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| Titel |
Monitoring the lower ionosphere with a small scale interferometric network of radio receivers |
| VerfasserIn |
Andrey Mezentsev, Martin Füllekrug |
| Konferenz |
EGU General Assembly 2013
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| Medientyp |
Artikel
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| Sprache |
Englisch
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| Digitales Dokument |
PDF |
| Erschienen |
In: GRA - Volume 15 (2013) |
| Datensatznummer |
250078883
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| Zusammenfassung |
| Sprites, gigantic jets and relativistic electron beams above thunderclouds attracted significant
attention in the last decades. These natural transient events are caused by lightning
discharges and they are associated with characteristic low frequency radio emissions
from a certain height above thunderclouds. The altitudes of these sources can be
inferred from their radio waves which are reflected by the lower ionosphere along
their propagation path. The ionospheric conditions vary with time and location
which makes it important to monitor the lower ionosphere during the observation
period.
This work uses 100 kHz radio emissions from the LOng Range Navigation (LORAN)
transmitters in Western Europe to monitor the height of the reflecting lower ionosphere. The
pulsed LORAN transmissions are synced with high precision to atomic time and they are
therefore particularly suitable for monitoring the lower ionosphere. The vertical electric field
strengths of the LORAN transmissions are recorded with a small scale interferometric
network of eight wide band digital radio receivers which are separated by distances ranging
from ~3 km up to ~30 km. The network was deployed in southern France during the summer
months from July to September in 2011 and 2012 when numerous thunderstorms
occur.
The ionospheric monitoring with the network reveals the dynamics of the lower
ionosphere at different locations throughout the observation period. Results of the
ionospheric monitoring for different meteorological conditions will be presented. |
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