The WTD is found to be consistent with a piecewise-constant Poisson process. This indicates that during the storm individual type III bursts occur independently and suggests that the storm dynamics are consistent with avalanche-type behavior in the underlying active region.« less

Blood-brain barrier disruption by continuous-wave radio frequency radiation.

PubMed

Sirav, Bahriye; Seyhan, Nesrin

2009-01-01

The increasing use of cellular phones and the increasing number of associated base stations are becoming a widespread source of non ionizing electromagnetic radiation. Some biological effects are likely to occur even at low-level EM fields. This study was designed to investigate the effects of 900 and 1,800 MHz Continuous Wave Radio Frequency Radiation (CW RFR) on the permeability of Blood Brain Barrier (BBB) of rats. Results have shown that 20 min RFR exposure of 900 and 1,800 MHz induces an effect and increases the permeability of BBB of male rats. There was no change in female rats. The scientific evidence on RFR safety or harm remains inconclusive. More studies are needed to demonstrate the effects of RFR on the permeability of BBB and the mechanisms of that breakdown.

Scintillation Counters

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bell, Zane W.

Scintillators find wide use in radiation detection as the detecting medium for gamma/X-rays, and charged and neutral particles. Since the first notice in 1895 by Roentgen of the production of light by X-rays on a barium platinocyanide screen, and Thomas Edison's work over the following 2 years resulting in the discovery of calcium tungstate as a superior fluoroscopy screen, much research and experimentation have been undertaken to discover and elucidate the properties of new scintillators. Scintillators with high density and high atomic number are prized for the detection of gamma rays above 1 MeV; lower atomic number, lower-density materials find use for detecting beta particles and heavy charged particles; hydrogenous scintillators find use in fast-neutron detection; and boron-, lithium-, and gadolinium-containing scintillators are used for slow-neutron detection. This chapter provides the practitioner with an overview of the general characteristics of scintillators, including the variation of probability of interaction with density and atomic number, the characteristics of the light pulse, a list and characteristics of commonly available scintillators and their approximate cost, and recommendations regarding the choice of material for a few specific applications. This chapter does not pretend to present an exhaustive list of scintillators and applications.

Second-Order Electromagnetic and Hydrodynamic Effects in High-Frequency Radio-Wave Scattering from the Sea

DTIC Science & Technology

1975-03-01

tions, are consistent with the available experimental data. ;;A4 - 4 -sc iii ~ C CONTENTS Page I. INTRODUCTION ................ o....... 1 A. Motivation ...the research presented here. A. Motivation Measurements at a single radio frequency [Tyler et al, 1973, 1974] have indicated that radar techniques can...where C is the wave phase velocity and 8 is the resonance angle (Fig. 24). Some motivation and justification for this assumption can be found in

Intermediate scale plasma density irregularities in the polar ionosphere inferred from radio occultation

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Shume, E. B.; Komjathy, A.; Langley, R. B.; Verkhoglyadova, O. P.; Butala, M.; Mannucci, A. J.

2014-12-01

In this research, we report intermediate scale plasma density irregularities in the high-latitude ionosphere inferred from high-resolution radio occultation (RO) measurements in the CASSIOPE (CAScade Smallsat and IOnospheric Polar Explorer) - GPS (Global Positioning System) satellites radio link. The high inclination of the CASSIOPE satellite and high rate of signal receptionby the occultation antenna of the GPS Attitude, Positioning and Profiling (GAP) instrument on the Enhanced Polar Outflow Probe platform on CASSIOPE enable a high temporal and spatial resolution investigation of the dynamics of the polar ionosphere, magnetosphere-ionospherecoupling, solar wind effects, etc. with unprecedented details compared to that possible in the past. We have carried out high spatial resolution analysis in altitude and geomagnetic latitude of scintillation-producing plasma density irregularities in the polar ionosphere. Intermediate scale, scintillation-producing plasma density irregularities, which corresponds to 2 to 40 km spatial scales were inferred by applying multi-scale spectral analysis on the RO phase delay measurements. Using our multi-scale spectral analysis approach and Polar Operational Environmental Satellites (POES) and Defense Meteorological Satellite Program (DMSP) observations, we infer that the irregularity scales and phase scintillations have distinct features in the auroral oval and polar cap regions. In specific terms, we found that large length scales and and more intense phase scintillations are prevalent in the auroral oval compared to the polar cap region. Hence, the irregularity scales and phase scintillation characteristics are a function of the solar wind and the magnetospheric forcing. Multi-scale analysis may become a powerful diagnostic tool for characterizing how the ionosphere is dynamically driven by these factors.

Echo scintillation Index affected by cat-eye target's caliber with Cassegrain lens

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Shan, Cong-miao; Sun, Hua-yan; Zhao, Yan-zhong; Zheng, Yong-hui

2015-10-01

The optical aperture of cat-eye target has the aperture averaging effect to the active detecting laser of active laser detection system, which can be used to identify optical targets. The echo scintillation characteristics of the transmission-type lens target have been studied in previous work. Discussing the differences of the echo scintillation characteristics between the transmission-type lens target and Cassegrain lens target can be helpful to targets classified. In this paper, the echo scintillation characteristics of Cat-eye target's caliber with Cassegrain lens has been discussed . By using the flashing theory of spherical wave in the weak atmospheric turbulence, the annular aperture filter function and the Kolmogorov power spectrum, the analytic expression of the scintillation index of the cat-eye target echo of the horizontal path two-way transmission was given when the light is normal incidence. Then the impact of turbulence inner and outer scale to the echo scintillation index and the analytic expression of the echo scintillation index at the receiving aperture were presented using the modified Hill spectrum and the modified Von Karman spectrum. Echo scintillation index shows the tendency of decreasing with the target aperture increases and different ratios of the inner and outer aperture diameter show the different echo scintillation index curves. This conclusion has a certain significance for target recognition in the active laser detection system that can largely determine the target type by largely determining the scope of the cat-eye target which depending on echo scintillation index.

Study of a coincident observation between the ROCSAT-1 density irregularity and Ascension Island scintillation

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Liu, Y. H.; Chao, C. K.; Su, S.-Y.; Liu, C. H.

2012-10-01

A coincident observation that occurred on 24 March 2000 between the irregularity structure measured by ROCSAT-1 and the scintillation experiment at the Ascension Island has been studied. The study of scintillation statistics is carried out first, and the results show that the Nakagami distribution can portray the normalized intensity of the L-band scintillation at various S4 values, up to S4 equal to 1.4. Moreover, the departure of frequency dependence on S4 predicted by the weak scintillation is noticed due to multiple forward scattering effects. The coincident feature between the characteristics of irregularity structure and the scintillation variation are then studied. The causal relationship between the fluctuation of ion density and the scintillation variation is obtained. A numerical simulation using the parabolic wave equation has been carried out with the ROCSAT-1 data in space to compare with the ground scintillation observation. The results show the reasonable scintillation level at the coincident time to indicate a direct relationship between the irregularity structure and the scintillation in both temporal and amplitudinal variations. Finally, some assumptions and limitations of the simulation model are discussed.

Coronal mass ejection kinematics deduced from white light (Solar Mass Ejection Imager) and radio (Wind/WAVES) observations

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Reiner, M. J.; Jackson, B. V.; Webb, D. F.; Mizuno, D. R.; Kaiser, M. L.; Bougeret, J.-L.

2005-09-01

White-light and radio observations are combined to deduce the coronal and interplanetary kinematics of a fast coronal mass ejection (CME) that was ejected from the Sun at about 1700 UT on 2 November 2003. The CME, which was associated with an X8.3 solar flare from W56°, was observed by the Mauna Loa and Solar and Heliospheric Observatory (SOHO) Large-Angle Spectrometric Coronograph (LASCO) coronagraphs to 14 R⊙. The measured plane-of-sky speed of the LASCO CME was 2600 km s-1. To deduce the kinematics of this CME, we use the plane-of-sky white light observations from both the Solar Mass Ejection Imager (SMEI) all-sky camera on board the Coriolis spacecraft and the SOHO/LASCO coronagraph, as well as the frequency drift rate of the low-frequency radio data and the results of the radio direction-finding analysis from the WAVES experiment on the Wind spacecraft. In agreement with the in situ observations for this event, we find that both the white light and radio observations indicate that the CME must have decelerated significantly beginning near the Sun and continuing well into the interplanetary medium. More specifically, by requiring self-consistency of all the available remote and in situ data, together with a simple, but not unreasonable, assumption about the general characteristic of the CME deceleration, we were able to deduce the radial speed and distance time profiles for this CME as it propagated from the Sun to 1 AU. The technique presented here, which is applicable to mutual SMEI/WAVES CME events, is expected to provide a more complete description and better quantitative understanding of how CMEs propagate through interplanetary space, as well as how the radio emissions, generated by propagating CME/shocks, relate to the shock and CME. This understanding can potentially lead to more accurate predictions for the onset times of space weather events, such as those that were observed during this unique period of intense solar activity.

A multidisciplinary study of planetary, solar and astrophysical radio emissions

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Gurnett, D. A.; Calvert, W.; Fielder, R.; Goertz, C.; Grabbe, C.; Kurth, W.; Mutel, R.; Sheerin, J.; Mellott, M.; Spangler, S.

1986-01-01

Combination of the related fields of planetary, solar, and astrophysical radio emissions was attempted in order to more fully understand the radio emission processes. Topics addressed include: remote sensing of astrophysical plasma turbulence; Alfven waves; astrophysical shock waves; surface waves; very long base interferometry results; very large array observations; solar magnetic flux; and magnetohydrodynamic waves as a tool for solar corona diagnostics.

Comparisons of COSMIC and C/NOFS GPS Occultation Ionospheric Scintillation Measurements with Ground-based Radar and VHF Measurements

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ruggiero, F. H.; Groves, K. M.; Straus, P. R.; Caton, R. G.; Starks, M. J.; Tanyi, K. L.; Verlinden, M.

2009-12-01

Ionospheric irregularities are known to cause scintillation of trans-ionospheric radio signals and can affect space-based UHF/VHF communications, causing outages, and degrading GPS accuracy and precision. Current capability for characterizing and predicting ionospheric scintillation utilizes a network of ground-based receivers to detect scintillation and then extrapolate for short-term forecasts. Practical limits on deploying the ground receivers limits the accuracy and spatial coverage one can achieve with this approach. A more global approach is to use a set of space-based satellites equipped with GPS receivers, such as the COSMIC satellite constellation, to measure scintillations observed during so-called occultations with GPS satellites. In this paper the signal-to-noise values of GPS L1 signals received on the COSMIC and C/NOFS satellites for the portions of the occultations that are not affected by the terrestrial atmosphere are examined to help identify areas of ionospheric scintillation. Three years of S4 scintillation index values from COSMIC occultations are compared with near-zenith ground-based VHF S4 scintillation measurements from the AFRL SCIntillation Network Decision Aid (SCINDA) network stations. The data are correlated to ascertain the viability of using space-based scintillation measurements to characterize and predict scintillation to ground-based receivers. Several days of COSMIC and C/NOFS data are compared with each other and the ALTAIR radar located on Kwajalein Atoll, Marshall Islands to examine how occultation geometry affects observed scintillation and also to verify techniques that provide an upper bound on the spatial location of the ionospheric irregularities contributing to scintillations observed in the occultations.

BioRadioTransmitter: a self-powered wireless glucose-sensing system.

PubMed

Hanashi, Takuya; Yamazaki, Tomohiko; Tsugawa, Wakako; Ikebukuro, Kazunori; Sode, Koji

2011-09-01

Although an enzyme fuel cell can be utilized as a glucose sensor, the output power generated is too low to power a device such as a currently available transmitter and operating system, and an external power source is required for operating an enzyme-fuel-cell-based biosensing system. We proposed a novel biosensor that we named BioCapacitor, in which a capacitor serves as a transducer. In this study, we constructed a new BioCapacitor-based system with an added radio-transmitter circuit and a miniaturized enzyme fuel cell. A miniaturized direct-electron-transfer-type compartmentless enzyme fuel cell was constructed with flavin adenine dinucleotide-dependent glucose dehydrogenase complex-based anode and a bilirubin-oxidase-based cathode. For construction of a BioRadioTransmitter wireless sensing system, a capacitor, an ultra-low-voltage charge-pump-integrated circuit, and Hartley oscillator circuit were connected to the miniaturized enzyme fuel cell. A radio-receiver circuit, comprising two field-effect transistors and a coil as an antenna, was used to amplify the signal generated from the biofuel cells. Radio wave signals generated by the BioRadioTransmitter were received, amplified, and converted from alternate to direct current by the radio receiver. When the capacitor discharges in the presence of glucose, the BioRadioTransmitter generates a radio wave, which is monitored by a radio receiver connected wirelessly to the sensing device. Magnitude of the radio wave transmission frequency change observed at the radio receiver was correlated to glucose concentration in the fuel cells. We constructed a stand-alone, self-powered, wireless glucose-sensing system called a BioRadioTransmitter by using a radio transmitter in which the radio wave transmission frequency changes with the glucose concentration in the fuel cell. The BioRadioTransmitter is a significant advance toward construction of an implantable continuous glucose monitor. © 2011 Diabetes Technology Society.

Programming an Artificial Neural Network Tool for Spatial Interpolation in GIS - A Case Study for Indoor Radio Wave Propagation of WLAN.

PubMed

Sen, Alper; Gümüsay, M Umit; Kavas, Aktül; Bulucu, Umut

2008-09-25

Wireless communication networks offer subscribers the possibilities of free mobility and access to information anywhere at any time. Therefore, electromagnetic coverage calculations are important for wireless mobile communication systems, especially in Wireless Local Area Networks (WLANs). Before any propagation computation is performed, modeling of indoor radio wave propagation needs accurate geographical information in order to avoid the interruption of data transmissions. Geographic Information Systems (GIS) and spatial interpolation techniques are very efficient for performing indoor radio wave propagation modeling. This paper describes the spatial interpolation of electromagnetic field measurements using a feed-forward back-propagation neural network programmed as a tool in GIS. The accuracy of Artificial Neural Networks (ANN) and geostatistical Kriging were compared by adjusting procedures. The feedforward back-propagation ANN provides adequate accuracy for spatial interpolation, but the predictions of Kriging interpolation are more accurate than the selected ANN. The proposed GIS ensures indoor radio wave propagation model and electromagnetic coverage, the number, position and transmitter power of access points and electromagnetic radiation level. Pollution analysis in a given propagation environment was done and it was demonstrated that WLAN (2.4 GHz) electromagnetic coverage does not lead to any electromagnetic pollution due to the low power levels used. Example interpolated electromagnetic field values for WLAN system in a building of Yildiz Technical University, Turkey, were generated using the selected network architectures to illustrate the results with an ANN.

Jupiter radio bursts and particle acceleration

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Desch, Michael D.

1994-01-01

Particle acceleration processes are important in understanding many of the Jovian radio and plasma wave emissions. However, except for the high-energy electrons that generate synchrotron emission following inward diffusion from the outer magnetosphere, acceleration processes in Jupiter's magnetosphere and between Jupiter and Io are poorly understood. We discuss very recent observations from the Ulysses spacecraft of two new Jovian radio and plamas wave emissions in which particle acceleration processes are important and have been addressed directly by complementary investigations. First, radio bursts known as quasi-periodic bursts have been observed in close association with a population of highly energetic electrons. Second, a population of much lower energy (keV range) electrons on auroral field lines can be shown to be responsible for the first observation of a Jovian plasma wave emission known as auroral hiss.

Calibration Test of an Interplanetary Scintillation Array in Mexico

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Carrillo, A.; Gonzalez-Esparza, A.; Andrade, E.; Ananthakrishnan, S.; Praveen-Kumar, A.; Balasubramanian, V.

We report the calibration test of a radiotelecope to carry out interplanetary scintillation (IPS) observations in Mexico. This will be a dedicate (24 hrs) radio array for IPS observations of nearly 1000 well know radio sources in the sky to perform solar wind studies. The IPS array is located in the state of Michoacan at 350 km north-west from Mexico City, (19'48 degrees north and 101'41 degrees west, 2000 meters above the sea level). The radiotelescope operates in 140 MHz with a bandwith of 1.5 MHz. The antenna is a planar array with 64 X 64 full wavelength dipoles along 64 east-west rows of open wire transmission lines, occupying 10,000 square meters (70 x 140 m). We report the final testings of the antenna array, the matrix Butler and receivers. This work is a collaboration between the Universidad Nacional Autonoma de Mexico (UNAM) and the National Centre for Radio Astrophysics (NCRA), India. We expect to initiate the firs IPS observations by the end of this year.

Wavelength dependence in radio-wave scattering and specular-point theory

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Tyler, G. L.

1976-01-01

Radio-wave scattering from natural surfaces contains a strong quasispecular component that at fixed wavelengths is consistent with specular-point theory, but often has a strong wavelength dependence that is not predicted by physical optics calculations under the usual limitations of specular-point models. Wavelength dependence can be introduced by a physical approximation that preserves the specular-point assumptions with respect to the radii of curvature of a fictitious, effective scattering surface obtained by smoothing the actual surface. A uniform low-pass filter model of the scattering process yields explicit results for the effective surface roughness versus wavelength. Interpretation of experimental results from planetary surfaces indicates that the asymptotic surface height spectral densities fall at least as fast as an inverse cube of spatial frequency. Asymptotic spectral densities for Mars and portions of the lunar surface evidently decrease more rapidly.

Simulations of large acoustic scintillations in the straits of Florida.

PubMed

Tang, Xin; Tappert, F D; Creamer, Dennis B

2006-12-01

Using a full-wave acoustic model, Monte Carlo numerical studies of intensity fluctuations in a realistic shallow water environment that simulates the Straits of Florida, including internal wave fluctuations and bottom roughness, have been performed. Results show that the sound intensity at distant receivers scintillates dramatically. The acoustic scintillation index SI increases rapidly with propagation range and is significantly greater than unity at ranges beyond about 10 km. This result supports a theoretical prediction by one of the authors. Statistical analyses show that the distribution of intensity of the random wave field saturates to the expected Rayleigh distribution with SI= 1 at short range due to multipath interference effects, and then SI continues to increase to large values. This effect, which is denoted supersaturation, is universal at long ranges in waveguides having lossy boundaries (where there is differential mode attenuation). The intensity distribution approaches a log-normal distribution to an excellent approximation; it may not be a universal distribution and comparison is also made to a K distribution. The long tails of the log-normal distribution cause "acoustic intermittency" in which very high, but rare, intensities occur.

Long-Range Transhorizon Lunar Surface Radio Wave Propagation in the Presence of a Regolith and a Sparse Exospheric Plasma

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Manning, Robert M.

2008-01-01

Long-range, over-the-horizon (transhorizon) radio wave propagation is considered for the case of the Moon. In the event that relay satellites are not available or otherwise unwarranted for use, transhorizon communication provides for a contingency or backup option for non line-of-sight lunar surface exploration scenarios. Two potential low-frequency propagation mechanisms characteristic of the lunar landscape are the lunar regolith and the photoelectron induced plasma exosphere enveloping the Moon. Although it was hoped that the regolith would provide for a spherical waveguide which could support a trapped surface wave phenomena, it is found that, in most cases, the regolith is deleterious to long range radio wave propagation. However, the presence of the plasma of the lunar exosphere supports wave propagation and, in fact, surpasses the attenuation of the regolith. Given the models of the regolith and exosphere adopted here, it is recommended that a frequency of 1 MHz be considered for low rate data transmission along the lunar surface. It is also recommended that further research be done to capture the descriptive physics of the regolith and the exospheric plasma so that a more complete model can be obtained. This comprehensive theoretical study is based entirely on first principles and the mathematical techniques needed are developed as required; it is self-contained and should not require the use of outside resources for its understanding.

Radio emissions from pulsar companions: a refutable explanation for galactic transients and fast radio bursts

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Mottez, F.; Zarka, P.

2014-09-01

Context. The six known highly dispersed fast radio bursts are attributed to extragalactic radio sources that are of unknown origin but extremely energetic. We propose here a new explanation that does not require an extreme release of energy and involves a body (planet, asteroid, white dwarf) orbiting an extragalactic pulsar. Aims: We investigate a theory of radio waves associated with such pulsar-orbiting bodies. We focus our analysis on the waves emitted from the magnetic wake of the body in the pulsar wind. After deriving their properties, we compare them with the observations of various transient radio signals to determine whether they could originate from pulsar-orbiting bodies. Methods: The analysis is based on the theory of Alfvén wings: for a body immersed in a pulsar wind, a system of two stationary Alfvén waves is attached to the body, provided that the wind is highly magnetised. When they are destabilised through plasma instabilities, Alfvén wings can be the locus of strong radio sources that are convected with the pulsar wind. By assuming a cyclotron maser instability operating in the Alfvén wings, we make predictions about the shape, frequencies, and brightness of the resulting radio emissions. Results: Because of the beaming by relativistic aberration, the signal is seen only when the companion is perfectly aligned between its parent pulsar and the observer, as is the case for occultations. For pulsar winds with a high Lorentz factor (≥104), the whole duration of the radio event does not exceed a few seconds, and it is composed of one to four peaks that last a few milliseconds each and are detectable up to distances of several Mpc. The Lorimer burst, the three isolated pulses of PSR J1928+15, and the recently detected fast radio bursts are all compatible with our model. According to it, these transient signals should repeat periodically with the companion's orbital period. Conclusions: The search of pulsar-orbiting bodies could be an exploration

The Radio & Plasma Wave Investigation (RPWI) for JUICE - Instrument Concept and Capabilities

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bergman, J. E. S.

2013-09-01

We present the concept and capabilities of the Radio & Plasma Waves Investigation (RPWI) instrument for the JUICE mission. The RPWI instrument provides measurements of plasma, electric- and magnetic field fluctuations from near DC up to 45 MHz. The RPWI sensors are four Langmuir probes for low temperature plasma diagnostics and electric field measurements, a three-axis searchcoil magnetometer for low-frequency magnetic field measurements, and a three-axial radio antenna, which operates from 80 kHz up to 45 MHz and thus gives RPWI remote sensing capabilities.. In addition, active mutual impedance measurements are used to diagnose the in situ plasma. The RPWI instrument is unique as it provides vector field measurements in the whole frequency range. This makes it possible to employ advanced diagnostics techniques, which are unavailable for scalar measurements. The RPWI instrument has thus outstanding new capabilities not previously available to outer planet missions, which and enables RPWI to address many fundamental planetary science objectives, such as the electrodynamic influence of the Jovian magnetosphere on the exospheres, surfaces and conducting oceans of Ganymede, Europa, and Callisto. RPWI will also be able to investigate the sources of radio emissions from auroral regions of Ganymede and Jupiter, in detail and with unprecedented sensitivity, and possibly also lightning. Moreover, RPWI can search for exhaust plumes from cracks on the icy moons, as well as μm-sized dust and related dust-plasmasurface interaction processes occurring near the icy moons of Jupiter. The top-level blockdiagram of the RPWI instrument is shown here. A detailed technical description of the RPWI instrument will be given.

Latest results of the Tunka Radio Extension

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kostunin, D.; Bezyazeekov, P. A.; Budnev, N. M.; Fedorov, O.; Gress, O. A.; Haungs, A.; Hiller, R.; Huege, T.; Kazarina, Y.; Kleifges, M.; Korosteleva, E. E.; Krömer, O.; Kungel, V.; Kuzmichev, L. A.; Lubsandorzhiev, N.; Marshalkina, T.; Mirgazov, R. R.; Monkhoev, R.; Osipova, E. A.; Pakhorukov, A.; Pankov, L.; Prosin, V. V.; Rubtsov, G. I.; Schröder, F. G.; Wischnewski, R.; Zagorodnikov, A.

2017-06-01

The Tunka Radio Extension (Tunka-Rex) is an antenna array consisting of 63 antennas at the location of the TAIGA facility (Tunka Advanced Instrument for cosmic ray physics and Gamma Astronomy) in Eastern Siberia, nearby Lake Baikal. Tunka-Rex is triggered by the air-Cherenkov array Tunka-133 during clear and moonless winter nights and by the scintillator array Tunka-Grande during the remaining time. Tunka-Rex measures the radio emission from the same air-showers as Tunka-133 and Tunka-Grande, but with a higher threshold of about 100 PeV. During the first stages of its operation, Tunka-Rex has proven, that sparse radio arrays can measure air-showers with an energy resolution of better than 15% and the depth of the shower maximum with a resolution of better than 40 g/cm2. To improve and interpret our measurements as well as to study systematic uncertainties due to interaction models, we perform radio simulations with CORSIKA and CoREAS. In this overview we present the setup of Tunka-Rex, discuss the achieved results and the prospects of mass-composition studies with radio arrays.

Wave Phenomena Associated with Interplanetary Shocks

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Golla, T.; MacDowall, R. J.

2016-12-01

Although laboratory and space-based experiments were used for the last several decades to study the collisionless shocks, several questions remain less than fully understood. These include: (1) what type of wave-particle energy dissipation is responsible for the shock formation, (2) what type of in-situ waves occur in the upstream, transition and downstream regions, and (3) which physical processes are responsible for the excitation of the fundamental and second harmonic solar type II radio emissions. In this study, we will address these issues using (1) the in situ and radio wave data obtained by the WAVES experiments of the STEREO A and B, and WIND spacecraft, especially the high time resolution data from the time domain samplers (TDS) of these WAVES experiments and (2) the Fourier, wavelet and higher order spectral analysis techniques. Using the in situ wave data, especially the high time resolution data observed during the local type II bursts, we will identify the nonlinear processes associated with these solar radio emissions. Comparing the estimated radio intensities by the known emission mechanisms for the observed peak Langmuir wave intensities with the observed peak radio intensities of type II bursts, we will identify the emission mechanisms.

Conference on the Ionosphere and Radio Wave Propagation, 3rd, University of Sydney, Australia, February 11-15, 1985, Proceedings

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Cole, D. G.; McNamara, L. F.

1985-12-01

Various papers on the ionosphere and radio wave propagation are presented. The subjects discussed include: day-to-day variability in foF2 at low latitudes over a solar cycle; semiempirical, low-latitude ionospheric model; remote sensing with the Jindalee skywave radar; photographic approach to irregularities in the 80-100 km region; interference of radio waves in a CW system; study of the F-region characteristics at Waltair; recent developments in the international reference ionosphere; research-oriented ionosonde with directional capabilities; and ionospheric forecasting for specific applications. Also addressed are: experimental and theoretical techniques for the equatorial F region; empirical models of ionospheric electron concentration; the Jindalee ionospheric sounding system; a semiempirical midlatitude ionospheric model; Es structure using an HF radar; short-term variations in f0F2 and IEC; nonreciprocity in Omega propagation observed at middle latitudes; propagation management for no acknowledge HF links; new techniques in ionospheric sounding and studies; and lunar effects in the ionospheric F region.

A Case Study of On-the-fly Wide-field Radio Imaging Applied to the Gravitational Wave Event GW151226

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Mooley, K. P.; Frail, D. A.; Myers, S. T.; Kulkarni, S. R.; Hotokezaka, K.; Singer, L. P.; Horesh, A.; Kasliwal, M. M.; Cenko, S. B.; Hallinan, G.

2018-04-01

We apply a newly developed on-the-fly mosaicing technique on the Jansky Very Large Array (VLA) at 3 GHz in order to carry out a sensitive search for an afterglow from the Advanced LIGO binary black hole merger event GW151226. In three epochs between 1.5 and 6 months post-merger, we observed a 100 deg2 region, with more than 80% of the survey region having an rms sensitivity of better than 150 μJy/beam, in the northern hemisphere with a merger containment probability of 10%. The data were processed in near real time and analyzed to search for transients and variables. No transients were found but we have demonstrated the ability to conduct blind searches in a time-frequency phase space where the predicted afterglow signals are strongest. If the gravitational wave event is contained within our survey region, the upper limit on any late-time radio afterglow from the merger event at an assumed mean distance of 440 Mpc is about 1029 erg s‑1 Hz‑1. Approximately 1.5% of the radio sources in the field showed variability at a level of 30%, and can be attributed to normal activity from active galactic nuclei. The low rate of false positives in the radio sky suggests that wide-field imaging searches at a few Gigahertz can be an efficient and competitive search strategy. We discuss our search method in the context of the recent afterglow detection from GW170817 and radio follow-up in future gravitational wave observing runs.

Coherent coupling between radio frequency, optical, and acoustic waves in piezo-optomechanical circuits

PubMed Central

Balram, Krishna C.; Davanço, Marcelo I.; Song, Jin Dong; Srinivasan, Kartik

2016-01-01

Optomechanical cavities have been studied for applications ranging from sensing to quantum information science. Here, we develop a platform for nanoscale cavity optomechanical circuits in which optomechanical cavities supporting co-localized 1550 nm photons and 2.4 GHz phonons are combined with photonic and phononic waveguides. Working in GaAs facilitates manipulation of the localized mechanical mode either with a radio frequency (RF) field through the piezo-electric effect, which produces acoustic waves that are routed and coupled to the optomechanical cavity by phononic crystal waveguides, or optically through the strong photoelastic effect. Along with mechanical state preparation and sensitive readout, we use this to demonstrate an acoustic wave interference effect, similar to atomic coherent population trapping, in which RF-driven coherent mechanical motion is cancelled by optically-driven motion. Manipulating cavity optomechanical systems with equal facility through both photonic and phononic channels enables new architectures for signal transduction between the optical, electrical, and mechanical domains. PMID:27446234

Wave propagation and earth satellite radio emission studies

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Yeh, K. C.; Liu, C. H.; Flaherty, B. J.

1974-01-01

Radio propagation studies of the ionosphere using satellite radio beacons are described. The ionosphere is known as a dispersive, inhomogeneous, irregular and sometimes even nonlinear medium. After traversing through the ionosphere the radio signal bears signatures of these characteristics. A study of these signatures will be helpful in two areas: (1) It will assist in learning the behavior of the medium, in this case the ionosphere. (2) It will provide information of the kind of signal characteristics and statistics to be expected for communication and navigational satellite systems that use the similar geometry.

Measurement of radiation damage of water-based liquid scintillator and liquid scintillator

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Bignell, L. J.; Diwan, M. V.; Hans, S.

2015-10-19

Liquid scintillating phantoms have been proposed as a means to perform real-time 3D dosimetry for proton therapy treatment plan verification. We have studied what effect radiation damage to the scintillator will have upon this application. We have performed measurements of the degradation of the light yield and optical attenuation length of liquid scintillator and water-based liquid scintillator after irradiation by 201 MeV proton beams that deposited doses of approximately 52 Gy, 300 Gy, and 800 Gy in the scintillator. Liquid scintillator and water-based liquid scintillator (composed of 5% scintillating phase) exhibit light yield reductions of 1.74 ± 0.55 % andmore » 1.31 ± 0.59 % after ≈ 800 Gy of proton dose, respectively. Some increased optical attenuation was observed in the irradiated samples, the measured reduction to the light yield is also due to damage to the scintillation light production. Based on our results and conservative estimates of the expected dose in a clinical context, a scintillating phantom used for proton therapy treatment plan verification would exhibit a systematic light yield reduction of approximately 0.1% after a year of operation.« less

The effect of plasma inhomogeneities on (i) radio emission generation by non-gyrotropic electron beams and (ii) particle acceleration by Langmuir waves

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Tsiklauri, D.

2014-12-01

Extensive particle-in-cell simulations of fast electron beams injected in a background magnetised plasma with a decreasing density profile were carried out. These simulations were intended to further shed light on a newly proposed mechanism for the generation of electromagnetic waves in type III solar radio bursts [1]. Here recent progress in an alternative to the plasma emission model using Particle-In-Cell, self-consistent electromagnetic wave emission simulations of solar type III radio bursts will be presented. In particular, (i) Fourier space drift (refraction) of non-gyrotropic electron beam-generated wave packets, caused by the density gradient [1,2], (ii) parameter space investigation of numerical runs [3], (iii) concurrent generation of whistler waves [4] and a separate problem of (iv) electron acceleration by Langmuir waves in a background magnetised plasma with an increasing density profile [5] will be discussed. In all considered cases the density inhomogeneity-induced wave refraction plays a crucial role. In the case of non-gyrotropic electron beam, the wave refaction transforms the generated wave packets from standing into freely escaping EM radiation. In the case of electron acceleration by Langmuir waves, a positive density gradient in the direction of wave propagation causes a decrease in the wavenumber, and hence a higher phase velocity vph=ω/k. The k-shifted wave is then subject to absorption by a faster electron by wave-particle interaction. The overall effect is an increased number of high energy electrons in the energy spectrum. [1] D. Tsiklauri, Phys. Plasmas 18, 052903 (2011) [2] H. Schmitz, D. Tsiklauri, Phys. Plasmas 20, 062903 (2013) [3] R. Pechhacker, D. Tsiklauri, Phys. Plasmas 19, 112903 (2012) [4] M. Skender, D. Tsiklauri, Phys. Plasmas 21, 042904 (2014) [5] R. Pechhacker, D. Tsiklauri, Phys. Plasmas 21, 012903 (2014)

Cosmology with Gravitational Wave/Fast Radio Burst Associations

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wei, Jun-Jie; Wu, Xue-Feng; Gao, He

2018-06-01

Recently, some theoretical models predicted that a small fraction of fast radio bursts (FRBs) could be associated with gravitational waves (GWs). In this Letter, we discuss the possibility of using GW/FRB association systems, if they are commonly detected in the future, as a complementary cosmic probe. We propose that upgraded standard sirens can be constructed from the joint measurements of luminosity distances D L derived from GWs and dispersion measures DMIGM derived from FRBs (i.e., the combination D L · DMIGM). Moreover, unlike the traditional standard-siren approach (i.e., the D L method) and the DMIGM method that rely on the optimization of the Hubble constant H 0, this D L · DMIGM method has the advantage of being independent of H 0. Through Monte Carlo simulations, we prove that the D L · DMIGM method is more effective for constraining cosmological parameters than D L or DMIGM separately, and that it enables us to achieve accurate multimessenger cosmology from approximately 100 GW/FRB systems. Additionally, even if GW/FRB associations do not exist, the methodology developed here can still be applied to those GWs and FRBs that occur at the same redshifts.

Subnanosecond Scintillation Detector

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Hoenk, Michael (Inventor); Hennessy, John (Inventor); Hitlin, David (Inventor)

2017-01-01

A scintillation detector, including a scintillator that emits scintillation; a semiconductor photodetector having a surface area for receiving the scintillation, wherein the surface area has a passivation layer configured to provide a peak quantum efficiency greater than 40% for a first component of the scintillation, and the semiconductor photodetector has built in gain through avalanche multiplication; a coating on the surface area, wherein the coating acts as a bandpass filter that transmits light within a range of wavelengths corresponding to the first component of the scintillation and suppresses transmission of light with wavelengths outside said range of wavelengths; and wherein the surface area, the passivation layer, and the coating are controlled to increase the temporal resolution of the semiconductor photodetector.

New Opportunities for Remote Sensing Ionospheric Irregularities by Fitting Scintillation Spectra

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Carrano, C. S.; Rino, C. L.; Groves, K. M.

2017-12-01

In a recent paper, we presented a phase screen theory for the spectrum of intensity scintillations when the refractive index irregularities follow a two-component power law [Carrano and Rino, DOI: 10.1002/2015RS005903]. More recently we have investigated the inverse problem, whereby phase screen parameters are inferred from scintillation time series. This is accomplished by fitting the spectrum of intensity fluctuations with a parametrized theoretical model using Maximum Likelihood (ML) methods. The Markov-Chain Monte-Carlo technique provides a-posteriori errors and confidence intervals. The Akaike Information Criterion (AIC) provides justification for the use of one- or two-component irregularity models. We refer to this fitting as Irregularity Parameter Estimation (IPE) since it provides a statistical description of the irregularities from the scintillations they produce. In this talk, we explore some new opportunities for remote sensing ionospheric irregularities afforded by IPE. Statistical characterization of irregularities and the plasma bubbles in which they are embedded provides insight into the development of the underlying instability. In a companion paper by Rino et al., IPE is used to interpret scintillation due to simulated EPB structure. IPE can be used to reconcile multi-frequency scintillation observations and to construct high fidelity scintillation simulation tools. In space-to-ground propagation scenarios, for which an estimate of the distance to the scattering region is available a-priori, IPE enables retrieval of zonal irregularity drift. In radio occultation scenarios, the distance to the irregularities is generally unknown but IPE enables retrieval of Fresnel frequency. A geometric model for the effective scan velocity maps Fresnel frequency to Fresnel scale, yielding the distance to the irregularities. We demonstrate this approach by geolocating irregularities observed by the CORISS instrument onboard the C/NOFS satellite.

Thin-phase screen estimates of TID effects on midlatitude transionospheric radio paths

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Reilly, Michael H.

1993-11-01

The thin-phase screen model for ionospheric irregularity perturbations to transionospheric radio propagation is redefined. It is argued that the phase screen normal should be along the line of sight (LOS) between a receiver on the ground and a space transmitter, rather than in the zenith direction at the point of intersection with the LOS, which is traditional. The model is applied to a calculation of TID strength thresholds for the occurrence of multipath and scintillation. The results are in sharp disagreement with the traditional model, which predicts thresholds lower by an order of magnitude in typical cases. Midlatitude observations of TID strengths are reviewed, and it is found that multipath thresholds can be exceeded under one or more favorable circumstances, which include frequencies below about 100 MHz, low elevation angles, winter, night, atmospheric gravity wave velocity near the magnetic field direction and away from parallel with the LOS, and low solar activity.

Visual exploration and analysis of ionospheric scintillation monitoring data: The ISMR Query Tool

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Vani, Bruno César; Shimabukuro, Milton Hirokazu; Galera Monico, João Francisco

2017-07-01

Ionospheric Scintillations are rapid variations on the phase and/or amplitude of a radio signal as it passes through ionospheric plasma irregularities. The ionosphere is a specific layer of the Earth's atmosphere located approximately between 50 km and 1000 km above the Earth's surface. As Global Navigation Satellite Systems (GNSS) - such as GPS, Galileo, BDS and GLONASS - use radio signals, these variations degrade their positioning service quality. Due to its location, Brazil is one of the places most affected by scintillation in the world. For that reason, ionosphere monitoring stations have been deployed over Brazilian territory since 2011 through cooperative projects between several institutions in Europe and Brazil. Such monitoring stations compose a network that generates a large amount of monitoring data everyday. GNSS receivers deployed at these stations - named Ionospheric Scintillation Monitor Receivers (ISMR) - provide scintillation indices and related signal metrics for available satellites dedicated to satellite-based navigation and positioning services. With this monitoring infrastructure, more than ten million observation values are generated and stored every day. Extracting the relevant information from this huge amount of data was a hard process and required the expertise of computer and geoscience scientists. This paper describes the concepts, design and aspects related to the implementation of the software that has been supporting research on ISMR data - the so-called ISMR Query Tool. Usability and other aspects are also presented via examples of application. This web based software has been designed and developed aiming to ensure insights over the huge amount of ISMR data that is fetched every day on an integrated platform. The software applies and adapts time series mining and information visualization techniques to extend the possibilities of exploring and analyzing ISMR data. The software is available to the scientific community through the

Low Frequency Radio Experiment (LORE)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Manoharan, P. K.; Naidu, Arun; Joshi, B. C.; Roy, Jayashree; Kate, G.; Pethe, Kaiwalya; Galande, Shridhar; Jamadar, Sachin; Mahajan, S. P.; Patil, R. A.

2016-03-01

In this paper, we present a case study of Low Frequency Radio Experiment (LORE) payload to probe the corona and the solar disturbances at solar offsets greater than 2 solar radii, i.e., at frequencies below 30 MHz. The LORE can be complimentary to the planned Indian solar mission, “Aditya-L1” and its other payloads as well as synergistic to ground-based interplanetary scintillation (IPS) observations, which are routinely carried out by the Ooty Radio Telescope. We discuss the baseline design and technical details of the proposed LORE and its particular suitability for providing measurements on the detailed time and frequency structure of fast drifting type-III and slow drifting type-II radio bursts with unprecedented time and frequency resolutions. We also brief the gonio-polarimetry, which is possible with better-designed antennas and state-of-the-art electronics, employing FPGAs and an intelligent data management system. These would enable us to make a wide range of studies, such as nonlinear plasma processes in the Sun-Earth distance, in-situ radio emission from coronal mass ejections (CMEs), interplanetary CME driven shocks, nature of ICMEs driving decelerating IP shocks and space weather effects of solar wind interaction regions.

Optical and Scintillation Properties of Polydimethyl-Diphenylsiloxane Based Organic Scintillators

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Quaranta, Alberto; Carturan, Sara Maria; Marchi, Tommaso; Kravchuk, Vladimir L.; Gramegna, Fabiana; Maggioni, Gianluigi; Degerlier, Meltem

2010-04-01

Polysiloxane based scintillators with high light yield have been synthesized. The polymer consists in cross-linked polydimethyl-co-diphenylsiloxane with different molar percentages of phenyl units. 2,5-diphenyl oxazole (PPO) and 2,5-bis(5-ter-butyl-2-benzoxazolyl)thiophene (BBOT) have been dispersed in the polymer as dopants. The energy transfer and scintillation capabilities have been investigated, for two different amounts of phenyl groups in the polymer network and for different concentrations of dye molecules, by means of fluorescence spectroscopy, ion beam induced luminescence (IBIL) and scintillation yield measurements with ¿ particles from an 241Am source. The luminescence features and the scintillation yields have been correlated to the composition of the scintillators.

Programming an Artificial Neural Network Tool for Spatial Interpolation in GIS - A Case Study for Indoor Radio Wave Propagation of WLAN

PubMed Central

Şen, Alper; Gümüşay, M. Ümit; Kavas, Aktül; Bulucu, Umut

2008-01-01

Wireless communication networks offer subscribers the possibilities of free mobility and access to information anywhere at any time. Therefore, electromagnetic coverage calculations are important for wireless mobile communication systems, especially in Wireless Local Area Networks (WLANs). Before any propagation computation is performed, modeling of indoor radio wave propagation needs accurate geographical information in order to avoid the interruption of data transmissions. Geographic Information Systems (GIS) and spatial interpolation techniques are very efficient for performing indoor radio wave propagation modeling. This paper describes the spatial interpolation of electromagnetic field measurements using a feed-forward back-propagation neural network programmed as a tool in GIS. The accuracy of Artificial Neural Networks (ANN) and geostatistical Kriging were compared by adjusting procedures. The feedforward back-propagation ANN provides adequate accuracy for spatial interpolation, but the predictions of Kriging interpolation are more accurate than the selected ANN. The proposed GIS ensures indoor radio wave propagation model and electromagnetic coverage, the number, position and transmitter power of access points and electromagnetic radiation level. Pollution analysis in a given propagation environment was done and it was demonstrated that WLAN (2.4 GHz) electromagnetic coverage does not lead to any electromagnetic pollution due to the low power levels used. Example interpolated electromagnetic field values for WLAN system in a building of Yildiz Technical University, Turkey, were generated using the selected network architectures to illustrate the results with an ANN. PMID:27873854

An Initial Critical Summary of Models for Predicting the Attenuation of Radio Waves by Trees

DTIC Science & Technology

1982-07-01

International Telecommunication Union, Geneva, Switzerland, 1978. 1 1Krevsky, S., "HF and VHF Radio Wave Attenuation Through Jungle and Woods ," IEEE...see Reference 7) summarized groups of measurements taken by Saxton, Trevor,𔃻 3 and IHoPetrie 1 4 in nontropical deciduous woods . In TABLE 1, the subset...a 0. 26 F0.77 (5) I ŕ 3Trevor, B., "Ultra-High-Frequency Propagation Through Woods and Underbrush," RCA Review, July 1940. 14%cPstrie, J.S. and

Scintillator material

DOEpatents

Anderson, David F.; Kross, Brian J.

1994-01-01

An improved scintillator material comprising cerium fluoride is disclosed. Cerium fluoride has been found to provide a balance of good stopping power, high light yield and short decay constant that is superior to known scintillator materials such as thallium-doped sodium iodide, barium fluoride and bismuth germanate. As a result, cerium fluoride is favorably suited for use as a scintillator material in positron emission tomography.

Scintillator material

DOEpatents

Anderson, David F.; Kross, Brian J.

1992-01-01

An improved scintillator material comprising cerium fluoride is disclosed. Cerium fluoride has been found to provide a balance of good stopping power, high light yield and short decay constant that is superior to known scintillator materials such as thallium-doped sodium iodide, barium fluoride and bismuth germanate. As a result, cerium fluoride is favorably suited for use as a scintillator material in positron emission tomography.

Scintillator material

DOEpatents

Anderson, D.F.; Kross, B.J.

1994-06-07

An improved scintillator material comprising cerium fluoride is disclosed. Cerium fluoride has been found to provide a balance of good stopping power, high light yield and short decay constant that is superior to known scintillator materials such as thallium-doped sodium iodide, barium fluoride and bismuth germanate. As a result, cerium fluoride is favorably suited for use as a scintillator material in positron emission tomography. 4 figs.

Scintillator material

DOEpatents

Anderson, D.F.; Kross, B.J.

1992-07-28

An improved scintillator material comprising cerium fluoride is disclosed. Cerium fluoride has been found to provide a balance of good stopping power, high light yield and short decay constant that is superior to known scintillator materials such as thallium-doped sodium iodide, barium fluoride and bismuth germanate. As a result, cerium fluoride is favorably suited for use as a scintillator material in positron emission tomography. 4 figs.

Mitigation of Laser Beam Scintillation in Free-Space Optical Communication Systems Through Coherence-Reducing Optical Materials

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Renner, Christoffer J.

2005-01-01

Free-space optical communication systems (also known as lasercom systems) offer several performance advantages over traditional radio frequency communication systems. These advantages include increased data rates and reduced operating power and system weight. One serious limiting factor in a lasercom system is Optical turbulence in Earth's atmosphere. This turbulence breaks up the laser beam used to transmit the information into multiple segments that interfere with each other when the beam is focused onto the receiver. This interference pattern at the receiver changes with time causing fluctuations in the received optical intensity (scintillation). Scintillation leads to intermittent losses of the signal and an overall reduction in the lasercom system's performance. Since scintillation is a coherent effect, reducing the spatial and temporal coherence of the laser beam will reduce the scintillation. Transmitting a laser beam through certain materials is thought to reduce its coherence. Materials that were tested included: sapphire, BK7 glass, fused silica and others. The spatial and temporal coherence of the laser beam was determined by examining the interference patterns (fringes) it formed when interacting with various interferometers and etalons.

Investigation of radio astronomy image processing techniques for use in the passive millimetre-wave security screening environment

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Taylor, Christopher T.; Hutchinson, Simon; Salmon, Neil A.; Wilkinson, Peter N.; Cameron, Colin D.

2014-06-01

Image processing techniques can be used to improve the cost-effectiveness of future interferometric Passive MilliMetre Wave (PMMW) imagers. The implementation of such techniques will allow for a reduction in the number of collecting elements whilst ensuring adequate image fidelity is maintained. Various techniques have been developed by the radio astronomy community to enhance the imaging capability of sparse interferometric arrays. The most prominent are Multi- Frequency Synthesis (MFS) and non-linear deconvolution algorithms, such as the Maximum Entropy Method (MEM) and variations of the CLEAN algorithm. This investigation focuses on the implementation of these methods in the defacto standard for radio astronomy image processing, the Common Astronomy Software Applications (CASA) package, building upon the discussion presented in Taylor et al., SPIE 8362-0F. We describe the image conversion process into a CASA suitable format, followed by a series of simulations that exploit the highlighted deconvolution and MFS algorithms assuming far-field imagery. The primary target application used for this investigation is an outdoor security scanner for soft-sided Heavy Goods Vehicles. A quantitative analysis of the effectiveness of the aforementioned image processing techniques is presented, with thoughts on the potential cost-savings such an approach could yield. Consideration is also given to how the implementation of these techniques in CASA might be adapted to operate in a near-field target environment. This may enable a much wider usability by the imaging community outside of radio astronomy and thus would be directly relevant to portal screening security systems in the microwave and millimetre wave bands.

Programme of Indian Centre for Space Physics using Very Low Frequency Radio Waves

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Chakrabarti, Sandip Kumar; Sasmal, Sudipta; Pal, Sujay; Kanta Maji, Surya; Ray, Suman

Indian Centre for Space Physics conducted two major VLF campaigns all over Indian Sub-continent to study the propagation effects of VLF radio waves. It made multi-receiver observations during solar eclipse. ICSP not only recorded multitudes of solar flares, it also reproduced VLF observation from ab initio calculation. ICSP extended its study to the field of earthquake predictions using signal anomalies and using case by case studies as well as statistical analysis, showed that anomalies are real and more studies are required to understand them. Using earth as a gigantic detector, it detected ionospheric perturbations due to soft gamma-ray repeaters and gamma-ray bursts.

Waves in the Mesosphere of Venus as seen by the Venus Express Radio Science Experiment VeRa

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Tellmann, Silvia; Häusler, B.; Hinson, D. P.; Tyler, G.; Andert, T. P.; Bird, M. K.; Imamura, T.; Pätzold, M.; Remus, S.

2013-10-01

The Venus Express Radio Science Experiment (VeRa) has retrieved more than 700 profiles of the mesosphere and troposphere of Venus. These profiles cover a wide range of latitudes and local times, enabling study of atmospheric wave phenomena over a range spatial scales at altitudes of 40-90 km. In addition to quasi-horizontal waves and eddies on near planetary scales, diurnally forced eddies and thermal tides, small-scale gravity waves, and turbulence play a significant role in the development and maintenance of atmospheric super-rotation. Small-scale temperature variations with vertical wavelengths of 4 km or less have wave amplitudes reaching TBD km in the stable atmosphere above the tropopause, in contrast with much weaker temperature perturbations observed in the middle cloud layer below. The strength of gravity waves increases with latitude in both hemispheres. The results suggest that convection at low latitudes and topographical forcing at high northern latitudes—possibly in combination with convection and/or Kelvin-Helmholtz instabilities—play key roles in the genesis of gravity waves. Further, thermal tides also play an important role in the mesosphere. Diurnal and semi-diurnal wave modes are observed at different latitudes and altitudes. The latitudinal and height dependence of the thermal tide modes will be investigated.

Ionospheric scintillation detection based on GPS observations, a case study over Iran

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sobhkhiz Miandehi, Sahar; Alizadeh Elizei, M. Mahdi; Schuh, Harald

2017-04-01

Global Positioning System (GPS) which is used extensively for various purposes such as navigation, surveying, remote sensing and telecommunication, is strongly affected by the earth's upper atmosphere, the ionosphere. Ionosphere is a highly variable region with complex physical characteristics in which the density of free electrons are large enough to have considerable effects on signals' propagation travelling through this dispersive medium. As GPS signals travel through the ionosphere, they may experience rapid amplitude fluctuations or unexpected phase changes. This is referred to as ionospheric scintillation. Ionospheric scintillation which is caused by small scale irregularities in the electron density, is one of the dominant propagation disturbances at radio frequency signals. These irregularities severely affect the accuracy and reliability of GPS measurements. Therefore it is necessary to investigate ionospheric scintillation and its effects on GPS observations. The focus of this paper is to detect ionospheric scintillations over Iran's region, during different periods of solar activity and to investigate these effects on GPS observations in more detail. Furthermore the effects of these irregularities on regional modeling of ionosphere over Iran is also investigated. The results show that effectiveness of this phenomenon depends on geographic location, local time and global geomagnetic storm index (kp index). The required data for this investigation are ground based measurements of permanent GPS stations over Iran, established by the National Cartographic Center of Iran (NCC).

Fast Radio Bursts

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kaspi, Victoria M.

2017-01-01

Fast Radio Bursts (FRBs) are a recently discovered phenomenon consisting of short (few ms) bursts of radio waves that have dispersion measures that strongly suggest an extragalactic and possibly cosmological origin. Current best estimates for the rate of FRBs is several thousand per sky per day at radio frequencies near 1.4 GHz. Even with so high a rate, to date, fewer than 20 FRBs have been reported, with one source showing repeated bursts. In this talk I will describe known FRB properties including what is known about the lone repeating source, as well as models for the origin of these mysterious events. I will also describe the CHIME radio telescope, currently under construction in Canada. Thanks to its great sensitivity and unprecedented field-of-view, CHIME promises major progress on FRBs.

Ionospheric scintillation studies

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Rino, C. L.; Freemouw, E. J.

1973-01-01

The diffracted field of a monochromatic plane wave was characterized by two complex correlation functions. For a Gaussian complex field, these quantities suffice to completely define the statistics of the field. Thus, one can in principle calculate the statistics of any measurable quantity in terms of the model parameters. The best data fits were achieved for intensity statistics derived under the Gaussian statistics hypothesis. The signal structure that achieved the best fit was nearly invariant with scintillation level and irregularity source (ionosphere or solar wind). It was characterized by the fact that more than 80% of the scattered signal power is in phase quadrature with the undeviated or coherent signal component. Thus, the Gaussian-statistics hypothesis is both convenient and accurate for channel modeling work.

Radioactive contamination of scintillators

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Danevich, F. A.; Tretyak, V. I.

2018-03-01

Low counting experiments (search for double β decay and dark matter particles, measurements of neutrino fluxes from different sources, search for hypothetical nuclear and subnuclear processes, low background α, β, γ spectrometry) require extremely low background of a detector. Scintillators are widely used to search for rare events both as conventional scintillation detectors and as cryogenic scintillating bolometers. Radioactive contamination of a scintillation material plays a key role to reach low level of background. Origin and nature of radioactive contamination of scintillators, experimental methods and results are reviewed. A programme to develop radiopure crystal scintillators for low counting experiments is discussed briefly.

Characteristics of atmospheric gravity waves observed using the MU (Middle and Upper atmosphere) radar and GPS (Global Positioning System) radio occultation.

PubMed

Tsuda, Toshitaka

2014-01-01

The wind velocity and temperature profiles observed in the middle atmosphere (altitude: 10-100 km) show perturbations resulting from superposition of various atmospheric waves, including atmospheric gravity waves. Atmospheric gravity waves are known to play an important role in determining the general circulation in the middle atmosphere by dynamical stresses caused by gravity wave breaking. In this paper, we summarize the characteristics of atmospheric gravity waves observed using the middle and upper atmosphere (MU) radar in Japan, as well as novel satellite data obtained from global positioning system radio occultation (GPS RO) measurements. In particular, we focus on the behavior of gravity waves in the mesosphere (50-90 km), where considerable gravity wave attenuation occurs. We also report on the global distribution of gravity wave activity in the stratosphere (10-50 km), highlighting various excitation mechanisms such as orographic effects, convection in the tropics, meteorological disturbances, the subtropical jet and the polar night jet.

Characteristics of atmospheric gravity waves observed using the MU (Middle and Upper atmosphere) radar and GPS (Global Positioning System) radio occultation

PubMed Central

TSUDA, Toshitaka

2014-01-01

The wind velocity and temperature profiles observed in the middle atmosphere (altitude: 10–100 km) show perturbations resulting from superposition of various atmospheric waves, including atmospheric gravity waves. Atmospheric gravity waves are known to play an important role in determining the general circulation in the middle atmosphere by dynamical stresses caused by gravity wave breaking. In this paper, we summarize the characteristics of atmospheric gravity waves observed using the middle and upper atmosphere (MU) radar in Japan, as well as novel satellite data obtained from global positioning system radio occultation (GPS RO) measurements. In particular, we focus on the behavior of gravity waves in the mesosphere (50–90 km), where considerable gravity wave attenuation occurs. We also report on the global distribution of gravity wave activity in the stratosphere (10–50 km), highlighting various excitation mechanisms such as orographic effects, convection in the tropics, meteorological disturbances, the subtropical jet and the polar night jet. PMID:24492645

N V Pushkov Institute of Terrestrial Magnetism, Ionosphere and Radio Wave Propagation of the Russian Academy of Sciences (IZMIRAN) yesterday, today, tomorrow

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kuznetsov, V. D.

2015-06-01

This paper describes the basic and applied research rationale for the organization of IZMIRAN and provides insight into the 75 years of the Institute's activities and development. Historically, early magnetic measurements in Russia were developed largely to meet the Navy's navigation needs and were, more generally, stimulated by the Peter the Great decrees and by the foundation of the St. Petersburg Academy of Sciences in 1724. The paper examines the roles of the early Academicians in developing geomagnetism and making magnetic measurements a common practice in Russia. The need for stable radio communications prompted ionospheric and radio wave propagation research. The advent of the space era and the 1957-1958 International Geophysical Year Project greatly impacted the development of IZMIRAN and spurred the creation of a number of geophysical research institutes throughout the country. Currently, the research topics at IZMIRAN range widely from geomagnetism to solar-terrestrial physics to the ionosphere and radio wave propagation, and its primary application areas are the study and forecast of space weather, an increasingly important determining factor in ever-expanding ground- and space-based technologies (space navigation and communications, space activities, etc.).

Full-duplex radio-over-fiber system with tunable millimeter-wave signal generation and wavelength reuse for upstream signal.

PubMed

Wang, Yiqun; Pei, Li; Li, Jing; Li, Yueqin

2017-06-10

A full-duplex radio-over-fiber system is proposed, which provides both the generation of a millimeter-wave (mm-wave) signal with tunable frequency multiplication factors (FMFs) and wavelength reuse for uplink data. A dual-driving Mach-Zehnder modulator and a phase modulator are cascaded to form an optical frequency comb. An acousto-optic tunable filter based on a uniform fiber Bragg grating (FBG-AOTF) is employed to select three target optical sidebands. Two symmetrical sidebands are chosen to generate mm waves with tunable FMFs up to 16, which can be adjusted by changing the frequency of the applied acoustic wave. The optical carrier is reused at the base station for uplink connection. FBG-AOTFs driven by two acoustic wave signals are experimentally fabricated and further applied in the proposed scheme. Results of the research indicate that the 2-Gbit/s data can be successfully transmitted over a 25-km single-mode fiber for bidirectional full-duplex channels with power penalty of less than 2.6 dB. The feasibility of the proposed scheme is verified by detailed simulations and partial experiments.

Modeling the effects of Multi-path propagation and scintillation on GPS signals

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Habash Krause, L.; Wilson, S. J.

2014-12-01

GPS signals traveling through the earth's ionosphere are affected by charged particles that often disrupt the signal and the information it carries due to "scintillation", which resembles an extra noise source on the signal. These signals are also affected by weather changes, tropospheric scattering, and absorption from objects due to multi-path propagation of the signal. These obstacles cause distortion within information and fading of the signal, which ultimately results in phase locking errors and noise in messages. In this work, we attempted to replicate the distortion that occurs in GPS signals using a signal processing simulation model. We wanted to be able to create and identify scintillated signals so we could better understand the environment that caused it to become scintillated. Then, under controlled conditions, we simulated the receiver's ability to suppress scintillation in a signal. We developed a code in MATLAB that was programmed to: 1. Create a carrier wave and then plant noise (four different frequencies) on the carrier wave, 2. Compute a Fourier transform on the four different frequencies to find the frequency content of a signal, 3. Use a filter and apply it to the Fourier transform of the four frequencies and then compute a Signal-to-noise ratio to evaluate the power (in Decibels) of the filtered signal, and 4.Plot each of these components into graphs. To test the code's validity, we used user input and data from an AM transmitter. We determined that the amplitude modulated signal or AM signal would be the best type of signal to test the accuracy of the MATLAB code due to its simplicity. This code is basic to give students the ability to change and use it to determine the environment and effects of noise on different AM signals and their carrier waves. Overall, we were able to manipulate a scenario of a noisy signal and interpret its behavior and change due to its noisy components: amplitude, frequency, and phase shift.

Using IRI and GSM TIP model results as environment for HF radio wave propagation model during the geomagnetic storm occurred on September 26-29, 2011

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kotova, D. S.; Klimenko, M. V.; Klimenko, V. V.; Zakharov, V. E.; Ratovsky, K. G.; Nosikov, I. A.; Zhao, B.

2015-11-01

This paper analyses the geomagnetic storm on September 26-29, 2011. We compare the calculation results obtained using the Global Self-consistent Model of the Thermosphere, Ionosphere and Protonosphere (GSM TIP) and IRI-2012 (Bilitza et al., 2014) model with ground-based ionosonde data of stations at different latitudes and longitudes. We examined physical mechanisms responsible for the formation of ionospheric effects during the main phase of geomagnetic storm that occurred at the rising phase of the 24th solar cycle. We used numerical results obtained from IRI-2012 and GSM TIP models as propagation environment for HF signals from an equatorial transmitter during quiet and disturbed conditions. We used the model of HF radio wave propagation developed in I. Kant Baltic Federal University (BFU) that is based on the geometrical optics approximation. We compared the obtained radio paths in quiet conditions and during the main and recovery storm phases and evaluated radio wave attenuation in different media models.

Plastic Organic Scintillator Chemistry

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Brightwell, C. R.; Temanson, E. S.; Febbraro, M. T.

2017-09-01

Due to their high light output, quick decay time, affordability, durability and ability to be molded, plastic organic scintillators are increasingly becoming a more viable method of particle detection. Since the plastic is composed entirely of single molecular chains with repeating units, scintillating properties remain stable despite changes in experimental conditions. Different scintillating plastics can be modified and tailored to suit specific experiments depending on a variety of requirements such as light output, scintillating wavelength, and PMT compatibility. The synthesis chemistry of a recent but well-known scintillating polyester, polyethylene naphthalate (PEN) will be presented to demonstrate how plastic organic scintillators can be modified for different particle detection experiments. PEN has been successfully synthesized at ORNL, and procedures are currently being investigated to modify PEN using different reactants and catalysts. The goal is to achieve a transparent scintillating plastic with an incorporated wavelength shifter in the chain that scintillates with a wavelength around 440 nm. The status of this project will be presented. This research is supported by the U. S. Department of Energy Office of Science.

FLARE-GENERATED SHOCK WAVE PROPAGATION THROUGH SOLAR CORONAL ARCADE LOOPS AND AN ASSOCIATED TYPE II RADIO BURST

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Kumar, Pankaj; Cho, Kyung-Suk; Innes, D. E., E-mail: pankaj@kasi.re.kr

2016-09-01

This paper presents multiwavelength observations of a flare-generated type II radio burst. The kinematics of the shock derived from the type II burst closely match a fast extreme ultraviolet (EUV) wave seen propagating through coronal arcade loops. The EUV wave was closely associated with an impulsive M1.0 flare without a related coronal mass ejection, and was triggered at one of the footpoints of the arcade loops in active region NOAA 12035. It was initially observed in the 335 Å images from the Atmospheric Image Assembly with a speed of ∼800 km s{sup −1} and it accelerated to ∼1490 km s{supmore » −1} after passing through the arcade loops. A fan–spine magnetic topology was revealed at the flare site. A small, confined filament eruption (∼340 km s{sup −1}) was also observed moving in the opposite direction to the EUV wave. We suggest that breakout reconnection in the fan–spine topology triggered the flare and associated EUV wave that propagated as a fast shock through the arcade loops.« less

GPS radio occultation simulation experiments for the upcoming Strateole-2 superpressure balloon campaign investigating equatorial waves

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Haase, J. S.; Cao, B.; Alexander, M. J.; Zhang, W.

2017-12-01

Deep tropical convection influences the transport of mass and momentum from the equatorial upper troposphere into the lower stratosphere through the generation and interaction of waves at a broad range of scales. The France-US collaborative Stratéole-2 project will explore equatorial waves in the tropopause region with super-pressure balloons, designed to drift on quasi-Lagrangian trajectories in the lower stratosphere. The Stratéole-2 program will launch 5 balloons from the Seychelles in the Indian Ocean in 2018-2019, and 20 balloons in 2020-2021, each with a flight duration of about 80 days. Five balloons will carry the Radio OCcultation (ROC2) instrument at 20 km altitude to execute a continuous sequence of temperature profiles on either side of the balloon trajectory to sample the equatorial wave field in three dimensions. It will also carry a micro-lidar for detecting cirrus and convective cloud tops. The goals are to describe the horizontal and vertical structure of tropical waves and their impact on cirrus formation and to investigate the relationships of waves to convective clouds. The GPS measurements quantify wave activity by providing precise estimates of balloon velocity and height perturbations due to waves and by providing refractivity profiles that are sensitive to vertical temperature fluctuations caused by waves. We present ray-tracing simulations of the propagation of GPS signals through the Earth's atmosphere, where they will be bent and delayed due to the gradient of atmospheric refractive index. European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts (ECMWF) analyses are used to construct the refractive index of the equatorial atmosphere, in which abundant atmospheric waves are present. With the known GPS signal geometry, the excess phase/Doppler are simulated that reflect the wave signatures. The resulting refractivity retrievals provide guidance for interpreting the spectral range of waves that the ROC2 instruments are most likely to reveal.

The effect of solar radio bursts on the GNSS radio occultation signals

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Yue, Xinan; Schreiner, William S.; Kuo, Ying-Hwa; Zhao, Biqiang; Wan, Weixing; Ren, Zhipeng; Liu, Libo; Wei, Yong; Lei, Jiuhou; Solomon, Stan; Rocken, Christian

2013-09-01

radio burst (SRB) is the radio wave emission after a solar flare, covering a broad frequency range, originated from the Sun's atmosphere. During the SRB occurrence, some specific frequency radio wave could interfere with the Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) signals and therefore disturb the received signals. In this study, the low Earth orbit- (LEO-) based high-resolution GNSS radio occultation (RO) signals from multiple satellites (COSMIC, CHAMP, GRACE, SAC-C, Metop-A, and TerraSAR-X) processed in University Corporation for Atmospheric Research (UCAR) were first used to evaluate the effect of SRB on the RO technique. The radio solar telescope network (RSTN) observed radio flux was used to represent SRB occurrence. An extreme case during 6 December 2006 and statistical analysis during April 2006 to September 2012 were studied. The LEO RO signals show frequent loss of lock (LOL), simultaneous decrease on L1 and L2 signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) globally during daytime, small-scale perturbations of SNR, and decreased successful retrieval percentage (SRP) for both ionospheric and atmospheric occultations during SRB occurrence. A potential harmonic band interference was identified. Either decreased data volume or data quality will influence weather prediction, climate study, and space weather monitoring by using RO data during SRB time. Statistically, the SRP of ionospheric and atmospheric occultation retrieval shows ~4% and ~13% decrease, respectively, while the SNR of L1 and L2 show ~5.7% and ~11.7% decrease, respectively. A threshold value of ~1807 SFU of 1415 MHz frequency, which can result in observable GNSS SNR decrease, was derived based on our statistical analysis.

STEREO/Waves Education and Public Outreach

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

MacDowall, R. J.; Bougeret, J.; Bale, S. D.; Goetz, K.; Kaiser, M. L.

2005-05-01

We present the education and public outreach plan and activities of the STEREO Waves (aka SWAVES) investigation. SWAVES measures radio emissions from the solar corona, interplanetary medium, and terrestrial magnetosphere, as well as in situ waves in the solar wind. In addition to the web site components that display stereo/multi-spacecraft data in a graphical form and explain the science and instruments, we will focus on the following three areas of EPO: class-room demonstrations using models of the STEREO spacecraft with battery powered radio receivers (and speakers) to illustrate spacecraft radio direction finding, teacher developed and tested class-room activities using SWAVES solar radio observations to motivate geometry and trigonometry, and sound-based delivery of characteristic radio and plasma wave events from the SWAVES web site for accessibility and esthetic reasons. Examples of each element will be demonstrated.

Synthesis of plastic scintillation microspheres: Evaluation of scintillators

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Santiago, L. M.; Bagán, H.; Tarancón, A.; Garcia, J. F.

2013-01-01

The use of plastic scintillation microspheres (PSm) appear to be an alternative to liquid scintillation for the quantification of alpha and beta emitters because it does not generate mixed wastes after the measurement (organic and radioactive). In addition to routine radionuclide determinations, PSm can be used for further applications, e.g. for usage in a continuous monitoring equipment, for measurements of samples with a high salt concentration and for an extractive scintillation support which permits the separation, pre-concentration and measurement of the radionuclides without additional steps of elution and sample preparation. However, only a few manufacturers provide PSm, and the low number of regular suppliers reduces its availability and restricts the compositions and sizes available. In this article, a synthesis method based on the extraction/evaporation methodology has been developed and successfully used for the synthesis of plastic scintillation microspheres. Seven different compositions of plastic scintillation microspheres have been synthesised; PSm1 with polystyrene, PSm2 with 2,5-Diphenyloxazol(PPO), PSm3 with p-terphenyl (pT), PSm4 with PPO and 1,4-bis(5-phenyloxazol-2-yl) (POPOP), PSm5 pT and (1,4-bis [2-methylstyryl] benzene) (Bis-MSB), PSm6 with PPO, POPOP and naphthalene and PSm7 with pT, Bis-MSB and naphthalene. The synthesised plastic scintillation microspheres have been characterised in terms of their morphology, detection capabilities and alpha/beta separation capacity. The microspheres had a median diameter of approximately 130 μm. Maximum detection efficiency values were obtained for the PSm4 composition as follows 1.18% for 3H, 51.2% for 14C, 180.6% for 90Sr/90Y and 76.7% for 241Am. Values of the SQP(E) parameter were approximately 790 for PSm4 and PSm5. These values show that the synthesised PSm exhibit good scintillation properties and that the spectra are at channel numbers higher than in commercial PSm. Finally, the addition of

Large-amplitude late-time radio variability in GRB 151027B

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Greiner, J.; Bolmer, J.; Wieringa, M.; van der Horst, A. J.; Petry, D.; Schulze, S.; Knust, F.; de Bruyn, G.; Krühler, T.; Wiseman, P.; Klose, S.; Delvaux, C.; Graham, J. F.; Kann, D. A.; Moin, A.; Nicuesa-Guelbenzu, A.; Schady, P.; Schmidl, S.; Schweyer, T.; Tanga, M.; Tingay, S.; van Eerten, H.; Varela, K.

2018-06-01

Context. Deriving physical parameters from gamma-ray burst (GRB) afterglow observations remains a challenge, even 20 years after the discovery of afterglows. The main reason for the lack of progress is that the peak of the synchrotron emission is in the sub-mm range, thus requiring radio observations in conjunction with X-ray/optical/near-infrared data in order to measure the corresponding spectral slopes and consequently remove the ambiguity with respect to slow vs. fast cooling and the ordering of the characteristic frequencies. Aims: We have embarked on a multifrequency, multi-epoch observing campaign to obtain sufficient data for a given GRB that allows us to test the simplest version of the fireball afterglow model. Methods: We observed GRB 151027B, the 1000th Swift-detected GRB, with GROND in the optical-near-IR, ALMA in the sub-millimeter, ATCA in the radio band; we combined this with public Swift/XRT X-ray data. Results: While some observations at crucial times only return upper limits or surprising features, the fireball model is narrowly constrained by our data set, and allows us to draw a consistent picture with a fully determined parameter set. Surprisingly, we find rapid, large-amplitude flux density variations in the radio band which are extreme not only for GRBs, but generally for any radio source. We interpret them as scintillation effects, though their extreme nature requires the scattering screen to be at a much smaller distance than usually assumed, multiple screens, or a combination of the two. Conclusions: The data are consistent with the simplest fireball scenario for a blast wave moving into a constant-density medium, and slow-cooling electrons. All fireball parameters are constrained at or better than a factor of 2, except for the density and the fraction of the energy in the magnetic field which has a factor of 10 uncertainty in both directions. This paper makes use of the following data: ATCA: Proposal C2955 (PI: Greiner), ALMA: ADS

Kinetic Simulations of Type II Radio Burst Emission Processes

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ganse, U.; Spanier, F. A.; Vainio, R. O.

2011-12-01

The fundamental emission process of Type II Radio Bursts has been under discussion for many decades. While analytic deliberations point to three wave interaction as the source for fundamental and harmonic radio emissions, sparse in-situ observational data and high computational demands for kinetic simulations have not allowed for a definite conclusion to be reached. A popular model puts the radio emission into the foreshock region of a coronal mass ejection's shock front, where shock drift acceleration can create eletrcon beam populations in the otherwise quiescent foreshock plasma. Beam-driven instabilities are then assumed to create waves, forming the starting point of three wave interaction processes. Using our kinetic particle-in-cell code, we have studied a number of emission scenarios based on electron beam populations in a CME foreshock, with focus on wave-interaction microphysics on kinetic scales. The self-consistent, fully kinetic simulations with completely physical mass-ratio show fundamental and harmonic emission of transverse electromagnetic waves and allow for detailled statistical analysis of all contributing wavemodes and their couplings.

Studying the evolution of a type III radio from the Sun up to 1 AU

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Mann, Gottfried; Breitling, Frank; Vocks, Christian; Fallows, Richard; Melnik, Valentin; Konovalenko, Alexander

2017-04-01

On March 16, 2016, a type III burst was observed with the ground-based radio telescopes LOFAR and URAN-2 as well as with the radiospectrometer aboard the spacecraft WIND.It started at 80 MHz at 06:37 UT and reached 50 kHz after 23 minutes. A type III burst are considered as the radio signature of an electron beam travelling from the corona into the interplanetary space. The energetic electrons carrying the beam excites Langmuir waves, which convert into radio waves by wave-particle interaction. The relationship between the drift rate and the frequency as derived from the dynamic radio spectra reveals that the velocity of the electrons generating the radio waves of the type III burst is increasing with increasing distance from the center of the Sun.

An Analysis on the TEC Variability and Ionospheric Scintillation at Los Alamos, New Mexico Derived from FORTE-Received LAPP Signals

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Huang, Z.; Roussel-Dupre, R.

2003-12-01

The total electron content (TEC) of ionosphere and its electron density irregularities (scintillation) have effects of degradation and disruption on radio signals passed between ground stations and orbiting man-made satellites. With the rapid increase in operational reliance on UHF/VHF satellite communication, it is desirable to obtain understandings of ionosphere TEC variability and scintillation characteristics to improve our ability of predicting satellite communication outages. In this work, data collected from FORTE satellite received LAPP (Los Alamos Portable Pulser) signals during 1998-2002 are used to derive TEC and ionospheric scintillation index at Los Alamos, New Mexico. To characterize in-situ TEC variability at Los Alamos, the FORTE-LAPP derived TECs are analyzed against diurnal, seasonal, solar activity, magnetic storm, and stratospheric warming. The results are also compared with the TEC estimates from the Los Alamos ionospheric transfer function (ITF) implemented with the global ionospheric models (IRI, PIM), and GPS -derived TEC maps. The FORTE-LAPP signals are also analyzed against two important measures of the effect of scintillation on broadband signals, the mean time delay and the time delay jitter. The results are used to examine coherence frequency bandwidth and compared with the predictions from a global scintillation model (WBMOD). The FORTE-LAPP analyzed and WBMOD predicted scintillation characteristics are used to investigate temporal and seasonal behavior of scintillation at Los Alamos.

A study of electron density profiles in relation to ionization sources and ground-based radio wave absorption measurements, part 1

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Gnanalingam, S.; Kane, J. A.

1973-01-01

An extensive set of ground-based measurements of the diurnal variation of medium frequency radio wave adsorption and virtual height is analyzed in terms of current understanding of the D- and lower E-region ion production and loss process. When this is done a gross discrepancy arises, the source of which is not known.

Solar radio continuum storms

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

1974-01-01

Radio noise continuum emission observed in metric and decametric wave frequencies is discussed. The radio noise is associated with actively varying sunspot groups accompanied by the S-component of microwave radio emissions. It is shown that the S-component emission in microwave frequencies generally occurs several days before the emission of the noise continuum storms of lower frequencies. It is likely that energetic electrons, 10 to 100 Kev, accelerated in association with the variation of sunspot magnetic fields, are the sources of the radio emissions. A model is considered to explain the relation of burst storms on radio noise. An analysis of the role of energetic electrons on the emissions of both noise continuum and type III burst storms is presented. It is shown that instabilities associated with the electrons and their relation to their own stabilizing effects are important in interpreting both of these storms.

Coronal Mass Ejections in September 2017 from Monitoring of Interplanetary Scintillations with the Large Phased Array of the Lebedev Institute of Physics

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Chashei, I. V.; Tyul'bashev, S. A.; Shishov, V. I.; Subaev, I. A.

2018-05-01

Results of monitoring of interplanetary scintillations with the Large Phased Array of the Pushchino Radio AstronomyObservatory at 111 MHz during a period of flare activity of the Sun in the first ten days of September 2017 are presented. Enhancements of scintillations associated with interplanetary coronal mass ejections propagating after limb flares have been recorded. The propagation velocities are estimated to be about 2000 km/s for an ejection on September 7 and about 1000 km/s for an ejection on September 6. It is shown that, during the propagation from the Sun, the lateral part of the ejections decelerates faster than its leading part. Night-time enhancements of second-timescale scintillations during periods of high geomagnetic activity have an ionospheric origin.

Twenty and thirty GHz millimeter wave experiments with the ATS-6 satellite

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Ippolito, L. J.

1976-01-01

Studies at 11 locations in the continental United States were directed at an evaluation of rain attenuation effects, scintillations, depolarization, site diversity, coherence bandwidth, and analog and digital communications techniques using the Applications Technology Satellite-6(ATS-6). In addition to direct measurements on the 20- and 30-GHz links, methods of attenuation prediction with radars, rain gages, and radiometers were developed and compared with the directly measured attenuation. Initial data results of the ATS-6 millimeter wave experiment were presented. The first section describes the experiment objectives, flight hardware, and modes of operation. The remaining six sections present papers prepared by the major participating organizations in the experiment. The papers present a comprehensive summary of the significant results of the initial 11 months of ATS-6 experiment measurements and related radiometric, radar, and radio-meteorology studies.

RadioAstron Studies of the Nearby, Turbulent Interstellar Plasma with the Longest Space-Ground Interferometer Baseline

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Smirnova, T. V.; Shishov, V. I.; Popov, M. V.; Gwinn, C. R.; Anderson, J. M.; Andrianov, A. S.; Bartel, N.; Deller, A.; Johnson, M. D.; Joshi, B. C.; Kardashev, N. S.; Karuppusamy, R.; Kovalev, Y. Y.; Kramer, M.; Soglasnov, V. A.; Zensus, J. A.; Zhuravlev, V. I.

2014-05-01

RadioAstron space-ground very long baseline interferometry observations of the pulsar B0950+08, conducted with the 10 m Space Radio Telescope in conjunction with the Arecibo 300 m telescope and the Westerbork Synthesis Radio Telescope at a frequency of 324 MHz were analyzed in order to investigate plasma inhomogeneities in the direction of this nearby pulsar. The observations were conducted at a spacecraft distance of 330,000 km, resulting in a projected baseline of 220,000 km, providing the greatest angular resolution ever achieved at meter wavelengths. Our analysis is based on fundamental behavior of structure and coherence functions. We find that the pulsar shows scintillation on two frequency scales, both much less than the observing frequency, but modulation is less than 100%. We infer that the scattering is weak, but a refracting wedge disperses the scintillation pattern. The refraction angle of this "cosmic prism" is measured as θ0 = 1.1-4.4 mas, with the refraction direction being approximately perpendicular to the observer velocity. We show that the observed parameters of scintillation effects indicate that two plasma layers lie along the line of sight to the pulsar, at distances of 4.4-16.4 pc and 26-170 pc, and traveling in different directions relative to the line of sight. Spectra of turbulence for the two layers are found to follow a power law with the indices γ1 = γ2 = 3.00 ± 0.08, significantly different from the index expected for a Kolmogorov spectrum of turbulence, γ = 11/3.

Scintillator reflective layer coextrusion

DOEpatents

Yun, Jae-Chul; Para, Adam

2001-01-01

A polymeric scintillator has a reflective layer adhered to the exterior surface thereof. The reflective layer comprises a reflective pigment and an adhesive binder. The adhesive binder includes polymeric material from which the scintillator is formed. A method of forming the polymeric scintillator having a reflective layer adhered to the exterior surface thereof is also provided. The method includes the steps of (a) extruding an inner core member from a first amount of polymeric scintillator material, and (b) coextruding an outer reflective layer on the exterior surface of the inner core member. The outer reflective layer comprises a reflective pigment and a second amount of the polymeric scintillator material.

A passive low frequency instrument for radio wave sounding the subsurface oceans of the Jovian icy moons: An instrument concept

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hartogh, P.; Ilyushin, Ya. A.

2016-10-01

Exploration of subsurface oceans on Jovian icy moons is a key issue of the icy moons' geology. Electromagnetic wave propagation is the only way to probe their icy mantles from the orbit. In the present paper, a principal concept of a passive interferometric instrument for deep sounding of the icy moons' crust is proposed. Its working principle is measuring and correlating Jupiter's radio wave emissions with reflections from the deep sub-surface of the icy moons. A number of the functional aspects of the proposed experiment are studied, in particular, impact of the wave scattering on the surface terrain on the instrument performance and digital sampling of the noisy signal. Results of the test of the laboratory prototype of the instrument are also presented in the paper.

Molecular origins of scintillation in organic scintillators (Conference Presentation)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Feng, Patrick; Mengesha, Wondwosen; Myllenbeck, Nicholas

2016-09-01

Organic-based scintillators are indispensable materials for radiation detection owing to their high sensitivity to fast neutrons, low cost, and tailorable properties. There has been a recent resurgence of interest in organic scintillators due to exciting discoveries related to neutron discrimination and gamma-ray spectroscopy, which represent capabilities previously thought not possible in these materials. I will discuss our development of crystalline and polymer-based scintillators for these applications. Structure-property relationships related to intermolecular interactions and host-guest electronic exchange will be discussed in the context of energy-transfer pathways relevant to scintillation. An emphasis will be placed on the rational design of these materials, as guided by first principles and DFT calculations. Two related topics will be discussed: 1) Incorporation of organometallic triplet-harvesting additives to plastic scintillator matrices to confer a 'two-state' (singlet and triplet) luminescence signature to different types of ionizing radiation. This approach relies upon energetic and spatial overlap between the donor and acceptor excited states for efficient electronic exchange. Key considerations also include synthetic modification of the luminescence spectra and kinetics, as well as the addition of secondary additives to increase the recombination efficiency. 2) Design of organotin-containing plastic scintillators as a route towards gamma-ray spectroscopy. Organometallic compounds were selected on the basis of distance-dependent quenching relationships, phase compatibility with the polymer matrix, and the gamma-ray cross sections. This approach is guided by molecular modeling and radiation transport modeling to achieve the highest possible detection sensitivity luminescence intensity.

The effect of plasma inhomogeneities on (i) radio emission generation by non-gyrotropic electron beams and (ii) particle acceleration by Langmuir waves

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Tsiklauri, David

2015-04-01

Extensive particle-in-cell simulations of fast electron beams injected in a background magnetised plasma with a decreasing density profile were carried out. These simulations were intended to further shed light on a newly proposed mechanism for the generation of electromagnetic waves in type III solar radio bursts [1]. Here recent progress in an alternative to the plasma emission model using Particle-In-Cell, self-consistent electromagnetic wave emission simulations of solar type III radio bursts will be presented. In particular, (i) Fourier space drift (refraction) of non-gyrotropic electron beam-generated wave packets, caused by the density gradient [1,2], (ii) parameter space investigation of numerical runs [3], (iii) concurrent generation of whistler waves [4] and a separate problem of (iv) electron acceleration by Langmuir waves in a background magnetised plasma with an increasing density profile [5] will be discussed. In all considered cases the density inhomogeneity-induced wave refraction plays a crucial role. In the case of non-gyrotropic electron beam, the wave refraction transforms the generated wave packets from standing into freely escaping EM radiation. In the case of electron acceleration by Langmuir waves, a positive density gradient in the direction of wave propagation causes a decrease in the wavenumber, and hence a higher phase velocity vph = ω/k. The k-shifted wave is then subject to absorption by a faster electron by wave-particle interaction. The overall effect is an increased number of high energy electrons in the energy spectrum. [1] D. Tsiklauri, Phys. Plasmas 18, 052903 (2011); http://dx.doi.org/10.1063/1.3590928 [2] H. Schmitz, D. Tsiklauri, Phys. Plasmas 20, 062903 (2013); http://dx.doi.org/10.1063/1.4812453 [3] R. Pechhacker, D. Tsiklauri, Phys. Plasmas 19, 112903 (2012); http://dx.doi.org/10.1063/1.4768429 [4] M. Skender, D. Tsiklauri, Phys. Plasmas 21, 042904 (2014); http://dx.doi.org/10.1063/1.4871723 [5] R. Pechhacker, D. Tsiklauri

Experimental demonstration of 24-Gb/s CAP-64QAM radio-over-fiber system over 40-GHz mm-wave fiber-wireless transmission.

PubMed

Zhang, Junwen; Yu, Jianjun; Chi, Nan; Li, Fan; Li, Xinying

2013-11-04

We propose and demonstrate a novel CAP-ROF system based on multi-level carrier-less amplitude and phase modulation (CAP) 64QAM with high spectrum efficiency for mm-wave fiber-wireless transmission. The performance of novel CAP modulation with high order QAM, for the first time, is investigated in the mm-wave fiber-wireless transmission system. One I/Q modulator is used for mm-wave generation and base-band signal modulation based on optical carrier suppression (OCS) and intensity modulation. Finally, we demonstrated a 24-Gb/s CAP-64QAM radio-over-fiber (ROF) system over 40-km stand single-mode-fiber (SMMF) and 1.5-m 38-GHz wireless transmission. The system operation factors are also experimentally investigated.

Thermal electrostatic noise and radio waves spectroscopy (SORBET) on BepiColombo/MMO/PWI

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Moncuquet, M.; Matsumoto, H.; Bougeret, J.-L.; Blomberg, L.; Issautier, K.; Kasaba, Y.; Maksimovic, M.; Meyer-Vernet, N.; Yagitani, S.; Zarka, P.

2003-04-01

The SORBET experiment is a part of the radio and Plasma Waves Instrument (PWI) onboard BepiColombo/Mercury Magnetospheric Orbiter (MMO), which include remote and in-situ measurements of wave (electromagnetic and electrostatic), for studying the structure and dynamics (regions, boundaries, acceleration, dissipation processes...) of the Hermean magnetosphere/exo-ionosphere system and its interaction with the solar wind. More specific SORBET goals are: - Mapping of (cold) electron density and temperature in the solar wind and Hermean magnetosphere and exo-ionosphere, via the technique of Quasi-Thermal Noise (QTN) spectroscopy (and also analysis of Bernstein modes and upper-hybrid emissions). The quasi-thermal noise is due to the thermal motions of the particles, which produce electrostatic fluctuations. This noise is detected by any sensitive receiver at the ports of an electric antenna immersed in a plasma and can be used to measure in-situ the plasma density, temperature and bulk velocity. The basic reason is that this noise can be formally calculated as a function of both the particle velocity distributions and the antenna geometry. So, conversely, the "spectroscopy" of this noise reveals the local plasma properties. This method is routinely used on Ulysses and Wind spacecrafts in the solar wind or in planetary magnetospheres/ionospheres (Ulysses at Jupiter, Cassini at Venus, Earth and soon at Saturn). This method has the advantage of being relatively immune to spacecraft potential and photoelectrons perturbations. These measurements will provide a fundamental input for the chemistry of cold ionized species (Na...) in Mercury's environment and for the dynamic modelling of the magnetosphere. Corresponding plasma frequencies are expected to be up to 200-300 kHz. Hence the QTN spectrum should be measured up to at least ~2 max(fpe) ~ 600 kHz. -Detection and study of Hermean radio emissions, including possible cyclotron emissions (up to ~10-20 kHz) from mildly energetic

DEMONSTRATION BULLETIN: RADIO FREQUENCY HEATING - IIT RESEARCH INSTITUTE

EPA Science Inventory

Radio frequency heating (RFH) is a process that uses electromagnetic energy generated by radio waves to heat soil in situ, thereby potentially enhancing the performance of standard soil vapor extraction (SVE) technologies. An RFH system developed by the IIT Research Institute ...

Characterizing Scintillation and Cherenkov Light in Water-Based Liquid Scintillators

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Land, Benjamin; Caravaca, Javier; Descamps, Freija; Orebi Gann, Gabriel

2016-09-01

The recent development of Water-based Liquid Scintillator (WbLS) has made it possible to produce scintillating materials with highly tunable light yields and excellent optical clarity. This allows for a straightforward combination of the directional properties of Cherenkov light with the greater energy resolution afforded by the typically brighter scintillation light which lends itself well to a broad program of neutrino physics. Here we explore the light yields and time profiles of WbLS materials in development for Theia (formerly ASDC) as measured in CheSS: our bench-top Cherenkov and scintillation separation R&D project at Berkeley Lab. This work was supported by the Laboratory Directed Research and Development Program of Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory under U.S. Department of Energy Contract No. DE-AC02-05CH11231.

Radio signature of magnetic reconnection and bi-directional shock waves in a flare-CME event on April 15, 1998

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Huang, Guang-Li

2003-03-01

A flare-CME event on April 15, 1998 is studied with data of Nobeyama Radio Polarimeters (NoRP) and Heliograph (NoRH), the radio spectrometers of Chinese National Astronomical Observatories (1.0-2.0 GHz and 2.6-2.8 GHz), and the Astrophysical Institute of Postdam (200-800 MHz), as well as the data of YOHKOH, SOHO, BATSE, and GOES. There were strong fluctuations superposed on the initial phase of the BATSE hard X-ray burst, and the radio burst at 1.0-2.0 GHz with a group of type III-like positive and negative frequency drift pairs, which may be interpreted as the process of magnetic reconnection or particle acceleration in corona. A type II-like burst with a series of pulsations at 200-800 MHz followed the maximum phase of the radio and hard X-ray burst, and slowly drifted to lower frequencies with typical zebra feature. After 10 min of that, a similar dynamic spectrum was recorded at 2.6-3.8 GHz, where the type II-like signal drifted to higher frequencies with a series of pulsations and zebra structures. The polarization sense was strongly RCP at 2.6-3.8 GHz, and weakly LCP at 1.0-2.0 GHz, which was confirmed by the observations of NoRP. The radiation mechanism of these pulsations may be caused by the electron cyclotron maser instability. The local magnetic field strength and source height are estimated based on the gyro-synchrotron second harmonic emission. The ambient plasma density is calculated from the YOHKOH/SXT data. The ratio between the electron plasma frequency and gyro-frequency is around 1.3, which corresponds to the reversal value from extraordinary mode (LCP) to ordinary mode (RCP). Moreover, both the time scale and the modularity of an individual pulse increase statistically with the increase in the burst flux, which may be explained by the acceleration process of non-thermal electrons in the shock wave-fronts propagated upward and downward. Therefore, the radio observations may provide an important signature that flare and CME are triggered

Association of corotating magnetic sector structure with Jupiters decameter-wave radio emissions

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Barrow, C. H.

1979-01-01

Chree (superposed epoch) analyses of Jupiter's decameter-wave radio emission taken from the new Thieman (1979) catalog show highly significant correlation with solar activity indicated by the geomagnetic Ap index. The correlation effects can be explained in terms of corotating interplanetary magnetic sector features. At times when the solar wind velocity is relatively low, about 300 to 350 km/s, a sector boundary can encounter the Earth and Jupiter almost simultaneously during the period immediately before opposition. After opposition this will not normally occur as the solar wind velocities necessary are too low. The correlation effects are much enhanced for the three apparitions of 1962-1964 during which a relatively stable and long-lived sector pattern was present. Chree analyses for this period indicate periodicities, approximately equal to half the solar rotation period, in the Jupiter data.

INSPIRE: A VLF Radio Project for High School Students

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Marshall, Jill A.; Pine, Bill; Taylor, William W. L.

2007-01-01

Since 1988 the Interactive NASA Space Physics Ionospheric Radio Experiment, or INSPIRE, has given students the opportunity to build research-quality VLF radio receivers and make observations of both natural and stimulated radio waves in the atmosphere. Any high school science class is eligible to join the INSPIRE volunteer observing network and…

Fluctuations of radio occultation signals in sounding the Earth's atmosphere

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kan, Valery; Gorbunov, Michael E.; Sofieva, Viktoria F.

2018-02-01

We discuss the relationships that link the observed fluctuation spectra of the amplitude and phase of signals used for the radio occultation sounding of the Earth's atmosphere, with the spectra of atmospheric inhomogeneities. Our analysis employs the approximation of the phase screen and of weak fluctuations. We make our estimates for the following characteristic inhomogeneity types: (1) the isotropic Kolmogorov turbulence and (2) the anisotropic saturated internal gravity waves. We obtain the expressions for the variances of the amplitude and phase fluctuations of radio occultation signals as well as their estimates for the typical parameters of inhomogeneity models. From the GPS/MET observations, we evaluate the spectra of the amplitude and phase fluctuations in the altitude interval from 4 to 25 km in the middle and polar latitudes. As indicated by theoretical and experimental estimates, the main contribution into the radio signal fluctuations comes from the internal gravity waves. The influence of the Kolmogorov turbulence is negligible. We derive simple relationships that link the parameters of internal gravity waves and the statistical characteristics of the radio signal fluctuations. These results may serve as the basis for the global monitoring of the wave activity in the stratosphere and upper troposphere.

Shifting scintillator neutron detector

DOEpatents

Clonts, Lloyd G; Cooper, Ronald G; Crow, Jr., Morris Lowell; Hannah, Bruce W; Hodges, Jason P; Richards, John D; Riedel, Richard A

2014-03-04

Provided are sensors and methods for detecting thermal neutrons. Provided is an apparatus having a scintillator for absorbing a neutron, the scintillator having a back side for discharging a scintillation light of a first wavelength in response to the absorbed neutron, an array of wavelength-shifting fibers proximate to the back side of the scintillator for shifting the scintillation light of the first wavelength to light of a second wavelength, the wavelength-shifting fibers being disposed in a two-dimensional pattern and defining a plurality of scattering plane pixels where the wavelength-shifting fibers overlap, a plurality of photomultiplier tubes, in coded optical communication with the wavelength-shifting fibers, for converting the light of the second wavelength to an electronic signal, and a processor for processing the electronic signal to identify one of the plurality of scattering plane pixels as indicative of a position within the scintillator where the neutron was absorbed.

Latest Observations of Interstellar Plasma Waves, Radio Emissions, and Dust Impacts from the Voyager 1 Plasma Wave Instrument

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Gurnett, D. A.

2017-12-01

Voyager 1, which is now 140 AU (Astronomical Units) from the Sun, crossed the heliopause into interstellar space in 2012 at a heliospheric radial distance of 121 AU. Since crossing the heliopause the plasma wave instrument has on several occasions detected plasma oscillations and radio emissions at or near the electron plasma frequency. The most notable of these events occurred in Oct.-Nov. 2012, April-May 2013, Feb.-Nov. 2014, and Sept.-Nov. 2015. Most recently, a very weak emission has been observed at or near the electron plasma frequency through most of 2016. These emissions are all believed to be produced by shock waves propagating into the interstellar medium from energetic solar events. The oscillation frequency of the plasma indicates that the electron density in the interstellar plasma has gradually increased from about 0.06 cm-3 near the heliopause to about 0.12 cm-3 in the most recent data. The plasma wave instrument also continues to detect impacts of what are believed to be interstellar dust grains at an impact rate of a few per year. Comparisons with Ulysses observations of similar interstellar dust near 5 AU suggest that the dust grains have sizes in the range from about 0.1 to 1 micrometer. Although the statistics are poor due to the low count rate, the dust flux observed in the outer heliosphere appears to be as much as a factor of two greater than that observed in the interstellar medium. Since the dust particles are likely to be charged, this increase in the heliosphere suggests that there may be a significant electrodynamic interaction of the dust particles with the heliospheric magnetic field.

Array analysis of electromagnetic radiation from radio transmitters for submarine communication

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Füllekrug, Martin; Mezentsev, Andrew; Watson, Robert; Gaffet, Stéphane; Astin, Ivan; Evans, Adrian

2014-12-01

The array analyses used for seismic and infrasound research are adapted and applied here to the electromagnetic radiation from radio transmitters for submarine communication. It is found that the array analysis enables a determination of the slowness and the arrival azimuth of the wave number vectors associated with the electromagnetic radiation. The array analysis is applied to measurements of ˜20-24 kHz radio waves from transmitters for submarine communication with an array of 10 radio receivers distributed over an area of ˜1 km ×1 km. The observed slowness of the observed wave number vectors range from ˜2.7 ns/m to ˜4.1 ns/m, and the deviations between the expected arrival azimuths and the observed arrival azimuths range from ˜-9.7° to ˜14.5°. The experimental results suggest that it is possible to determine the locations of radio sources from transient luminous events above thunderclouds with an array of radio receivers toward detailed investigations of the electromagnetic radiation from sprites.

A study of electron density profiles in relation to ionization sources and ground-based radio wave absorption measurements, part 2

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Gnanalingam, S.; Kane, J. A.

1975-01-01

The D-region ion production functions are used to calculate the relationship between radio wave absorption and the flux level of X-rays in the 1-8A wavelength band. In order to bring this calculation into agreement with the empirically established relationship, it was found necessary to reduce by, a factor of about 5, the Meira nitric oxide densities below 90 km.

Equatorial scintillation and systems support

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Groves, K. M.; Basu, S.; Weber, E. J.; Smitham, M.; Kuenzler, H.; Valladares, C. E.; Sheehan, R.; MacKenzie, E.; Secan, J. A.; Ning, P.; McNeill, W. J.; Moonan, D. W.; Kendra, M. J.

1997-09-01

The need to nowcast and forecast scintillation for the support of operational systems has been recently identified by the interagency National Space Weather Program. This issue is addressed in the present paper in the context of nighttime irregularities in the equatorial ionosphere that cause intense amplitude and phase scintillations of satellite signals in the VHF/UHF range of frequencies and impact satellite communication, Global Positioning System navigation, and radar systems. Multistation and multifrequency satellite scintillation observations have been used to show that even though equatorial scintillations vary in accordance with the solar cycle, the extreme day-to-day variability of unknown origin modulates the scintillation occurrence during all phases of the solar cycle. It is shown that although equatorial scintillation events often show correlation with magnetic activity, the major component of scintillation is observed during magnetically quiet periods. In view of the day-to-day variability of the occurrence and intensity of scintillating regions, their latitude extent, and their zonal motion, a regional specification and short-term forecast system based on real-time measurements has been developed. This system, named the Scintillation Network Decision Aid, consists of two latitudinally dispersed stations, each of which uses spaced antenna scintillation receiving systems to monitor 250-MHz transmissions from two longitudinally separated geostationary satellites. The scintillation index and zonal irregularity drift are processed on-line and are retrieved by a remote operator on the Internet. At the operator terminal the data are combined with an empirical plasma bubble model to generate three-dimensional maps of irregularity structures and two-dimensional outage maps for the region.

Space Weather Effects on the Dynamics of Equatorial F Region Irregularities

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bhattacharyya, A.; Basu, S.; Groves, K.; Valladares, C.; Sheehan, R.

Space weather effects on transionospheric radio waves used for navigation and communication may be divided into two categories depending on the spatial scale size of the ionospheric perturbation produced by such effects. For large-scale (> 10 km) perturbations in the ionospheric plasma density, there are changes in the excess time delay for a radio wave signal, which propagates through the ionosphere, while small scale (< 1 m) structures or irregularities in the ionosphere may give rise tok amplitude and phase scintillations on UHF/L-band radio waves, resulting in loss of data, cycle slips and loss of phase lock for signals used in communication/navigation systems. In the equatorial region, where such effects may be severe, space weather effects on the dynamics of equatorial spread F (ESF) irregularities are studied from two different angles. The first one deals with the effect of magnetic activity on the generation of ESF irregularities by helping or hindering the growth of the Rayleigh Taylor (R-T) instability in the post-sunset equatorial F region. For this purpose, spaced receiver observations of scintillations on a UHF signal transmitted from a geostationary satellite and recorded near the dip equator, are used to establish the `age' of the irregularities. This is necessary because the occurrence of scintillations, particularly in the post midnight period, may also be due to irregularities which drift into the path of the radio wave signal, after having been generated more than 3 hours before the actual observation of scintillations. In order to associate the generation of irregularities with major changes in space weather, a parameter that is a measure of random variations in irregularity drift speed is computed from spaced receiver scintillation data. A large value of this parameter is usually a signature of random variations in irregularity drift due to polarization electric fields associated with freshly generated irregularities. Once these electric fields

A Simple Radio Receiver Aids Understanding of Wireless Communication

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Straulino, S.; Orlando, A.

2012-01-01

The basic theory of radio broadcasting is discussed from an experimental point of view. First, concepts like wave modulation and tuning are explained with the use of instruments in the physics laboratory. Then, a very basic radio receiver is described and assembled, whose most important feature, like in the old "crystal radios", is the absence of…

Cosmic Extremes: Probing Energetic Transients with Radio Observations

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Denham Alexander, Kate

2018-01-01

With the advent of sensitive facilities like the Karl G. Jansky Very Large Array (VLA) and planning well underway for vastly more powerful wide-field interferometers like the Square Kilometer Array, the study of radio astrophysical transients is poised for dramatic growth. Radio observations provide a unique window into a wide variety of transient events, from gamma-ray bursts (GRBs) to supernovae to tidal disruption events (TDEs) in which a star is torn apart by a supermassive black hole. In particular, GRBs and TDEs have emerged as valuable probes of some of the most extreme physics in the Universe. In these high-energy laboratories, the longer timescale of radio emission allows for extensive followup and characterization of the event energies and the densities of surrounding material. I will present high-cadence broadband radio studies of GRB afterglows and TDEs undertaken with the goal of learning more about their physical properties, the physics underlying the formation and growth of relativistic jets and outflows, and the environments in which these events occur. Our observations confirm that only a small fraction of TDEs produce relativistic jets but reveal low-luminosity, non-relativistic outflows in two nearby TDEs, allowing us to begin constraining the bulk of the TDE population. Our GRB radio observations reveal both intrinsic variability (reverse shocks) and extrinsic variability (interstellar scintillation). The insights derived from these studies will be invaluable for designing and interpreting the results from future radio transient surveys.

Scintillator Design Via Codoping

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Melcher, C. L.; Koschan, M.; Zhuravleva, M.; Wu, Y.; Rothfuss, H.; Meng, F.; Tyagi, M.; Donnald, S.; Yang, K.; Hayward, J. P.; Eriksson, L.

Scintillation materials that lack intrinsic luminescence centers must be doped with optically active ions in order to provide luminescent centers that radiatively de-excite as the final step of the scintillation process. Codoping, on the other hand, can be defined as the incorporation of additional specific impurity species usually for the purpose of modifying the scintillation properties, mechanical properties, or the crystal growth behavior. In recent years codoping has become an increasingly popular approach for engineering scintillators with optimal performance for targeted applications. This report reviews several successful examples and its effect on specific properties.

PLASTIC SCINTILLATOR FOR RADIATION DOSIMETRY.

PubMed

Kim, Yewon; Yoo, Hyunjun; Kim, Chankyu; Lim, Kyung Taek; Moon, Myungkook; Kim, Jongyul; Cho, Gyuseong

2016-09-01

Inorganic scintillators, composed of high-atomic-number materials such as the CsI(Tl) scintillator, are commonly used in commercially available a silicon diode and a scintillator embedded indirect-type electronic personal dosimeters because the light yield of the inorganic scintillator is higher than that of an organic scintillator. However, when it comes to tissue-equivalent dose measurements, a plastic scintillator such as polyvinyl toluene (PVT) is a more appropriate material than an inorganic scintillator because of the mass energy absorption coefficient. To verify the difference in the absorbed doses for each scintillator, absorbed doses from the energy spectrum and the calculated absorbed dose were compared. From the results, the absorbed dose of the plastic scintillator was almost the same as that of the tissue for the overall photon energy. However, in the case of CsI, it was similar to that of the tissue only for a photon energy from 500 to 4000 keV. Thus, the values and tendency of the mass energy absorption coefficient of the PVT are much more similar to those of human tissue than those of the CsI. © The Author 2015. Published by Oxford University Press. All rights reserved. For Permissions, please email: journals.permissions@oup.com.

Project Radio JOVE: Hands-On Radio Astronomy for the Classroom

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Thieman, J. R.; Higgins, C. A.

2000-10-01

Radio Jove is a relatively new educational project to involve secondary school students in collecting and analyzing observations of the natural radio emissions of the planet Jupiter and the Sun. Participating students get hands-on experience in gathering and working with space science data. They obtain the data by either building a radio receiver and antenna and making observations with their equipment, or by remotely using professional radio telescopes through the web. They can then compare their results with other schools who had also observed and come to conclusions concerning the nature of the radio sources and how the radio waves propagate to Earth. Thus, they fully follow the method of scientific inquiry used by radio astronomers to study our solar system. (National Science Content Standard A: Science as Inquiry) More than 200 kits have been distributed thus far to schools and individuals as a result of the project. With the coming Cassini flyby of Jupiter we will be advocating a campaign in which many of the schools involved in the project will be observing at times of scientific interest. While Galileo and Cassini are monitoring Jovian radio emissions at lower frequencies, the schools will be observing at frequencies of 20.1 MHz (kit-based observations) or the frequencies available through the professional radio telescopes connected on-line. The aim will be to get a thorough picture of the levels of activity at Jupiter during the flyby period and how the radio signals are received at different observing stations around the world. An archive of observations submitted by the schools will be maintained at Goddard Space Flight Center and there will also be an archive of the professional telescopes data at the University of Florida. We hope that many students will have the feeling of being a part of the planetary exploration program as a result.

Extruded plastic scintillator including inorganic powders

DOEpatents

Bross, Alan D.; Mellott, Kerry L.; Pla-Dalmau, Anna

2006-06-27

A method for producing a plastic scintillator is disclosed. A plurality of nano-sized particles and one or more dopants can be combined with a plastic material for the formation of a plastic scintillator thereof. The nano-sized particles, the dopant and the plastic material can be combined within the dry inert atmosphere of an extruder to produce a reaction that results in the formation of a plastic scintillator thereof and the deposition of energy within the plastic scintillator, such that the plastic scintillator produces light signifying the detection of a radiative element. The nano-sized particles can be treated with an inert gas prior to processing the nano-sized particles, the dopant and the plastic material utilizing the extruder. The plastic scintillator can be a neutron-sensitive scintillator, x-ray sensitive scintillator and/or a scintillator for the detection of minimum ionizing particles.

RadioAstron space-ground interferometer at 324 MHz: interstellar plasma in the direction to PSR B1919+21

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Smirnova, Tatiana; Andrianov, Andrey; Shishov, Vladimir

We present results obtained from analysis of our observations carried out on the space-ground interferometer RadioAstron at frequency of 324 MHz. Observations were conducted on 04.07.12 with a baseline projection of 60000 km. We used two ground telescopes: GBT and WSRT with the space radio telescope (SRT). Notable visibility amplitudes were detected at all baseline projections. We found that frequency structure of interstellar scintillation for pulsar B1919+21 is defined by angular refraction with refractive angle: θref ≈ 60 mas. Cosmic prism is located near to observer with a distance of about 10 pc. The scattering angle is resolved by cosmic interferometer and θsc is about 1 mas. The temporal structure of scintillation is mainly defined by interstellar plasma of extended media, but frequency structure - by extended media and prism influence. We detected also the influence of ionosphere on a phase variations of interferometer.

Need a Classroom Stimulus? Introduce Radio Astronomy

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Derman, Samuel

2010-01-01

Silently, invisibly, ceaselessly, our planet Earth is showered by radio waves from every direction and from every region of space. This radio energy originates in our solar system, throughout the Milky Way galaxy, and far beyond, out to the remotest reaches of the universe. Detecting and unraveling the origins of these invisible signals is what…

Wideband spectrum analysis of ultra-high frequency radio-wave signals due to advanced one-phonon non-collinear anomalous light scattering.

PubMed

Shcherbakov, Alexandre S; Arellanes, Adan Omar

2017-04-20

We present a principally new acousto-optical cell providing an advanced wideband spectrum analysis of ultra-high frequency radio-wave signals. For the first time, we apply a recently developed approach with the tilt angle to a one-phonon non-collinear anomalous light scattering. In contrast to earlier cases, now one can exploit a regime with the fixed optical wavelength for processing a great number of acoustic frequencies simultaneously in the linear regime. The chosen rutile-crystal combines a moderate acoustic velocity with low acoustic attenuation and allows us wide-band data processing within GHz-frequency acoustic waves. We have created and experimentally tested a 6-cm aperture rutile-made acousto-optical cell providing the central frequency 2.0 GHz, frequency bandwidth ∼0.52  GHz with the frequency resolution about 68.3 kHz, and ∼7620 resolvable spots. A similar cell permits designing an advanced ultra-high-frequency arm within a recently developed multi-band radio-wave acousto-optical spectrometer for astrophysical studies. This spectrometer is intended to operate with a few parallel optical arms for processing the multi-frequency data flows within astrophysical observations. Keeping all the instrument's advantages of the previous schematic arrangement, now one can create the highest-frequency arm using the developed rutile-based acousto-optical cell. It permits optimizing the performances inherent in that arm via regulation of both the central frequency and the frequency bandwidth for spectrum analysis.

From Radio to X-rays--Some 'Real' Electrical Applications.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Freeman, J. C.

1986-01-01

Describes practical applications related to X-rays, ultra-violet radiation, light radiation, short-wave infra-red radiation, medium-wave infra-red radiation, long-wave infra-red radiation, microwave radiation, and radio frequency radiation. Suggests that these applications be used during instruction on electricity. (JN)

World War II Radar and Early Radio Astronomy

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Smith, G.

2005-08-01

The pattern of radio astronomy which developed in Europe and Australia followed closely the development of metre wave radar in World War II. The leading pioneers, Ryle, Lovell, Hey and Pawsey, were all in radar research establishments in the UK and Australia. They returned to universities, recruited their colleagues into research groups and immediately started on some basic observations of solar radio waves, meteor echoes, and the galactic background. There was at first little contact with conventional astronomers. This paper traces the influence of the radar scientists and of several types of radar equipment developed during WW II, notably the German Wurzburg, which was adapted for radio research in several countries. The techniques of phased arrays and antenna switching were used in radar and aircraft installations. The influence of WW II radar can be traced at least up to 10 years after the War, when radio astronomy became accepted as a natural discipline within astronomy.

A Study of Solar Flare Effects on Mid and High Latitude Radio Wave Propagation using SuperDARN.

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ruohoniemi, J. M.; Chakraborty, S.; Baker, J. B.

2017-12-01

Over the Horizon (OTH) communication is strongly dependent on the state of the ionosphere, which is sensitive to solar X-ray flares. The Super Dual Auroral Radar Network (SuperDARN), whose working principle is dependent on trans-ionospheric radio communication, uses HF radio waves to remotely sense the ionosphere. The backscatter returns from the terrestrial surface (also known as ground-scatter) transit the ionosphere four times and simulate the operation of an HF communications link. SuperDARN backscatter signal properties are altered (strongly attenuated and changes apparent phase) during a sudden ionospheric disturbance following a solar flare, commonly known as Short-Wave Fadeout or SWF. During an SWF the number of SuperDARN backscatter echoes drops suddenly (≈1 min) and sharply, often to near zero, and recovers within 30 minutes to an hour. In this study HF propagation data (SuperDARN backscatter) obtained during SWF events are analyzed for the purpose of validating and improving the performance of HF absorption models, such as, Space Weather Prediction Center (SWPC) D-region Absorption model (DRAP) and CCMC physics based AbbyNormal model. We will also present preliminary results from a physics based model for the mid and high latitude ionospheric response to flare-driven space weather anomalies, which can be used to estimate different physical parameters of the ionosphere such as electron density, collision frequency, absorption coefficients, response time of D-region etc.

Citizen Science Opportunity With the NASA Heliophysics Education Consortium (HEC)-Radio JOVE Project

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Fung, S. F.; Higgins, C.; Thieman, J.; Garcia, L. N.; Young, C. A.

2016-12-01

The Radio JOVE project has long been a hands-on inquiry-based educational project that allows students, teachers and the general public to learn and practice radio astronomy by building their own radio antenna and receiver system from an inexpensive kit that operates at 20.1 MHz and/or using remote radio telescopes through the Internet. Radio JOVE participants observe and analyze natural radio emissions from Jupiter and the Sun. Within the last few years, several Radio JOVE amateurs have upgraded their equipment to make semi-professional spectrographic observations in the frequency band of 15-30 MHz. Due to the widely distributed Radio JOVE observing stations across the US, the Radio JOVE observations can uniquely augment observations by professional telescopes, such as the Long Wavelength Array (LWA) . The Radio JOVE project has recently partnered with the NASA Heliophysics Education Consortium (HEC) to work with students and interested amateur radio astronomers to establish additional spectrograph and single-frequency Radio JOVE stations. These additional Radio JOVE stations will help build a larger amateur radio science network and increase the spatial coverage of long-wavelength radio observations across the US. Our presentation will describe the Radio JOVE project within the context of the HEC. We will discuss the potential for citizen scientists to make and use Radio JOVE observations to study solar radio bursts (particularly during the upcoming solar eclipse in August 2017) and Jovian radio emissions. Radio JOVE observations will also be used to study ionospheric radio scintillation, promoting appreciation and understanding of this important space weather effect.

Scintillator Waveguide For Sensing Radiation

DOEpatents

Bliss, Mary; Craig, Richard A.; Reeder; Paul L.

2003-04-22

The present invention is an apparatus for detecting ionizing radiation, having: a waveguide having a first end and a second end, the waveguide formed of a scintillator material wherein the therapeutic ionizing radiation isotropically generates scintillation light signals within the waveguide. This apparatus provides a measure of radiation dose. The apparatus may be modified to permit making a measure of location of radiation dose. Specifically, the scintillation material is segmented into a plurality of segments; and a connecting cable for each of the plurality of segments is used for conducting scintillation signals to a scintillation detector.

Source Regions of the Type II Radio Burst Observed During a CME-CME Interaction on 2013 May 22

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Makela, P.; Gopalswamy, N.; Reiner, M. J.; Akiyama, S.; Krupar, V.

2016-01-01

We report on our study of radio source regions during the type II radio burst on 2013 May 22 based on direction finding analysis of the Wind/WAVES and STEREO/WAVES (SWAVES) radio observations at decameter-hectometric wavelengths. The type II emission showed an enhancement that coincided with the interaction of two coronal mass ejections (CMEs) launched in sequence along closely spaced trajectories. The triangulation of the SWAVES source directions posited the ecliptic projections of the radio sources near the line connecting the Sun and the STEREO-A spacecraft. The WAVES and SWAVES source directions revealed shifts in the latitude of the radio source, indicating that the spatial location of the dominant source of the type II emission varies during the CME-CME interaction. The WAVES source directions close to 1MHz frequencies matched the location of the leading edge of the primary CME seen in the images of the LASCO/C3 coronagraph. This correspondence of spatial locations at both wavelengths confirms that the CME-CME interaction region is the source of the type II enhancement. Comparison of radio and white-light observations also showed that at lower frequencies scattering significantly affects radio wave propagation.

Assessment of scintillation proxy maps for a scintillation study during geomagnetically quiet and disturbed conditions over Uganda

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Amabayo, Emirant B.; Jurua, Edward; Cilliers, Pierre J.

2017-02-01

The objective of this paper is demonstrate the validity and usefulness of scintillation proxies derived from IGS data, through its comparison with data from dedicated scintillation monitors and its application to GNSS scintillation patterns. The paper presents scintillation patterns developed by using data from the dedicated scintillation monitors of the scintillation network decision aid (SCINDA) network, and proxy maps derived from IGS GPS data for 2011 and 2012 over low latitude stations in Uganda. The amplitude and phase scintillation indicies (S4 and σΦ) were obtained from the Novatel GSV4004B ionospheric scintillation and total electron content (TEC) monitor managed by SCINDA at Makerere (0.340N, 32.570E). The corresponding IGS GPS proxy data were obtained from the receivers at Entebbe (0.040N, 32.440E) and Mbarara (0.600S, 30.740E). The derived amplitude (S4p) and phase (sDPR) scintillation proxy maps were compared with maps of S4 and σΦ during geomagnetic storms (moderate and strong) and geomagnetically quiet conditions. The scintillation patterns using S4 and σΦ and their respective proxies revealed similar diurnal and seasonal patterns of strong scintillation occurrence. The peaks of scintillation occurrence with mean values in the range 0.3 < (S4p , sDPR) ≤ 0.6 were observed during nighttime (17:00-22:00 UT) and in the months of March-April and September-October. The results also indicate that high level scintillations occur during geomagnetically disturbed (moderate and strong) and quiet conditions over the Ugandan region. The results show that SCINDA and IGS based scintillation patterns reveal the same nighttime and seasonal occurrence of irregularities over Uganda irrespective of the geomagnetic conditions. Therefore, the amplitude and phase scintillation proxies presented here can be used to fill gaps in low-latitude data where there are no data available from dedicated scintillation receivers, irrespective of the geomagnetic conditions.

Lead carbonate scintillator materials

DOEpatents

Derenzo, Stephen E.; Moses, William W.

1991-01-01

Improved radiation detectors containing lead carbonate or basic lead carbonate as the scintillator element are disclosed. Both of these scintillators have been found to provide a balance of good stopping power, high light yield and short decay constant that is superior to other known scintillator materials. The radiation detectors disclosed are favorably suited for use in general purpose detection and in medical uses.

Astronomers Win Protection for Key Part of Radio Spectrum

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

2000-06-01

Astronomers using the millimeter-wave region of the radio spectrum have won crucial protection for their science. Dedicated allocations for radio astronomy have been given final approval by the 2,500 delegates to the World Radiocommunication Conference (WRC-00), which recently concluded a month of deliberations in Istanbul, Turkey. Radio services can transmit in these parts of the spectrum as long as they don't hinder astronomers' attempts to catch faint signals from the cosmos. The new allocations represent the culmination of more than three years of cooperative planning by radio astronomers in many countries. Millimeter waves -- high-frequency radio waves -- have come of age as an astronomical tool in the last ten years. They are one of the last technological frontiers for astronomers. WRC-00 has protected for science all the frequencies between 71 and 275 Gigahertz (GHz) that radio astronomers currently use, adding more than 90 GHz of spectrum to the 44 GHz already set aside in this frequency range. As a result, radio astronomy is now allocated most of the frequencies between 71 and 275 GHz that can get through the Earth's atmosphere. "We have formal access to all three atmospheric 'windows', apart from their very edges," said Dr. Tom Gergely of the National Science Foundation, one of the U.S. delegates to WRC-00. The WRC also changed most of the frequencies allocated to satellite downlinks within the 71-275 GHz range to frequencies not used for science. Since no satellites yet operate at these high frequencies, no equipment needs to be altered. "Commercial technologies are just starting to develop above 50 GHz," said Dr. Klaus Ruf, Chairman of the Inter-Union Commission for the Allocation of Frequencies. "The WRC's actions mean that, when they are, radio astronomers should be able to share this part of the spectrum with most terrestrial services." The World Radiocommunication Conference is held every two or three years. Here member countries of the

Preparation of New Scintillation Imaging Material Composed of Scintillator-Silica Fine Powders and its Imaging of Tritium.

PubMed

Miyoshi, Hirokazu; Hiroura, Mitsunori; Tsujimoto, Kazunori; Irikura, Namiko; Otani, Tamaki; Shinohara, Yasuo

2017-05-01

A new scintillation imaging material [scintillator-silica fine powder (FP)] was prepared using silica FPs and scintillator-encapsulating silica nanoparticles (NPs) (scintillator-silica NPs). The wt% values of scintillator-silica NPs on the scintillator-silica FPs were 38, 43, 36 and 44%. Scintillation images of 3H, 63Ni, 35S, 33P, 204Tl, 89Sr and 32P dropped on the scintillator-silica FPs were obtained at about 37 kBq per 0.1-10 µl with a charge-coupled device (CCD) imager for a 5 min exposure. In particular, high-intensity CCD images of 35S were selectively obtained using the 2.25, 4.77 and 10 µm silica FPs with scintillator-silica NPs owing to the residual S of dimethyl sulfoxide in the preparation. Scintillation images of 3H at 1670 ± 9 Bq/0.5 µl and 347 ± 6 Bq/0.5 µl dropped in a 2 mm hole on the scintillator-silica FPs (6.78 and 10 µm) were also obtained using the CCD imager for a 2 h exposure. © The Author 2016. Published by Oxford University Press. All rights reserved. For Permissions, please email: journals.permissions@oup.com.

Scintillation properties of a 2-inch diameter KCa0.8Sr0.2I3:Eu2+ single crystal

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wu, Yuntao; Lindsey, Adam C.; Loyd, Matthew; Stand, Luis; Zhuravleva, Mariya; Koschan, Merry; Melcher, Charles L.

2017-09-01

Inch-sized scintillating crystals are required for practical radiation detectors such as hand-held radio-isotope identification devices. In this work, a transparent and colorless 2-inch diameter KCa0.8Sr0.2I3: 0 . 5 mo% Eu2+ single crystal was grown by the vertical Bridgman method, and the scintillation properties of a ∅ 50 mm × 45 mm long sample were evaluated. The Eu2+ 5d1- 4 f emission under X-ray excitation is centered at 472 nm. Its scintillation decay time under 137 Cs source irradiation is 2 . 37 μs, and the absolute light output is 51,000 ± 3000 photons/MeV. The energy resolution at 662 keV was evaluated for different orientations of the crystals with respect to the PMT, and the effect of 40 K background subtraction on energy resolution was evaluated. The performance of the packaged crystal was also investigated.

ULF radio monitoring network in a seismic area

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Toader, Victorin; Moldovan, Iren-Adelina; Ionescu, Constantin; Marmureanu, Alexandru

2017-04-01

ULF monitoring is a part of a multidisciplinary network (AeroSolSys) located in Vrancea (Curvature Carpathian Mountains). Four radio receivers (100 kHz - microwave) placed on faults in a high seismic area characterized by deep earthquakes detect fairly weak radio waves. The radio power is recorded in correlation with many other parameters related to near surface low atmosphere phenomena (seismicity, solar radiation, air ionization, electromagnetic activity, radon, CO2 concentration, atmospheric pressure, telluric currents, infrasound, seismo-acoustic emission, meteorological information). We follow variations in the earth's surface propagate radio waves avoiding reflection on ionosphere. For this reason the distance between stations is less than 60 km and the main source of emission is near (Bod broadcasting transmitter for long- and medium-wave radio, next to Brasov city). In the same time tectonic stress affects the radio propagation in air and it could generates ULF waves in ground (LAI coupling). To reduce the uncertainty is necessary to monitor a location for extended periods of time to outline local and seasonal fluctuations. Solar flares do not affect seismic activity but they produce disturbances in telecommunications networks and power grids. Our ULF monitoring correlated with two local magnetometers does not indicate this so far with our receivers. Our analysis was made during magnetic storms with Kp 7 and 8 according to NOAA satellites. To correlate the results we implemented an application that monitors the satellite EUTELSAT latency compared to WiMAX land communication in the same place. ULF band radio monitoring showed that our receiver is dependent on temperature and that it is necessary to introduce a band pass filter in data analysis. ULF data acquisition is performed by Kinemetrics and National Instruments digitizers with a sampling rate of 100 Hz in Miniseed format and then converted into text files with 1 Hz rate for analysis in very low

Cherenkov and scintillation light separation in organic liquid scintillators

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Caravaca, J.; Descamps, F. B.; Land, B. J.; Yeh, M.; Orebi Gann, G. D.

2017-12-01

The CHErenkov/Scintillation Separation experiment (CHESS) has been used to demonstrate the separation of Cherenkov and scintillation light in both linear alkylbenzene (LAB) and LAB with 2 g/L of PPO as a fluor (LAB/PPO). This is the first successful demonstration of Cherenkov light detection from the more challenging LAB/PPO cocktail and improves on previous results for LAB. A time resolution of 338± 12 ps FWHM results in an efficiency for identifying Cherenkov photons in LAB/PPO of 70 ± 3 % and 63± 8% for time- and charge-based separation, respectively, with scintillation contamination of 36± 5% and 38± 4%. LAB/PPO data is consistent with a rise time of τ _r=0.72± 0.33 ns.

System and method for phase retrieval for radio telescope and antenna control

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Dean, Bruce H. (Inventor)

2013-01-01

Disclosed herein are systems, methods, and non-transitory computer-readable storage media for radio phase retrieval. A system practicing the method gathers first data from radio waves associated with an object observed via a first aperture, gathers second data from radio waves associated with the object observed via an introduced second aperture associated with the first aperture, generates reduced noise data by incoherently subtracting the second data from the first data, and performs phase retrieval for the radio waves by modeling the reduced noise data using a single Fourier transform. The first and second apertures are at different positions, such as side by side. This approach can include determining a value Q which represents a ratio of wavelength times a focal ratio divided by pixel spacing. This information can be used to accurately measure and correct alignment errors or other optical system flaws in the apertures.

Amateur Planetary Radio Data Archived for Science and Education: Radio Jove

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Thieman, J.; Cecconi, B.; Sky, J.; Garcia, L. N.; King, T. A.; Higgins, C. A.; Fung, S. F.

2015-12-01

The Radio Jove Project is a hands-on educational activity in which students, teachers, and the general public build simple radio telescopes, usually from a kit, to observe single frequency decameter wavelength radio emissions from Jupiter, the Sun, the galaxy, and the Earth usually with simple dipole antennas. Some of the amateur observers have upgraded their receivers to spectrographs and their antennas have become more sophisticated as well. The data records compare favorably to more sophisticated professional radio telescopes such as the Long Wavelength Array (LWA) and the Nancay Decametric Array. Since these data are often carefully calibrated and recorded around the clock in widely scattered locations they represent a valuable database useful not only to amateur radio astronomers but to the professional science community as well. Some interesting phenomena have been noted in the data that are of interest to the professionals familiar with such records. The continuous monitoring of radio emissions from Jupiter could serve as useful "ground truth" data during the coming Juno mission's radio observations of Jupiter. Radio Jove has long maintained an archive for thousands of Radio Jove observations, but the database was intended for use by the Radio Jove participants only. Now, increased scientific interest in the use of these data has resulted in several proposals to translate the data into a science community data format standard and store the data in professional archives. Progress is being made in translating Radio Jove data to the Common Data Format (CDF) and also in generating new observations in that format as well. Metadata describing the Radio Jove data would follow the Space Physics Archive Search and Extract (SPASE) standard. The proposed archive to be used for long term preservation would be the Planetary Data System (PDS). Data sharing would be achieved through the PDS and the Paris Astronomical Data Centre (PADC) and the Virtual Wave Observatory (VWO

Radio Frequency Interference: Radio Astronomy's Biggest Enemy

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Acevedo, F.; Ghosh, Tapasi

1997-12-01

As technology progresses, the demand for the usage of the electromagnetic spectrum increases with it. The development is so fast and prolific that clean band space for passive users such as Radio Astronomy is becoming ever so scarce. Even though, several spectral bands have been protected for Radio Astronomy by Federal Communication Commission (in the USA) under the recommendations of the International Telecommunication Union (ITU), pressure for making more spectral space commercially usable is extreme. Although these commercial usages make our modern living at all possible, often the extreme vulnerability of passive users are are not fully appreciated, resulting in unwanted emissions (RFI) in the Radio Astronomy Bands. Another source of RFI is the fact that many of the electronic devices used in the observatories themselves generate radio waves. If proper precautions are not taken, these can be received back through the Radio Telescope itself. This problem is referred to as internal RFI. The focus of this paper is the search and diminution of internal RFI in the Arecibo Observatory in Arecibo, Puerto Rico. Using a simple setup of a log-periodic antenna and a Spectrum Analyzer, spectra spanning a frequency range of 100 - 1800 MHZ were recorded in some areas of the Observatory and the new Visitor Center (AOVEF). The measurements disclosed sources of radio emission among some of the digital electronic equipment in the Equipment room and a few displays in the AOVEF. Most prominent of these was a 2.5 MHz comb spanning the entire range of the measurements emitted from the SRENDIP and AOFTM machines. The respective groups were informed and corrective shielding & isolations were implemented immediately. In AOVEF, three displays, some audio-visual equipment, and video/digital cameras used by the visitors were found to be "leaky". In future, the use of such cameras will be prohibited and the exhibits will be screened appropriately.

Radio polarisation measurements of meteor trail echoes with BRAMS

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lamy, H.; Ranvier, S.; Anciaux, M.; Calders, S.; De Keyser, J.; Gamby, E.

2012-04-01

BRAMS, the Belgian RAdio Meteor Stations, is a network of radio receiving stations using forward scatter techniques to detect and characterize meteors. The transmitter is a dedicated beacon located in Dourbes in the south-west of Belgium. It emits towards the zenith a purely sinusoidal wave circularly polarised, at a frequency of 49.97 MHz and with a power of 150 watts. The main goals of the project are to compute meteoroid flux rates and trajectories. Most receiving stations are using a 3 element Yagi antenna and are therefore only sensitive to one polarisation. The station located in Uccle has also a crossed 3 element Yagi antenna and therefore allows measurements of horizontal and vertical polarisations. We present the preliminary radio polarisation measurements of meteor trail echoes and compare them with the theoretical predictions of Jones & Jones (1991) for oblique scattering of radio waves from meteor trails.

Lead carbonate scintillator materials

DOEpatents

Derenzo, S.E.; Moses, W.W.

1991-05-14

Improved radiation detectors containing lead carbonate or basic lead carbonate as the scintillator element are disclosed. Both of these scintillators have been found to provide a balance of good stopping power, high light yield and short decay constant that is superior to other known scintillator materials. The radiation detectors disclosed are favorably suited for use in general purpose detection and in medical uses. 3 figures.

Characteristics of High Latitude Ionosphere Scintillations

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Morton, Y.

2012-12-01

As we enter a new solar maximum period, global navigation satellite systems (GNSS) receivers, especially the ones operating in high latitude and equatorial regions, are facing an increasing threat from ionosphere scintillations. The increased solar activities, however, also offer a great opportunity to collect scintillation data to characterize scintillation signal parameters and ionosphere irregularities. While there are numerous GPS receivers deployed around the globe to monitor ionosphere scintillations, most of them are commercial receivers whose signal processing mechanisms are not designed to operate under ionosphere scintillation. As a result, they may distort scintillation signal parameters or lose lock of satellite signals under strong scintillations. Since 2008, we have established and continuously improved a unique GNSS receiver array at HAARP, Alaska. The array contains high ends commercial receivers and custom RF front ends which can be automatically triggered to collect high quality GPS and GLONASS satellite signals during controlled heating experiments and natural scintillation events. Custom designed receiver signal tracking algorithms aim to preserve true scintillation signatures are used to process the raw RF samples. Signal strength, carrier phase, and relative TEC measurements generated by the receiver array since its inception have been analyzed to characterize high latitude scintillation phenomena. Daily, seasonal, and solar events dependency of scintillation occurrence, spectral contents of scintillation activities, and plasma drifts derived from these measurements will be presented. These interesting results demonstrate the feasibility and effectiveness of our experimental data collection system in providing insightful details of ionosphere responses to active perturbations and natural disturbances.

Air shower measurements with the LOPES radio antenna array

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lopes Collaboration; Haungs, A.; Apel, W. D.; Arteaga, J. C.; Asch, T.; Auffenberg, J.; Badea, F.; Bähren, L.; Bekk, K.; Bertaina, M.; Biermann, P. L.; Blümer, J.; Bozdog, H.; Brancus, I. M.; Brüggemann, M.; Buchholz, P.; Buitink, S.; Cantoni, E.; Chiavassa, A.; Cossavella, F.; Daumiller, K.; de Souza, V.; di Pierro, F.; Doll, P.; Engel, R.; Falcke, H.; Finger, M.; Fuhrmann, D.; Gemmeke, H.; Ghia, P. L.; Glasstetter, R.; Grupen, C.; Heck, D.; Hörandel, J. R.; Horneffer, A.; Huege, T.; Isar, P. G.; Kampert, K.-H.; Kang, D.; Kickelbick, D.; Kolotaev, Y.; Krömer, O.; Kuijpers, J.; Lafebre, S.; Łuczak, P.; Mathes, H. J.; Mayer, H. J.; Milke, J.; Mitrica, B.; Morello, C.; Navarra, G.; Nehls, S.; Nigl, A.; Oehlschläger, J.; Over, S.; Petcu, M.; Pierog, T.; Rautenberg, J.; Rebel, H.; Roth, M.; Saftoiu, A.; Schieler, H.; Schmidt, A.; Schröder, F.; Sima, O.; Singh, K.; Stümpert, M.; Toma, G.; Trinchero, G. C.; Ulrich, H.; Walkowiak, W.; Weindl, A.; Wochele, J.; Wommer, M.; Zabierowski, J.; Zensus, J. A.; LOPES Collaboration

2009-06-01

LOPES is set up at the location of the KASCADE-Grande extensive air shower experiment in Karlsruhe, Germany and aims to measure and investigate radio pulses from extensive air showers. Since radio waves suffer very little attenuation, radio measurements allow the detection of very distant or highly inclined showers. These waves can be recorded day and night, and provide a bolometric measure of the leptonic shower component. LOPES is designed as a digital radio interferometer using high bandwidths and fast data processing and profits from the reconstructed air shower observables of KASCADE-Grande. The LOPES antennas are absolutely amplitude calibrated allowing to reconstruct the electric field strength which can be compared with predictions from detailed Monte-Carlo simulations. We report about the analysis of correlations present in the radio signals measured by the LOPES 30 antenna array. Additionally, LOPES operates antennas of a different type (LOPESSTAR) which are optimized for an application at the Pierre Auger Observatory. Status, recent results of the data analysis and further perspectives of LOPES and the possible large scale application of this new detection technique are discussed.

Photon statistics in scintillation crystals

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bora, Vaibhav Joga Singh

Scintillation based gamma-ray detectors are widely used in medical imaging, high-energy physics, astronomy and national security. Scintillation gamma-ray detectors are eld-tested, relatively inexpensive, and have good detection eciency. Semi-conductor detectors are gaining popularity because of their superior capability to resolve gamma-ray energies. However, they are relatively hard to manufacture and therefore, at this time, not available in as large formats and much more expensive than scintillation gamma-ray detectors. Scintillation gamma-ray detectors consist of: a scintillator, a material that emits optical (scintillation) photons when it interacts with ionization radiation, and an optical detector that detects the emitted scintillation photons and converts them into an electrical signal. Compared to semiconductor gamma-ray detectors, scintillation gamma-ray detectors have relatively poor capability to resolve gamma-ray energies. This is in large part attributed to the "statistical limit" on the number of scintillation photons. The origin of this statistical limit is the assumption that scintillation photons are either Poisson distributed or super-Poisson distributed. This statistical limit is often dened by the Fano factor. The Fano factor of an integer-valued random process is dened as the ratio of its variance to its mean. Therefore, a Poisson process has a Fano factor of one. The classical theory of light limits the Fano factor of the number of photons to a value greater than or equal to one (Poisson case). However, the quantum theory of light allows for Fano factors to be less than one. We used two methods to look at the correlations between two detectors looking at same scintillation pulse to estimate the Fano factor of the scintillation photons. The relationship between the Fano factor and the correlation between the integral of the two signals detected was analytically derived, and the Fano factor was estimated using the measurements for SrI2:Eu, YAP

Simulation and analysis of chemical release in the ionosphere

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Gao, Jing-Fan; Guo, Li-Xin; Xu, Zheng-Wen; Zhao, Hai-Sheng; Feng, Jie

2018-05-01

Ionospheric inhomogeneous plasma produced by single point chemical release has simple space-time structure, and cannot impact radio wave frequencies higher than Very High Frequency (VHF) band. In order to produce more complicated ionospheric plasma perturbation structure and trigger instabilities phenomena, multiple-point chemical release scheme is presented in this paper. The effects of chemical release on low latitude ionospheric plasma are estimated by linear instability growth rate theory that high growth rate represents high irregularities, ionospheric scintillation occurrence probability and high scintillation intension in scintillation duration. The amplitude scintillations and the phase scintillations of 150 MHz, 400 MHz, and 1000 MHz are calculated based on the theory of multiple phase screen (MPS), when they propagate through the disturbed area.

Numerical simulations of particle acceleration and low frequency radio emission in stellar environments

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Paraskevi Moschou, Sofia; Sokolov, Igor; Cohen, Ofer; Drake, Jeremy J.; Borovikov, Dmitry; Alvarado-Gomez, Julian D.; Garraffo, Cecilia

2018-06-01

Due to their favorable atmospheric window radio waves are a useful tool for ground-based observations of astrophysical systems throughout a plethora of scales, from cosmological down to planetary ones. A wide range of physical mechanisms, from thermal processes to eruptive events linked to magnetic reconnection, can generate emission in radio frequencies. Radio waves have the distinct characteristic that they follow curved paths as they propagate in stratified environments, such as the solar corona, due to their dependence on the refraction index. Low frequency radio rays in particular are affected the most by refraction.Solar radio observations are of particular importance, since it is possible to spatially resolve the Sun and its corona and gain insights on highly dynamic and complex radio-emitting phenomena. The multi-scale problem of particle acceleration and energy partition between CMEs, flares and SEPs requires both MHD and kinetic considerations to account for the emission and mass propagation through the interplanetary space.Radio observations can play a significant role in the rapidly developing area of exoplanetary research and provide insights on the stellar environments of those systems. Even though a large number of flares has been observed for different stellar types, nevertheless there is a lack of stellar CME observations. Currently, the most promising method to incontrovertibly observe stellar CMEs is through Type II radio bursts. Low frequency radio emission can also be produced by the interaction of a magnetized planet with the stellar wind of the host star.The above mentioned characteristics of radio-waves make their integration into numerical simulations imperative for capturing and disentangling the complex radio emitting processes along the actual radio paths and provide the observers with detection limits for future Earth- and space-based missions. Radio synthetic imaging tools incorporated in realistic computational codes are already

Zero-Power Radio Device.

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Brocato, Robert W.

This report describes an unpowered radio receiver capable of detecting and responding to weak signals transmit ted from comparatively long distances . This radio receiver offers key advantages over a short range zero - power radio receiver previously described in SAND2004 - 4610, A Zero - Power Radio Receiver . The device described here can be fabricated as an integrated circuit for use in portable wireless devices, as a wake - up circuit, or a s a stand - alone receiver operating in conjunction with identification decoders or other electroni cs. It builds on key sub - components developed atmore » Sandia National Laboratories over many years. It uses surface acoustic wave (SAW) filter technology. It uses custom component design to enable the efficient use of small aperture antennas. This device uses a key component, the pyroelectric demodulator , covered by Sandia owned U.S. Patent 7397301, Pyroelectric Demodulating Detector [1] . This device is also described in Sandia owned U.S. Patent 97266446, Zero Power Receiver [2].« less

Peering through Jupiter’s clouds with radio spectral imaging

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

de Pater, Imke; Sault, R. J.; Butler, Bryan; DeBoer, David; Wong, Michael H.

2016-06-01

Radio wavelengths can probe altitudes in Jupiter’s atmosphere below its visible cloud layers. We used the Very Large Array to map this unexplored region down to ~8 bar, ~100 kilometers below the visible clouds. Our maps reveal a dynamically active planet at pressures less than 2 to 3 bar. A radio-hot belt exists, consisting of relatively transparent regions (a low ammonia concentration, NH3 being the dominant source of opacity) probing depths to over ~8 bar; these regions probably coincide with 5-micrometer hot spots. Just to the south we distinguish an equatorial wave, bringing up ammonia gas from Jupiter’s deep atmosphere. This wave has been theorized to produce the 5-micrometer hot spots; we observed the predicted radio counterpart of such hot spots.

Cherenkov and scintillation light separation in organic liquid scintillators

DOE PAGES

Caravaca, J.; Descamps, F. B.; Land, B. J.; ...

2017-11-29

The CHErenkov/Scintillation Separation experiment (CHESS) has been used to demonstrate the separation of Cherenkov and scintillation light in both linear alkylbenzene (LAB) and LAB with 2 g/L of PPO as a fluor (LAB/PPO). This is the first successful demonstration of Cherenkov light detection from the more challenging LAB/PPO cocktail and improves on previous results for LAB. A time resolution of 338 ± 12 ps FWHM results in an efficiency for identifying Cherenkov photons in LAB/PPO of 70 ± 3 % and 63 ± 8 % for time- and charge-based separation, respectively, with scintillation contamination of 36 ± 5 % andmore » 38 ± 4 %. LAB/PPO data is consistent with a rise time of τ r = 0.72 ± 0.33 ns.« less

Cherenkov and scintillation light separation in organic liquid scintillators

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Caravaca, J.; Descamps, F. B.; Land, B. J.

The CHErenkov/Scintillation Separation experiment (CHESS) has been used to demonstrate the separation of Cherenkov and scintillation light in both linear alkylbenzene (LAB) and LAB with 2 g/L of PPO as a fluor (LAB/PPO). This is the first successful demonstration of Cherenkov light detection from the more challenging LAB/PPO cocktail and improves on previous results for LAB. A time resolution of 338 ± 12 ps FWHM results in an efficiency for identifying Cherenkov photons in LAB/PPO of 70 ± 3 % and 63 ± 8 % for time- and charge-based separation, respectively, with scintillation contamination of 36 ± 5 % andmore » 38 ± 4 %. LAB/PPO data is consistent with a rise time of τ r = 0.72 ± 0.33 ns.« less

Wide Field Radio Transient Surveys

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bower, Geoffrey

2011-04-01

The time domain of the radio wavelength sky has been only sparsely explored. Nevertheless, serendipitous discovery and results from limited surveys indicate that there is much to be found on timescales from nanoseconds to years and at wavelengths from meters to millimeters. These observations have revealed unexpected phenomena such as rotating radio transients and coherent pulses from brown dwarfs. Additionally, archival studies have revealed an unknown class of radio transients without radio, optical, or high-energy hosts. The new generation of centimeter-wave radio telescopes such as the Allen Telescope Array (ATA) will exploit wide fields of view and flexible digital signal processing to systematically explore radio transient parameter space, as well as lay the scientific and technical foundation for the Square Kilometer Array. Known unknowns that will be the target of future transient surveys include orphan gamma-ray burst afterglows, radio supernovae, tidally-disrupted stars, flare stars, and magnetars. While probing the variable sky, these surveys will also provide unprecedented information on the static radio sky. I will present results from three large ATA surveys (the Fly's Eye survey, the ATA Twenty CM Survey (ATATS), and the Pi GHz Survey (PiGSS)) and several small ATA transient searches. Finally, I will discuss the landscape and opportunities for future instruments at centimeter wavelengths.

A Millimeter-Wave Digital Link for Wireless MRI

PubMed Central

Aggarwal, Kamal; Joshi, Kiran R.; Rajavi, Yashar; Taghivand, Mazhareddin; Pauly, John M.; Poon, Ada S. Y.; Scott, Greig

2017-01-01

A millimeter (mm) wave radio is presented in this work to support wireless MRI data transmission. High path loss and availability of wide bandwidth make mm-waves an ideal candidate for short range, high data rata communication required for wireless MRI. The proposed system uses a custom designed integrated chip (IC) mm-wave radio with 60 GHz as radio frequency carrier. In this work, we assess performance in a 1.5 T MRI field, with the addition of optical links between the console room and magnet. The system uses ON-OFF keying (OOK) modulation for data transmission and supports data rates from 200 Mb/s to 2.5 Gb/s for distances up-to 65 cm. The presence of highly directional, linearly polarized, on-chip dipole antennas on the mm-wave radio along with the time division multiplexing (TDM) circuitry allows multiple wireless links to be created simultaneously with minimal inter-channel interference. This leads to a highly scalable solution for wireless MRI. PMID:27810803

A Millimeter-Wave Digital Link for Wireless MRI.

PubMed

Aggarwal, Kamal; Joshi, Kiran R; Rajavi, Yashar; Taghivand, Mazhareddin; Pauly, John M; Poon, Ada S Y; Scott, Greig

2017-02-01

A millimeter (mm) wave radio is presented in this work to support wireless MRI data transmission. High path loss and availability of wide bandwidth make mm-waves an ideal candidate for short range, high data rata communication required for wireless MRI. The proposed system uses a custom designed integrated chip (IC) mm-wave radio with 60 GHz as radio frequency carrier. In this work, we assess performance in a 1.5 T MRI field, with the addition of optical links between the console room and magnet. The system uses ON-OFF keying (OOK) modulation for data transmission and supports data rates from 200 Mb/s to 2.5 Gb/s for distances up-to 65 cm. The presence of highly directional, linearly polarized, on-chip dipole antennas on the mm-wave radio along with the time division multiplexing (TDM) circuitry allows multiple wireless links to be created simultaneously with minimal inter-channel interference. This leads to a highly scalable solution for wireless MRI.

Calculations and measurements of the scintillator-to-water stopping power ratio of liquid scintillators for use in proton radiotherapy.

PubMed

Ingram, W Scott; Robertson, Daniel; Beddar, Sam

2015-03-11

Liquid scintillators are a promising detector for high-resolution three-dimensional proton therapy dosimetry. Because the scintillator comprises both the active volume of the detector and the phantom material, an ideal scintillator will exhibit water equivalence in its radiological properties. One of the most fundamental of these is the scintillator's stopping power. The objective of this study was to compare calculations and measurements of scintillator-to-water stopping power ratios to evaluate the suitability of the liquid scintillators BC-531 and OptiPhase HiSafe 3 for proton dosimetry. We also measured the relative scintillation output of the two scintillators. Both calculations and measurements show that the linear stopping power of OptiPhase is significantly closer to water than that of BC-531. BC-531 has a somewhat higher scintillation output. OptiPhase can be mixed with water at high concentrations, which further improves its scintillator-to-water stopping power ratio. However, this causes the solution to become cloudy, which has a negative impact on the scintillation output and spatial resolution of the detector. OptiPhase is preferred over BC-531 for proton dosimetry because its density and scintillator-to-water stopping power ratio are more water equivalent.

47 CFR 32.2231 - Radio systems.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-10-01

... costs. This account shall also include the original cost of earth stations and spare parts, material or..., amplification, propagation, reception, modulation, and demodulation of radio waves in free space over which...

The February 15 2011 CME-CME interaction and possibly associated radio emission

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Magdalenic, Jasmina; Temmer, Manuela; Krupar, Vratislav; Marque, Christophe; Veronig, Astrid; Eastwood, Jonathan

2017-04-01

On February 15, 2011 a particular, continuum-like radio emission was observed by STEREO WAVES and WIND WAVES spacecraft. The radio event appeared to be associated with the complex interaction of two coronal mass ejections (CMEs) successively launched (February 14 and February 15) from the same active region. Although the CME-CME interaction was widely studied (e.g. Temmer et al., 2014, Maricic et al., 2014, Mishra & Srivastava, 2014) none of the analyses confirmed an association with the continuum-like radio emission. The usual method of establishing temporal coincidence of radio continuum and a CME-CME interaction is not applicable in this event due to a complex and long-lasting interaction of the CMEs. Therefore, we performed radio triangulation studies (see also Magdalenic et al., 2014) which provided us with the 3D source positions of the radio emission. Comparison of the positions of radio sources and the reconstructed positions of the interacting CMEs, shows that the source position of the continuum-like radio emission is about 0.5 AU away from the interacting CMEs. We can therefore concluded that, in this event, the continuum-like emission is not the radio signature of the CME-CME interaction.

Coordinated Radio, Electron, and Waves Experiment (CREWE) for the NASA Comet Rendezvous and Asteroid Flyby (CRAF) instrument

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Scudder, Jack D.

1992-01-01

The Coordinated Radio, Electron, and Waves Experiment (CREWE) was designed to determine density, bulk velocity and temperature of the electrons for the NASA Comet Rendezvous and Asteroid Flyby Spacecraft, to define the MHD-SW IMF flow configuration; to clarify the role of impact ionization processes, to comment on the importance of anomalous ionization phenomena (via wave particle processes), to quantify the importance of wave turbulence in the cometary interaction, to establish the importance of photoionization via the presence of characteristic lines in a structured energy spectrum, to infer the presence and grain size of significant ambient dust column density, to search for the theoretically suggested 'impenetrable' contact surface, and to quantify the flow of heat (in the likelihood that no surface exists) that will penetrate very deep into the atmosphere supplying a good deal of heat via impact and charge exchange ionization. This final report provides an instrument description, instrument test plans, list of deliverables/schedule, flight and support equipment and software schedule, CREWE accommodation issues, resource requirements, status of major contracts, an explanation of the non-NASA funded efforts, status of EIP and IM plan, descope options, and Brinton questions.

Overview of Solar Radio Bursts and their Sources

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Golla, Thejappa; MacDowall, Robert J.

2018-06-01

Properties of radio bursts emitted by the Sun at frequencies below tens of MHz are reviewed. In this frequency range, the most prominent radio emissions are those of solar type II, complex type III and solar type IV radio bursts, excited probably by the energetic electron populations accelerated in completely different environments: (1) type II bursts are due to non-relativistic electrons accelerated by the CME driven interplanetary shocks, (2) complex type III bursts are due to near-relativistic electrons accelerated either by the solar flare reconnection process or by the SEP shocks, and (3) type IV bursts are due to relativistic electrons, trapped in the post-eruption arcades behind CMEs; these relativistic electrons probably are accelerated by the continued reconnection processes occurring beneath the CME. These radio bursts, which can serve as the natural plasma probes traversing the heliosphere by providing information about various crucial space plasma parameters, are also an ideal instrument for investigating acceleration mechanisms responsible for the high energy particles. The rich collection of valuable high quality radio and high time resolution in situ wave data from the WAVES experiments of the STEREO A, STEREO B and WIND spacecraft has provided an unique opportunity to study these different radio phenomena and understand the complex physics behind their excitation. We have developed Monte Carlo simulation techniques to estimate the propagation effects on the observed characteristics of these low frequency radio bursts. We will present some of the new results and describe how one can use these radio burst observations for space weather studies. We will also describe some of the non-linear plasma processes detected in the source regions of both solar type III and type II radio bursts. The analysis and simulation techniques used in these studies will be of immense use for future space based radio observations.

Effelsberg Monitoring of a Sample of RadioAstron Blazars: Analysis of Intra-Day Variability

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Liu, Jun; Bignall, Hayley; Krichbaum, Thomas; Liu, Xiang; Kraus, Alex; Kovalev, Yuri; Sokolovsky, Kirill; Angelakis, Emmanouil; Zensus, J.

2018-04-01

We present the first results of an ongoing intra-day variability (IDV) flux density monitoring program of 107 blazars, which were selected from a sample of RadioAstron space very long baseline interferometry (VLBI) targets. The~IDV observations were performed with the Effelsberg 100-m radio telescope at 4.8\\,GHz, focusing on the statistical properties of IDV in a relatively large sample of compact active galactic nuclei (AGN). We investigated the dependence of rapid ($<$3 day) variability on various source properties through a likelihood approach. We found that the IDV amplitude depends on flux density and that fainter sources vary by about a factor of 3 more than their brighter counterparts. We also found a significant difference in the variability amplitude between inverted- and flat-spectrum radio sources, with the former exhibiting stronger variations. $\\gamma$-ray loud sources were found to vary by up to a factor 4 more than $\\gamma$-ray quiet ones, with 4$\\sigma$ significance. However a galactic latitude dependence was barely observed, which suggests that it is predominantly the intrinsic properties (e.g., angular size, core-dominance) of the blazars that determine how they scintillate, rather than the directional dependence in the interstellar medium (ISM). We showed that the uncertainty in the VLBI brightness temperatures obtained from the space VLBI data of the RadioAstron satellite can be as high as $\\sim$70\\% due to the presence of the rapid flux density variations. Our statistical results support the view that IDV at centimeter wavelengths is predominantly caused by interstellar scintillation (ISS) of the emission from the most compact, core-dominant region in an AGN.

Harmonization based on regulatory science between scientific and commercial radio uses in a case of ultrawideband radio

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kohno, Ryuji; Iinatti, Jari; Sameshima, Keiko

2016-12-01

Harmonization for scientific and commercial radio uses is one of the unsolved problems in academia, industry, and regulatory bodies. The demands for commercial radio, mobile communications, and broadcasting have significantly increased over the past few decades; therefore, interference has become a major concern. There is an increasing need to prevent such interferences, for example, between commercial radio systems and other potentially sensitive radio systems such as those used for radio astronomy or studies. When discussing the fairness in resolving such conflicts, regulatory science may be a useful multidisciplinary approach as it scientifically investigates the advantages and disadvantages of a new application or technology for conflicts between different stakeholders through a mathematical analysis of risks versus benefits of the given technology. Such an analysis enables fair rules or regulations to be made. In this study, we apply the above-mentioned concept to harmonize the scientific and commercial uses of radio. After a brief introduction to regulatory science, a case study about the coexistence between ultrawideband commercial radio systems and radio astronomy is considered. Finally, a proposal by International Union of Radio Science, Japan, to the Science Council of Japan in the Cabinet Office to establish a "Center for Coexistence and Harmonization of Scientific and Commercial Uses of Radio Waves" is explained.

Full PIC simulations of solar radio emission

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sgattoni, A.; Henri, P.; Briand, C.; Amiranoff, F.; Riconda, C.

2017-12-01

Solar radio emissions are electromagnetic (EM) waves emitted in the solar wind plasma as a consequence of electron beams accelerated during solar flares or interplanetary shocks such as ICMEs. To describe their origin, a multi-stage model has been proposed in the 60s which considers a succession of non-linear three-wave interaction processes. A good understanding of the process would allow to infer the kinetic energy transfered from the electron beam to EM waves, so that the radio waves recorded by spacecraft can be used as a diagnostic for the electron beam.Even if the electrostatic problem has been extensively studied, full electromagnetic simulations were attempted only recently. Our large scale 2D-3V electromagnetic PIC simulations allow to identify the generation of both electrostatic and EM waves originated by the succession of plasma instabilities. We tested several configurations varying the electron beam density and velocity considering a background plasma of uniform density. For all the tested configurations approximately 105 of the electron-beam kinetic energy is transfered into EM waves emitted in all direction nearly isotropically. With this work we aim to design experiments of laboratory astrophysics to reproduce the electromagnetic emission process and test its efficiency.

Radio-over-fiber system with octuple frequency optical millimeter-wave signal generation using dual-parallel Mach-Zehnder modulator based on four-wave mixing in semiconductor optical amplifier

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zhou, Hui; Zeng, Yuting; Chen, Ming; Shen, Yunlong

2018-03-01

We have proposed a scheme of radio-over-fiber (RoF) system employing a dual-parallel Mach-Zehnder modulator (DP-MZM) based on four-wave mixing (FWM) in a semiconductor optical amplifier (SOA). In this scheme, the pump and the signal are generated by properly adjusting the direct current bias, modulation index of the DP-MZM, and the phase difference between the sub-MZMs. Because of the pump and the signal deriving from the same optical wave, the polarization states of the two lightwaves are copolarized. The single-pump FWM is polarization insensitive. After FWM and optical filtering, the optical millimeter-wave with octuple frequency is generated. About 40-GHz RoF system with a 2.5-Gbit / s signal is implemented by numerical simulation; the result shows that it has a good performance after the signal is transmitted over 40-km single-mode fiber. Then, the effects of the SOA's injection current and the carrier-to-sideband ratio on the system performance are discussed by simulation, and the optimum value for the system is obtained.

Types of propagation of radio waves of the decameter range, according to observations by the OBS method on Cuba--Soviet Union paths

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Berdeyans, D.; Bocharov, V.I.; Lobachevskii, L.A.

Ionosphere observations by the OBS method were performed to study ionospheric conditions under which radio waves in the decameter range propagate on Cuba--Soviet Union paths. The results of observations in the summer of 1973 are reported. The distance--frequency and distance--time characteristics of back-scattered signals in the sounding direction for each day of observation are discussed. (JFP)

Proton recoil scintillator neutron rem meter

DOEpatents

Olsher, Richard H.; Seagraves, David T.

2003-01-01

A neutron rem meter utilizing proton recoil and thermal neutron scintillators to provide neutron detection and dose measurement. In using both fast scintillators and a thermal neutron scintillator the meter provides a wide range of sensitivity, uniform directional response, and uniform dose response. The scintillators output light to a photomultiplier tube that produces an electrical signal to an external neutron counter.

Composite solid-state scintillators for neutron detection

DOEpatents

Dai, Sheng; Im, Hee-Jung; Pawel, Michelle D.

2006-09-12

Applicant's present invention is a composite scintillator for neutron detection comprising a matrix material fabricated from an inorganic sol-gel precursor solution homogeneously doped with a liquid scintillating material and a neutron absorbing material. The neutron absorbing material yields at least one of an electron, a proton, a triton, an alpha particle or a fission fragment when the neutron absorbing material absorbs a neutron. The composite scintillator further comprises a liquid scintillating material in a self-assembled micelle formation homogeneously doped in the matrix material through the formation of surfactant-silica composites. The scintillating material is provided to scintillate when traversed by at least one of an electron, a proton, a triton, an alpha particle or a fission fragment. The scintillating material is configured such that the matrix material surrounds the micelle formation of the scintillating material. The composite scintillator is fabricated and applied as a thin film on substrate surfaces, a coating on optical fibers or as a glass material.

Ionospheric Scintillation Effects on GPS

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Steenburgh, R. A.; Smithtro, C.; Groves, K.

2007-12-01

. Ionospheric scintillation of Global Positioning System (GPS) signals threatens navigation and military operations by degrading performance or making GPS unavailable. Scintillation is particularly active, although not limited to, a belt encircling the earth within 20 degrees of the geomagnetic equator. As GPS applications and users increases, so does the potential for detrimental impacts from scintillation. We examined amplitude scintillation data spanning seven years from Ascension Island, U.K.; Ancon, Peru; and Antofagasta, Chile in the Atlantic/Americas longitudinal sector at as well as data from Parepare, Indonesia; Marak Parak, Malaysia; Pontianak, Indonesia; Guam; and Diego Garcia, U.K.; in the Pacific longitudinal sector. From these data, we calculate percent probability of occurrence of scintillation at various intensities described by the S4 index. Additionally, we determine Dilution of Precision at one minute resolution. We examine diurnal, seasonal and solar cycle characteristics and make spatial comparisons. In general, activity was greatest during the equinoxes and solar maximum, although scintillation at Antofagasta, Chile was higher during 1998 rather than at solar maximum.

Enabling technologies for millimeter-wave radio-over-fiber systems in next generation heterogeneous mobile access networks

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zhang, Junwen; Yu, Jianjun; Wang, Jing; Xu, Mu; Cheng, Lin; Lu, Feng; Shen, Shuyi; Yan, Yan; Cho, Hyunwoo; Guidotti, Daniel; Chang, Gee-kung

2017-01-01

Fifth-generation (5G) wireless access network promises to support higher access data rate with more than 1,000 times capacity with respect to current long-term evolution (LTE) systems. New radio-access-technologies (RATs) based on higher carrier frequencies to millimeter-wave (MMW) radio-over-fiber, and carrier-aggregation (CA) using multi-band resources are intensively studied to support the high data rate access and effectively use of frequency resources in heterogeneous mobile network (Het-Net). In this paper, we investigate several enabling technologies for MMW RoF systems in 5G Het-Net. Efficient mobile fronthaul (MFH) solutions for 5G centralized radio access network (C-RAN) and beyond are proposed, analyzed and experimentally demonstrated based on the analog scheme. Digital predistortion based on memory polynomial for analog MFH linearization are presented with improved EVM performances and receiver sensitivity. We also propose and experimentally demonstrate a novel inter-/intra- RAT CA scheme for 5G Het- Net. The real-time standard 4G-LTE signal is carrier-aggregated with three broadband 60GHz MMW signals based on proposed optical-domain band-mapping method. RATs based on new waveforms have also been studied here to achieve higher spectral-efficiency (SE) in asynchronous environments. Full-duplex asynchronous quasi-gapless carrier aggregation scheme for MMW ROF inter-/intra-RAT based on the FBMC is also presented with 4G-LTE signals. Compared with OFDM-based signals with large guard-bands, FBMC achieves higher spectral-efficiency with better EVM performance at less received power and smaller guard-bands.

Theory of Type 3 and Type 2 Solar Radio Emissions

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Robinson, P. A.; Cairns, I. H.

2000-01-01

The main features of some current theories of type III and type II bursts are outlined. Among the most common solar radio bursts, type III bursts are produced at frequencies of 10 kHz to a few GHz when electron beams are ejected from solar active regions, entering the corona and solar wind at typical speeds of 0.1c. These beams provide energy to generate Langmuir waves via a streaming instability. In the current stochastic-growth theory, Langmuir waves grow in clumps associated with random low-frequency density fluctuations, leading to the observed spiky waves. Nonlinear wave-wave interactions then lead to secondary emission of observable radio waves near the fundamental and harmonic of the plasma frequency. Subsequent scattering processes modify the dynamic radio spectra, while back-reaction of Langmuir waves on the beam causes it to fluctuate about a state of marginal stability. Theories based on these ideas can account for the observed properties of type III bursts, including the in situ waves and the dynamic spectra of the radiation. Type 11 bursts are associated with shock waves propagating through the corona and interplanetary space and radiating from roughly 30 kHz to 1 GHz. Their basic emission mechanisms are believed to be similar to those of type III events and radiation from Earth's foreshock. However, several sub-classes of type II bursts may exist with different source regions and detailed characteristics. Theoretical models for type II bursts are briefly reviewed, focusing on a model with emission from a foreshock region upstream of the shock for which observational evidence has just been reported.

Simulation study of communication link for Pioneer Saturn/Uranus atmospheric entry probe. [signal acquisition by candidate modem for radio link

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Hinrichs, C. A.

1974-01-01

A digital simulation is presented for a candidate modem in a modeled atmospheric scintillation environment with Doppler, Doppler rate, and signal attenuation typical of the radio link conditions for an outer planets atmospheric entry probe. The results indicate that the signal acquisition characteristics and the channel error rate are acceptable for the system requirements of the radio link. The simulation also outputs data for calculating other error statistics and a quantized symbol stream from which error correction decoding can be analyzed.

Four Decades of Space-Borne Radio Sounding

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Benson, Robert F.

2010-01-01

A review is given of the 38 rocket, satellite, and planetary payloads dedicated to ionospheric/magnetospheric radio sounding since 1961. Between 1961 and 1995, eleven sounding-rocket payloads from four countries evolved from proof-of-concept flights to sophisticated instruments. Some involved dual payloads, with the sounder transmitter on one and the sounder receiver on the other. The rocket sounders addressed specific space-plasma-wave questions, and provided improved measurements of ionospheric electron-density (N(sub e)) field-aligned irregularities (FAI). Four countries launched 12 ionospheric topside-sounder satellites between 1962 and 1994, and an ionospheric sounder was placed on the Mir Space Station in 1998. Eleven magnetospheric radio sounders, most of the relaxation type, were launched from 1977 to 2000. The relaxation sounders used low-power transmitters, designed to stimulate plasma resonances for accurate local Ne determinations. The latest magnetospheric sounder designed for remote sensing incorporated long antennas and digital signal processing techniques to overcome the challenges posed by low Ne values and large propagation distances. Three radio sounders from three countries were included on payloads to extraterrestrial destinations from 1990 to 2003. The scientific accomplishments of space-borne radio sounders included (1) a wealth of global N(sub e) information on the topside ionosphere and magnetosphere, based on vertical and magnetic-field-aligned N(sub e) profiles; (2) accurate in-situ N(sub e) values, even under low-density conditions; and (3) fundamental advances in our understanding of the excitation and propagation of plasma waves, which have even led to the prediction of a new plasma-wave mode.

Calculations and measurements of the scintillator-to-water stopping power ratio of liquid scintillators for use in proton radiotherapy

PubMed Central

Ingram, W. Scott; Robertson, Daniel; Beddar, Sam

2015-01-01

Liquid scintillators are a promising detector for high-resolution three-dimensional proton therapy dosimetry. Because the scintillator comprises both the active volume of the detector and the phantom material, an ideal scintillator will exhibit water equivalence in its radiological properties. One of the most fundamental of these is the scintillator’s stopping power. The objective of this study was to compare calculations and measurements of scintillator-to-water stopping power ratios to evaluate the suitability of the liquid scintillators BC-531 and OptiPhase HiSafe 3 for proton dosimetry. We also measured the relative scintillation output of the two scintillators. Both calculations and measurements show that the linear stopping power of OptiPhase is significantly closer to water than that of BC-531. BC-531 has a somewhat higher scintillation output. OptiPhase can be mixed with water at high concentrations, which further improves its scintillator-to-water stopping power ratio. However, this causes the solution to become cloudy, which has a negative impact on the scintillation output and spatial resolution of the detector. OptiPhase is preferred over BC-531 for proton dosimetry because its density and scintillator-to-water stopping power ratio are more water equivalent. PMID:25705066

Method of making a scintillator waveguide

DOEpatents

Bliss, Mary; Craig, Richard A.; Reeder, Paul L.

2000-01-01

The present invention is an apparatus for detecting ionizing radiation, having: a waveguide having a first end and a second end, the waveguide formed of a scintillator material wherein the therapeutic ionizing radiation isotropically generates scintillation light signals within the waveguide. This apparatus provides a measure of radiation dose. The apparatus may be modified to permit making a measure of location of radiation dose. Specifically, the scintillation material is segmented into a plurality of segments; and a connecting cable for each of the plurality of segments is used for conducting scintillation signals to a scintillation detector.

Generating multiple orbital angular momentum vortex beams using a metasurface in radio frequency domain

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Yu, Shixing; Li, Long; Shi, Guangming; Zhu, Cheng; Shi, Yan

2016-06-01

In this paper, an electromagnetic metasurface is designed, fabricated, and experimentally demonstrated to generate multiple orbital angular momentum (OAM) vortex beams in radio frequency domain. Theoretical formula of compensated phase-shift distribution is deduced and used to design the metasurface to produce multiple vortex radio waves in different directions with different OAM modes. The prototype of a practical configuration of square-patch metasurface is designed, fabricated, and measured to validate the theoretical analysis at 5.8 GHz. The simulated and experimental results verify that multiple OAM vortex waves can be simultaneously generated by using a single electromagnetic metasurface. The proposed method paves an effective way to generate multiple OAM vortex waves in radio and microwave wireless communication applications.

Well-defined EUV wave associated with a CME-driven shock

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Cunha-Silva, R. D.; Selhorst, C. L.; Fernandes, F. C. R.; Oliveira e Silva, A. J.

2018-05-01

Aims: We report on a well-defined EUV wave observed by the Extreme Ultraviolet Imager (EUVI) on board the Solar Terrestrial Relations Observatory (STEREO) and the Atmospheric Imaging Assembly (AIA) on board the Solar Dynamics Observatory (SDO). The event was accompanied by a shock wave driven by a halo CME observed by the Large Angle and Spectrometric Coronagraph (LASCO-C2/C3) on board the Solar and Heliospheric Observatory (SOHO), as evidenced by the occurrence of type II bursts in the metric and dekameter-hectometric wavelength ranges. We investigated the kinematics of the EUV wave front and the radio source with the purpose of verifying the association between the EUV wave and the shock wave. Methods: The EUV wave fronts were determined from the SDO/AIA images by means of two appropriate directions (slices). The heights (radial propagation) of the EUV wave observed by STEREO/EUVI and of the radio source associated with the shock wave were compared considering the whole bandwidth of the harmonic lane of the radio emission, whereas the speed of the shock was estimated using the lowest frequencies of the harmonic lane associated with the undisturbed corona, using an appropriate multiple of the Newkirk (1961, ApJ, 133, 983) density model and taking into account the H/F frequency ratio fH/fF = 2. The speed of the radio source associated with the interplanetary shock was determined using the Mann et al. (1999, A&A, 348, 614) density model. Results: The EUV wave fronts determined from the SDO/AIA images revealed the coexistence of two types of EUV waves, a fast one with a speed of 560 km s-1, and a slower one with a speed of 250 km s-1, which corresponds approximately to one-third of the average speed of the radio source ( 680 km s-1). The radio signature of the interplanetary shock revealed an almost constant speed of 930 km s-1, consistent with the linear speed of the halo CME (950 km s-1) and with the values found for the accelerating coronal shock ( 535-823 km s-1

Scintillators and applications thereof

DOEpatents

Williams, Richard T.

2015-09-01

Scintillators of various constructions and methods of making and using the same are provided. In some embodiments, a scintillator comprises at least one radiation absorption region and at least one spatially discrete radiative exciton recombination region.

Scintillators and applications thereof

DOEpatents

Williams, Richard T.

2014-07-15

Scintillators of various constructions and methods of making and using the same are provided. In some embodiments, a scintillator comprises at least one radiation absorption region and at least one spatially discrete radiative exciton recombination region.

RADIATION WAVE DETECTOR

DOEpatents

Wouters, L.F.

1958-10-28

The detection of the shape and amplitude of a radiation wave is discussed, particularly an apparatus for automatically indicating at spaced lntervals of time the radiation intensity at a flxed point as a measure of a radiation wave passing the point. The apparatus utilizes a number of photomultiplier tubes surrounding a scintillation type detector, For obtainlng time spaced signals proportional to radiation at predetermined intervals the photolnultiplier tubes are actuated ln sequence following detector incidence of a predetermined radiation level by electronic means. The time spaced signals so produced are then separately amplified and relayed to recording means.

Real-time Scintillation Monitoring in Alaska from a Longitudinal Chain of ASTRA's SM-211 GPS TEC and Scintillation Receivers

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Crowley, G.; Azeem, S. I.; Reynolds, A.; Santana, J.; Hampton, D. L.

2013-12-01

Amplitude and phase scintillation can cause serious difficulties for GPS receivers. Intense scintillation can cause loss of lock. High latitude studies generally show that phase scintillation can be severe, but the amplitude scintillation tends to be small. The reason for this is not yet understood. Furthermore, the actual causes of the ionospheric irregularities that produce high latitude scintillation are not well understood. While the gradient drift instability is thought to be important in the F-region, there may be other structures present in either the E- or F-regions. The role of particle precipitation is also not well understood. Four of ASTRA's CASES GPS receivers were deployed in Alaska to demonstrate our ability to map scintillation in realtime, to provide space weather services to GPS users, and to initiate a detailed investigation of these effects. These dual-frequency GPS receivers measure total electron content (TEC) and scintillation. The scintillation monitors were deployed in a longitudinal chain at sites in Kaktovic, Fort Yukon, Poker Flat, and Gakona. Scintillation statistics show phase scintillations to be largest at Kaktovic and smallest at Gakona. We present GPS phase scintillation and auroral emission results from the Alaska chain to characterize the correspondence between scintillation and auroral features, and to investigate the role of high latitude auroral features in driving the phase scintillations. We will also present data showing how phase scintillation can cause other GPS receivers to lose lock. The data and results are particularly valuable because they illustrate some of the challenges of using GPS systems for positioning and navigation in an auroral region like Alaska. These challenges for snowplough drivers were recently highlighted, along with the CASES SM-211 space weather monitor, in a special video in which ASTRA and three other small businesses were presented with an entrepreneurial award from William Shatner (http://youtu.be/bIVKEQH_YPk).

SOURCE REGIONS OF THE TYPE II RADIO BURST OBSERVED DURING A CME–CME INTERACTION ON 2013 MAY 22

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Mäkelä, P.; Reiner, M. J.; Akiyama, S.

2016-08-20

We report on our study of radio source regions during the type II radio burst on 2013 May 22 based on direction-finding analysis of the Wind /WAVES and STEREO /WAVES (SWAVES) radio observations at decameter–hectometric wavelengths. The type II emission showed an enhancement that coincided with the interaction of two coronal mass ejections (CMEs) launched in sequence along closely spaced trajectories. The triangulation of the SWAVES source directions posited the ecliptic projections of the radio sources near the line connecting the Sun and the STEREO-A spacecraft. The WAVES and SWAVES source directions revealed shifts in the latitude of the radiomore » source, indicating that the spatial location of the dominant source of the type II emission varies during the CME–CME interaction. The WAVES source directions close to 1 MHz frequencies matched the location of the leading edge of the primary CME seen in the images of the LASCO/C3 coronagraph. This correspondence of spatial locations at both wavelengths confirms that the CME–CME interaction region is the source of the type II enhancement. Comparison of radio and white-light observations also showed that at lower frequencies scattering significantly affects radio wave propagation.« less

INSPIRE - Premission. [Interactive NASA Space Physics Ionosphere Radio Experiment

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Taylor, William W. L.; Mideke, Michael; Pine, William E.; Ericson, James D.

1992-01-01

The Interactive NASA Space Physics Ionosphere Radio Experiment (INSPIRE) designed to assist in a Space Experiments with Particle Accelerators (SEPAC) project is discussed. INSPIRE is aimed at recording data from a large number of receivers on the ground to determine the exact propagation paths and absorption of radio waves at frequencies between 50 Hz and 7 kHz. It is indicated how to participate in the experiment that will involve high school classes, colleges, and amateur radio operators.

Solar Electron Beams Detected in Hard X-Rays and Radio Waves

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Aschwanden, Markus J.; Benz, Arnold O.; Dennis, Brian R.; Schwartz, Richard A.

1995-12-01

We present a statistical survey of electron beam signatures that are detected simultaneously at hard X-ray (HXR) and radio wavelengths during solar flares. For the identification of a simultaneous event we require a type III (normal-drifting or reverse-slope-drifting) radio burst that coincides (within ± 1 s) with a significant (≥ 3 σ HXR pulse of similar duration (≥ 1 s). Our survey covers all HXRBS/SMM and BATSE/CGRO flares that were simultaneously observed with the 0.1-1 GHz spectrometer Ikarus or the 0.1-3 GHz spectrometer Phoenix of ETH Zurich during 1980-1993. The major results and conclusions are as follows: 1. We identified 233 HXR pulses (out of 882) to be correlated with type III-like radio bursts: 77% with normal-drifting type III bursts, 34% with reverse-slope (RS)-drifting bursts, and 13% with oppositely drifting (III + RS) burst pairs. The majority of these cases provide evidence for acceleration of bidirectional electron beams. 2. The detailed correlation with type III-like radio bursts suggests that most of the subsecond fluctuations detectable in ≥ 25 keV HXR emission are related to discrete electron injections. This is also supported by the proportionality of the HXR pulse duration with the radio burst duration. The distribution of HXR pulse durations WX is found to have an exponential distribution, i.e., N(WX) ∝ exp (-WX/0.25 s) in the measured range of WX ≍ 0.5-1.5 s. 3. From oppositely drifting radio burst pairs we infer electron densities of ne = 109-1010 cm-3 at the acceleration site. From the absence of a frequency gap between the simultaneous start frequencies of upward and downward drifting radio bursts, we infer an upper limit of L ≤ 2000 km for the extent of the acceleration site and an acceleration time of Δt ≤ 3 ms for the (≥ 5 keV) radio-emitting electrons (in the case of parallel electric fields). 4. The relative timing between HXR pulses and radio bursts is best at the start frequency (of earliest radio detection

High-symmetry organic scintillator systems

DOEpatents

Feng, Patrick L.

2018-02-06

An ionizing radiation detector or scintillator system includes a scintillating material comprising an organic crystalline compound selected to generate photons in response to the passage of ionizing radiation. The organic compound has a crystalline symmetry of higher order than monoclinic, for example an orthorhombic, trigonal, tetragonal, hexagonal, or cubic symmetry. A photodetector is optically coupled to the scintillating material, and configured to generate electronic signals having pulse shapes based on the photons generated in the scintillating material. A discriminator is coupled to the photon detector, and configured to discriminate between neutrons and gamma rays in the ionizing radiation based on the pulse shapes of the output signals.

High-symmetry organic scintillator systems

DOEpatents

Feng, Patrick L.

2017-07-18

An ionizing radiation detector or scintillator system includes a scintillating material comprising an organic crystalline compound selected to generate photons in response to the passage of ionizing radiation. The organic compound has a crystalline symmetry of higher order than monoclinic, for example an orthorhombic, trigonal, tetragonal, hexagonal, or cubic symmetry. A photodetector is optically coupled to the scintillating material, and configured to generate electronic signals having pulse shapes based on the photons generated in the scintillating material. A discriminator is coupled to the photon detector, and configured to discriminate between neutrons and gamma rays in the ionizing radiation based on the pulse shapes of the output signals.

High-symmetry organic scintillator systems

DOEpatents

Feng, Patrick L.

2017-06-14

An ionizing radiation detector or scintillator system includes a scintillating material comprising an organic crystalline compound selected to generate photons in response to the passage of ionizing radiation. The organic compound has a crystalline symmetry of higher order than monoclinic, for example an orthorhombic, trigonal, tetragonal, hexagonal, or cubic symmetry. A photodetector is optically coupled to the scintillating material, and configured to generate electronic signals having pulse shapes based on the photons generated in the scintillating material. A discriminator is coupled to the photon detector, and configured to discriminate between neutrons and gamma rays in the ionizing radiation based on the pulse shapes of the output signals.

High-symmetry organic scintillator systems

DOEpatents

Feng, Patrick L.

2017-09-05

An ionizing radiation detector or scintillator system includes a scintillating material comprising an organic crystalline compound selected to generate photons in response to the passage of ionizing radiation. The organic compound has a crystalline symmetry of higher order than monoclinic, for example an orthorhombic, trigonal, tetragonal, hexagonal, or cubic symmetry. A photodetector is optically coupled to the scintillating material, and configured to generate electronic signals having pulse shapes based on the photons generated in the scintillating material. A discriminator is coupled to the photon detector, and configured to discriminate between neutrons and gamma rays in the ionizing radiation based on the pulse shapes of the output signals.

Temperature dependence of plastic scintillators

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Peralta, L.

2018-03-01

Plastic scintillator detectors have been studied as dosimeters, since they provide a cost-effective alternative to conventional ionization chambers. Several articles have reported undesired response dependencies on beam energy and temperature, which provides the motivation to determine appropriate correction factors. In this work, we studied the light yield temperature dependency of four plastic scintillators, BCF-10, BCF-60, BC-404, RP-200A and two clear fibers, BCF-98 and SK-80. Measurements were made using a 50 kVp X-ray beam to produce the scintillation and/or radioluminescence signal. The 0 to 40 °C temperature range was scanned for each scintillator, and temperature coefficients were obtained.

Jupiter plasma wave observations: an initial voyager 1 overview.

PubMed

Scarf, F L; Gurnett, D A; Kurth, W S

1979-06-01

The Voyager I plasma wave instrument detected low-frequency radio emissions, ion acoustic waves, and electron plasma oscillations for a period of months before encountering Jupiter's bow shock. In the outer magnetosphere, measurements of trapped radio waves were used to derive an electron density profile. Near and within the Io plasma torus the instrument detected high-frequency electrostatic waves, strong whistler mode turbulence, and discrete whistlers, apparently associated with lightning. Some strong emissions in the tail region and some impulsive signals have not yet been positively identified.

Neutron position-sensitive scintillation detector

DOEpatents

Strauss, Michael G.; Brenner, Raul

1984-01-01

A device is provided for mapping one- and two-dimensional distributions of neutron-positions in a scintillation detector. The device consists of a lithium glass scintillator coupled by an air gap and a light coupler to an array of photomultipliers. The air gap concentrates light flashes from the scintillator, whereas the light coupler disperses this concentrated light to a predetermined fraction of the photomultiplier tube array.

Geotechnical sensing using electromagnetic attenuation between radio transceivers

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ghazanfari, Ehsan; Pamukcu, Sibel; Yoon, Suk-Un; Suleiman, Muhannad T.; Cheng, Liang

2012-12-01

Monitoring the onset of a geo-event such as the intrusion of a chemical plume or a slow progressive mass slide that results in marked changes in the physical properties of the host soil could be potentially accomplished using a distributed network of embedded radio transceivers. This paper introduces a new concept of subsurface geo-event monitoring, which takes advantage of the spatial and temporal variations in signal strength of electromagnetic (EM) waves transmitted within the net of distributed radios within a sensing area. Results of experiments in the laboratory and the field demonstrated that variations in EM signal strength could be used to detect physical changes in the subsurface. Changes in selected physical properties of host soil including water content, density, and formation of discontinuities could be discerned from the changes in the signal strength of the transmitted wave between embedded radio transceivers. Good agreement was observed between a theoretical model and the experimental results for inter-transceiver distances less than 55 cm. These results demonstrated a viable new approach for distributed sensing and monitoring of subsurface hazards for civil infrastructure within a networked domain of radio transceivers.

Radio Heating of Lunar Soil to Release Gases

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Chui, Talso; Penanen, Konstantin

2006-01-01

A report proposes the development of a system to collect volatile elements and compounds from Lunar soil for use in supporting habitation and processing into rocket fuel. Prior exploratory missions revealed that H2, He, and N2 are present in Lunar soil and there are some indications that water ice may also be present. The proposed system would include a shroud that would be placed on the Lunar surface. Inside the shroud would be a radio antenna aimed downward. The antenna would be excited at a suitably high power and at a frequency chosen to optimize the depth of penetration of radio waves into the soil. The radio waves would heat the soil, thereby releasing volatiles bound to soil particles. The escaping volatiles would be retained by the shroud and collected by condensation in a radiatively cooled vessel connected to the shroud. It has been estimated that through radio-frequency heating at a power of 10 kW for one day, it should be possible to increase the temperature of a soil volume of about 1 cubic m by about 200 C -- an amount that should suffice for harvesting a significant quantity of volatile material.

Waves in Space Plasmas (WISP)

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Calvert, Wynne

1994-01-01

Activities under this project have included participation in the Waves in Space Plasmas (WISP) program, a study of the data processing requirements for WISP, and theoretical studies of radio sounding, ducting, and magnetoionic theory. An analysis of radio sounding in the magnetosphere was prepared.

Graphene electrostatic microphone and ultrasonic radio

PubMed Central

Zhou, Qin; Zheng, Jinglin; Onishi, Seita; Crommie, M. F.; Zettl, Alex K.

2015-01-01

We present a graphene-based wideband microphone and a related ultrasonic radio that can be used for wireless communication. It is shown that graphene-based acoustic transmitters and receivers have a wide bandwidth, from the audible region (20∼20 kHz) to the ultrasonic region (20 kHz to at least 0.5 MHz). Using the graphene-based components, we demonstrate efficient high-fidelity information transmission using an ultrasonic band centered at 0.3 MHz. The graphene-based microphone is also shown to be capable of directly receiving ultrasound signals generated by bats in the field, and the ultrasonic radio, coupled to electromagnetic (EM) radio, is shown to function as a high-accuracy rangefinder. The ultrasonic radio could serve as a useful addition to wireless communication technology where the propagation of EM waves is difficult. PMID:26150483

Segmented scintillation antineutrino detector

DOEpatents

Reyna, David

2017-05-09

The various technologies presented herein relate to incorporating a wavelength-shifting material in a scintillator to facilitate absorption of a first electromagnetic particle (e.g., a first photon) having a first wavelength and subsequent generation and emission of a second electromagnetic particle (e.g., a second photon) having a second wavelength. The second electromagnetic particle can be emitted isotropically, with a high probability that the direction of emission of the second electromagnetic particle is disparate to the direction of travel of the first electromagnetic particle (and according angle of incidence). Isotropic emission of the second electromagnetic particle enables the second electromagnetic particle to be retained in the scintillator owing to internal reflection. Accordingly, longer length scintillators can be constructed, and accordingly, the scintillator array has a greater area (and volume) over which to detect electromagnetic particles (e.g., antineutrinos) being emitted from a nuclear reaction.

Generating multiple orbital angular momentum vortex beams using a metasurface in radio frequency domain

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Yu, Shixing; Li, Long, E-mail: lilong@mail.xidian.edu.cn, E-mail: gmshi@xidian.edu.cn; Shi, Guangming, E-mail: lilong@mail.xidian.edu.cn, E-mail: gmshi@xidian.edu.cn

In this paper, an electromagnetic metasurface is designed, fabricated, and experimentally demonstrated to generate multiple orbital angular momentum (OAM) vortex beams in radio frequency domain. Theoretical formula of compensated phase-shift distribution is deduced and used to design the metasurface to produce multiple vortex radio waves in different directions with different OAM modes. The prototype of a practical configuration of square-patch metasurface is designed, fabricated, and measured to validate the theoretical analysis at 5.8 GHz. The simulated and experimental results verify that multiple OAM vortex waves can be simultaneously generated by using a single electromagnetic metasurface. The proposed method paves an effectivemore » way to generate multiple OAM vortex waves in radio and microwave wireless communication applications.« less

Galileo radio science investigations

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Howard, H. T.; Eshleman, V. R.; Hinson, D. P.; Kliore, A. J.; Lindal, G. F.; Woo, R.; Bird, M. K.; Volland, H.; Edenhoffer, P.; Paetzold, M.

1992-01-01

Galileo radio-propagation experiments are based on measurements of absolute and differential propagation time delay, differential phase delay, Doppler shift, signal strength, and polarization. These measurements can be used to study: the atmospheric and ionospheric structure, constituents, and dynamics of Jupiter; the magnetic field of Jupiter; the diameter of Io, its ionospheric structure, and the distribution of plasma in the Io torus; the diameters of the other Galilean satellites, certain properties of their surfaces, and possibly their atmospheres and ionospheres; and the plasma dynamics and magnetic field of the solar corona. The spacecraft system provides linear rather than circular polarization on the S-band downlink signal, the capability to receive X-band uplink signals, and a differential downlink ranging mode. A highly-stable, dual-frequency, spacecraft radio system is developed that is suitable for simultaneous measurements of all the parameters normally attributed to radio waves.

Divalent europium doped and un-doped calcium iodide scintillators: Scintillator characterization and single crystal growth

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Boatner, L. A.; Ramey, J. O.; Kolopus, J. A.

2015-02-21

Initially, the alkaline-earth scintillator, CaI 2:Eu 2+, was discovered around 1964 by Hofstadter, Odell, and Schmidt. Serious practical problems quickly arose, however, that were associated with the growth of large monolithic single crystals of this material due to its lamellar, mica-like structure. As a result of its theoretically higher light yield, CaI 2:Eu 2+ has the potential to exceed the excellent scintillation performance of SrI 2:Eu 2+. In fact, theoretical predictions for the light yield of CaI2:Eu 2+ scintillators suggested that an energy resolution approaching 2% at 662 keV could be achievable. Like the early SrI 2:Eu 2+ scintillator, themore » performance of CaI 2:Eu 2+ scintillators has traditionally suffered due, at least in part, to outdated materials synthesis, component stoichiometry/purity, and single-crystal-growth techniques. Based on our recent work on SrI 2:Eu 2+ scintillators in single-crystal form, we have developed new techniques that are applied here to CaI 2:Eu 2+ and pure CaI 2 with the goal of growing large un-cracked crystals and, potentially, realizing the theoretically predicted performance of the CaI 2:Eu 2+ form of this material. Calcium iodide does not adhere to modern glassy carbon Bridgman crucibles - so there should be no differential thermal-contraction-induced crystal/crucible stresses on cooling that would result in crystal cracking of the lamellar structure of CaI 2. Here we apply glassy carbon crucible Bridgman growth, high-purity growth-charge compounds, our molten salt processing/filtration technique, and extended vacuum-melt-pumping methods to the growth of both CaI 2:Eu 2+ and un-doped CaI 2. Moreover, large scintillating single crystals were obtained, and detailed characterization studies of the scintillation properties of CaI 2:Eu 2+ and pure CaI 2 single crystals are presented that include studies of the effects of plastic deformation of the crystals on the scintillator performance.« less

A SEARCH FOR RAPIDLY SPINNING PULSARS AND FAST TRANSIENTS IN UNIDENTIFIED RADIO SOURCES WITH THE NRAO 43 METER TELESCOPE

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Schmidt, Deborah; Crawford, Fronefield; Gilpin, Claire

2013-04-15

We have searched 75 unidentified radio sources selected from the NRAO VLA Sky Survey catalog for the presence of rapidly spinning pulsars and short, dispersed radio bursts. The sources are radio bright, have no identifications or optical source coincidences, are more than 5% linearly polarized, and are spatially unresolved in the catalog. If these sources are fast-spinning pulsars (e.g., sub-millisecond pulsars), previous large-scale pulsar surveys may have missed detection due to instrumental and computational limitations, eclipsing effects, or diffractive scintillation. The discovery of a sub-millisecond pulsar would significantly constrain the neutron star equation of state and would have implications formore » models predicting a rapid slowdown of highly recycled X-ray pulsars to millisecond periods from, e.g., accretion disk decoupling. These same sources were previously searched unsuccessfully for pulsations at 610 MHz with the Lovell Telescope at Jodrell Bank. This new search was conducted at a different epoch with a new 800 MHz backend on the NRAO 43 m Telescope at a center frequency of 1200 MHz. Our search was sensitive to sub-millisecond pulsars in highly accelerated binary systems and to short transient pulses. No periodic or transient signals were detected from any of the target sources. We conclude that diffractive scintillation, dispersive smearing, and binary acceleration are unlikely to have prevented detection of the large majority of the sources if they are pulsars, though we cannot rule out eclipsing, nulling or intermittent emission, or radio interference as possible factors for some non-detections. Other (speculative) possibilities for what these sources might include radio-emitting magnetic cataclysmic variables or older pulsars with aligned magnetic and spin axes.« less

Neutron crosstalk between liquid scintillators

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Verbeke, J. M.; Prasad, M. K.; Snyderman, N. J.

2015-05-01

We propose a method to quantify the fractions of neutrons scattering between liquid scintillators. Using a spontaneous fission source, this method can be utilized to quickly characterize an array of liquid scintillators in terms of crosstalk. The point model theory due to Feynman is corrected to account for these multiple scatterings. Using spectral information measured by the liquid scintillators, fractions of multiple scattering can be estimated, and mass reconstruction of fissile materials under investigation can be improved. Monte Carlo simulations of mono-energetic neutron sources were performed to estimate neutron crosstalk. A californium source in an array of liquid scintillators wasmore » modeled to illustrate the improvement of the mass reconstruction.« less

High-symmetry organic scintillator systems

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Feng, Patrick L.

An ionizing radiation detector or scintillator system includes a scintillating material comprising an organic crystalline compound selected to generate photons in response to the passage of ionizing radiation. The organic compound has a crystalline symmetry of higher order than monoclinic, for example an orthorhombic, trigonal, tetragonal, hexagonal, or cubic symmetry. A photodetector is optically coupled to the scintillating material, and configured to generate electronic signals having pulse shapes based on the photons generated in the scintillating material. A discriminator is coupled to the photon detector, and configured to discriminate between neutrons and gamma rays in the ionizing radiation based onmore » the pulse shapes of the output signals.« less

Voyager 1 Planetary Radio Astronomy Observations Near Jupiter

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Warwick, J. W.; Pearce, J. B.; Riddle, A. C.; Alexander, J. K.; Desch, M. D.; Kaiser, M. L.; Thieman, J. R.; Carr, T. B.; Gulkis, S.; Boischot, A.

1979-01-01

Results are reported from the first low frequency radio receiver to be transported into the Jupiter magnetosphere. Dramatic new information was obtained both because Voyager was near or in Jupiter's radio emission sources and also because it was outside the relatively dense solar wind plasma of the inner solar system. Extensive radio arcs, from above 30 MHz to about 1 MHz, occurred in patterns correlated with planetary longitude. A newly discovered kilometric wavelength radio source may relate to the plasma torus near Io's orbit. In situ wave resonances near closest approach define an electron density profile along the Voyager trajectory and form the basis for a map of the torus. Studies in progress are outlined briefly.

Full-wave reflection of lightning long-wave radio pulses from the ionospheric D region: Comparison with midday observations of broadband lightning signals

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Jacobson, Abram R.; Shao, Xuan-Min; Holzworth, Robert

2010-05-01

We are developing and testing a steep-incidence D region sounding method for inferring profile information, principally regarding electron density. The method uses lightning emissions (in the band 5-500 kHz) as the probe signal. The data are interpreted by comparison against a newly developed single-reflection model of the radio wave's encounter with the lower ionosphere. The ultimate application of the method will be to study transient, localized disturbances of the nocturnal D region, including those instigated by lightning itself. Prior to applying the method to study lightning-induced perturbations of the nighttime D region, we have performed a validation test against more stable and predictable daytime observations, where the profile of electron density is largely determined by direct solar X-ray illumination. This article reports on the validation test. Predictions from our recently developed full-wave ionospheric-reflection model are compared to statistical summaries of daytime lightning radiated waveforms, recorded by the Los Alamos Sferic Array. The comparison is used to retrieve best fit parameters for an exponential profile of electron density in the ionospheric D region. The optimum parameter values are compared to those found elsewhere using a narrowband beacon technique, which used totally different measurements, ranges, and modeling approaches from those of the work reported here.

Interplanetary Radio Transmission Through Serial Ionospheric and Material Barriers

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Fields, David; Kennedy, Robert G; Roy, Kenneth I

2013-01-01

A usual first principle in planning radio astronomy observations from the earth is that monitoring must be carried out well above the ionospheric plasma cutoff frequency (~5 MHz). Before space probes existed, radio astronomy was almost entirely done above 6 MHz, and this value is considered a practical lower limit by most radio astronomers. Furthermore, daytime ionization (especially D-layer formation) places additional constraints on wave propagation, and waves of frequency below 10-20 MHz suffer significant attenuation. More careful calculations of wave propagation through the earth s ionosphere suggest that for certain conditions (primarily the presence of a magnetic field) theremore » may be a transmission window well below this assumed limit. Indeed, for receiving extraterrestrial radiation below the ionospheric plasma cutoff frequency, a choice of VLF frequency appears optimal to minimize loss. The calculation, experimental validation, and conclusions are presented here. This work demonstrates the possibility of VLF transmission through the ionosphere and various subsequent material barriers. Implications include development of a new robust communications channel, communications with submerged or subterranean receivers / instruments on or offworld, and a new approach to SETI.« less

THE MICRO-ARCSECOND SCINTILLATION-INDUCED VARIABILITY (MASIV) SURVEY. III. OPTICAL IDENTIFICATIONS AND NEW REDSHIFTS

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Pursimo, Tapio; Ojha, Roopesh; Jauncey, David L.

2013-04-10

Intraday variability (IDV) of the radio emission from active galactic nuclei is now known to be predominantly due to interstellar scintillation (ISS). The MASIV (The Micro-Arcsecond Scintillation-Induced Variability) survey of 443 flat spectrum sources revealed that the IDV is related to the radio flux density and redshift. A study of the physical properties of these sources has been severely handicapped by the absence of reliable redshift measurements for many of these objects. This paper presents 79 new redshifts and a critical evaluation of 233 redshifts obtained from the literature. We classify spectroscopic identifications based on emission line properties, finding thatmore » 78% of the sources have broad emission lines and are mainly FSRQs. About 16% are weak lined objects, chiefly BL Lacs, and the remaining 6% are narrow line objects. The gross properties (redshift, spectroscopic class) of the MASIV sample are similar to those of other blazar surveys. However, the extreme compactness implied by ISS favors FSRQs and BL Lacs in the MASIV sample as these are the most compact object classes. We confirm that the level of IDV depends on the 5 GHz flux density for all optical spectral types. We find that BL Lac objects tend to be more variable than broad line quasars. The level of ISS decreases substantially above a redshift of about two. The decrease is found to be generally consistent with ISS expected for beamed emission from a jet that is limited to a fixed maximum brightness temperature in the source rest frame.« less

The Micro-Arcsecond Scintillation-Induced Variability (MASIV) Survey III. Optical Identifications and New Redshifts

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Pursimo, Tapio; Ojha, Roopesh; Jauncey, David L.; Rickett, Barney J.; Dutka, Michael S.; Koay, Jun Yi; Lovell, James E. J.; Bignall, Hayley E.; Kedziora-Chudczer, Lucyna; Macquart, Jean-Pierre

2013-01-01

Intraday variability (IDV) of the radio emission from active galactic nuclei is now known to be predominantly due to interstellar scintillation (ISS). The MASIV (The Microarcsecond Scintillation Induced Variability) survey of 443 at spectrum sources revealed that the IDV is related to the radio flux density and redshift. A study of the physical properties of these sources has been severely handicapped by the absence of reliable redshift measurements for many of these objects. This paper presents 79 new redshifts and a critical evaluation of 233 redshifts obtained from the literature. We classify spectroscopic identifications based on emission line properties, finding that 78% of the sources have broad emission lines and are mainly FSRQs. About 16% are weak lined objects, chiefly BL Lacs, and the remaining 6% are narrow line objects. The gross properties (redshift, spectroscopic class) of the MASIV sample are similar to those of other blazar surveys. However, the extreme compactness implied by ISS favors FSRQs and BL Lacs in the MASIV sample as these are the most compact object classes. We confirm that the level of IDV depends on the 5 GHz flux density for all optical spectral types. We find that BL Lac objects tend to be more variable than broad line quasars. The level of ISS decreases substantially above a redshift of about two. The decrease is found to be generally consistent with ISS expected for beamed emission from a jet that is limited to a fixed maximum brightness temperature in the source rest frame.

Characterization of the exradin W1 plastic scintillation detector for small field applications in proton therapy.

PubMed

Hoehr, C; Lindsay, C; Beaudry, J; Penner, C; Strgar, V; Lee, R; Duzenli, C

2018-05-04

Accurate dosimetry in small field proton therapy is challenging, particularly for applications such as ocular therapy, and suitable detectors for this purpose are sought. The Exradin W1 plastic scintillating fibre detector is known to out-perform most other detectors for determining relative dose factors for small megavoltage photon beams used in radiotherapy but its potential in small proton beams has been relatively unexplored in the literature. The 1 mm diameter cylindrical geometry and near water equivalence of the W1 makes it an attractive alternative to other detectors. This study examines the dosimetric performance of the W1 in a 74 MeV proton therapy beam with particular focus on detector response characteristics relevant to relative dose measurement in small fields suitable for ocular therapy. Quenching of the scintillation signal is characterized and demonstrated not to impede relative dose measurements at a fixed depth. The background cable-only (Čerenkov and radio-fluorescence) signal is 4 orders of magnitude less than the scintillation signal, greatly simplifying relative dose measurements. Comparison with other detectors and Monte Carlo simulations indicate that the W1 is useful for measuring relative dose factors for field sizes down to 5 mm diameter and shallow spread out Bragg peaks down to 6 mm in depth.

Characterization of the exradin W1 plastic scintillation detector for small field applications in proton therapy

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hoehr, C.; Lindsay, C.; Beaudry, J.; Penner, C.; Strgar, V.; Lee, R.; Duzenli, C.

2018-05-01

Accurate dosimetry in small field proton therapy is challenging, particularly for applications such as ocular therapy, and suitable detectors for this purpose are sought. The Exradin W1 plastic scintillating fibre detector is known to out-perform most other detectors for determining relative dose factors for small megavoltage photon beams used in radiotherapy but its potential in small proton beams has been relatively unexplored in the literature. The 1 mm diameter cylindrical geometry and near water equivalence of the W1 makes it an attractive alternative to other detectors. This study examines the dosimetric performance of the W1 in a 74 MeV proton therapy beam with particular focus on detector response characteristics relevant to relative dose measurement in small fields suitable for ocular therapy. Quenching of the scintillation signal is characterized and demonstrated not to impede relative dose measurements at a fixed depth. The background cable-only (Čerenkov and radio-fluorescence) signal is 4 orders of magnitude less than the scintillation signal, greatly simplifying relative dose measurements. Comparison with other detectors and Monte Carlo simulations indicate that the W1 is useful for measuring relative dose factors for field sizes down to 5 mm diameter and shallow spread out Bragg peaks down to 6 mm in depth.

Radio Waves and Curriculum Pathways: Jamaican "At Risk" Learners Construct Media

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Feraria, Paulette J.

2018-01-01

This paper explores radio play as an alternative space for learning language and literacy for Jamaican students labeled as 'at-risk' learners. Through the creation of a make-believe radio station in the classroom, students developed oral language skills as a necessary precursor for social literacy. They connected reading and writing activities and…

Plastic scintillator enhancement through Quantum Dot

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Tam, Alan; Boyraz, Ozdal; Nilsson, Mikael

2017-08-01

Plastic scintillators such as Polyvinyl Toluene (PVT) are used for radiation detection but due to their poor performance they are not widely implemented. In order to circumnavigate this, dopants are added to enhance scintillation by energy transfer otherwise lost through non-radiative processes. In this work, we exploit the effects of energy transfer through the use of short wavelength emission Cadmium Sulfide Quantum Dots (QD) as the transfer stimulant. Scintillation enhancement was observed as Cadmium Sulfide QD with scintillating dyes are embedded in PVT polymer matrix for beta and gamma radiation. Energy transfer was observed between Quantum Dots, scintillating dye, and the host polymer. Different concentrations of QD and 2,5-diphenyloxazole (PPO) dye are investigated to characterize the energy transfer.

Feasibility of precise navigation in high and low latitude regions under scintillation conditions

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Juan, José Miguel; Sanz, Jaume; González-Casado, Guillermo; Rovira-Garcia, Adrià; Camps, Adriano; Riba, Jaume; Barbosa, José; Blanch, Estefania; Altadill, David; Orus, Raul

2018-02-01

Scintillation is one of the most challenging problems in Global Navigation Satellite Systems (GNSS) navigation. This phenomenon appears when the radio signal passes through ionospheric irregularities. These irregularities represent rapid changes on the refraction index and, depending on their size, they can produce also diffractive effects affecting the signal amplitude and, eventually producing cycle slips. In this work, we show that the scintillation effects on the GNSS signal are quite different in low and high latitudes. For low latitude receivers, the main effects, from the point of view of precise navigation, are the increase of the carrier phase noise (measured by σϕ) and the fade on the signal intensity (measured by S4) that can produce cycle slips in the GNSS signal. With several examples, we show that the detection of these cycle slips is the most challenging problem for precise navigation, in such a way that, if these cycle slips are detected, precise navigation can be achieved in these regions under scintillation conditions. For high-latitude receivers the situation differs. In this region the size of the irregularities is typically larger than the Fresnel length, so the main effects are related with the fast change on the refractive index associated to the fast movement of the irregularities (which can reach velocities up to several km/s). Consequently, the main effect on the GNSS signals is a fast fluctuation of the carrier phase (large σϕ), but with a moderate fade in the amplitude (moderate S4). Therefore, as shown through several examples, fluctuations at high-latitude usually do not produce cycle slips, being the effect quite limited on the ionosphere-free combination and, in general, precise navigation can be achieved also during strong scintillation conditions.

Blast-wave density measurements

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)