Simulation of off-great circle HF propagation effects due to the presence of patches and arcs of enhanced electron density within the polar cap ionosphere

Abstract

Observations over recent years have established that large-scale electron density structures are a common feature of the polar cap F region ionosphere. These structures take the form of convecting patches and arcs of enhanced electron density which form tilted reflection surfaces for HF radiowaves, allowing off-great circle propagation paths to be established. Numerical ray tracing has been employed to simulate the effects of these structures on the ray paths of the radiowaves. The simulations have reproduced the precise character of experimental observations of the direction of arrival over a propagation path within the polar cap and of oblique ionograms obtained over the same path.