Application of Electric Field Standing Waves in the Ionosphere to the Generation of Electromagnetic Waves and Over-the-horizon Ionospheric Radio Communication

The generation of electromagnetic waves by a volume of ionospheric plasma with periodic electric field standing waves has been studied. The standing waves arise from the intersection of two beams of continuous coherent radio waves from ground-based facilities spaced by a few hundred kilometers. The radiation pattern of the plasma radiator and maximum electric field strengths are calculated for different wavelengths and beamwidths of the disturbing beams. The plasma radiator is suggested to be used for probing the electron density and over-the-horizon ionospheric radio communication.

Provided the electric field standing waves are produced by interference between high-power radio waves, the arising nonlinear effects give rise to a periodic electron density lattice. It is suggested to be used for a new over-the-horizon radio communication system. The information radio beam is injected into the ionospheric waveguide by modifying the parameters of this lattice such as the space period, the direction of the wave vector, and its altitude. Such a lattice may be produced at a given altitude in the ionospheric waveguide by intersecting narrow beams of high-power coherent radio waves generated by spaced ground-based facilities at frequencies both lower and higher than the maximum usable frequency. The relations are derived for calculating the basic features of the system.