The Effects of Space Weather on Radio Systems

Abstract

If the environment were isotropic and stable in time, it would be relatively easy to determine its effects on the propagation of RF waves. Unfortunately, this is not the case. The spatial scales of inhomogenities vary from thousands of kilometres to turbulence with scale sizes of a less than a metre. Likewise the temporal scales vary over many orders of magnitude from many years (solar cycle effects on ionospheric propagation) to hours or even minutes (the scale of weather phenomena). As a consequence of this variability, timely and reliable strategies are required to both specify and accurately forecast the environment and to assess the attendant impact on the operational performance of action that will improve the system functionality. This paper will review these phenomena and describe their impact on a number of systems. The effect that space weather has on high frequency (HF) systems will be addressed in some detail and strategies for mitigating its effects will be described.