Tweek propagation peculiarities in the earth-ionosphere waveguide and low ionosphere parameters

Abstract

Peculiarities of the eigenmode of the Earth-ionosphere waveguide near the critical frequencies fc ∼ 1.7, 3.4, ..., kHz are investigated. The physical interpretation of the tweek formation is given. It is shown that the principal feature of the "tweek mode" is its left-handed (L) polarization, rather than quasi-TM or quasi-TE, as it was believed earlier. Analytical expressions are obtained to relate the tweek propagation characteristics to the nighttime D-region parameters. © 1991.