Ionosonde

Ionosonde

Radio Wave Propagation

Published in Jerry C. Whitaker, The RF Transmission Systems Handbook, 2017

The virtual height of an ionospheric layer can be measured with a device known as an ionosonde. This device radiates a swept frequency signal directly toward the zenith and times the return echo much like a conventional radar system. Half the round-trip travel time multiplied by the speed of light yields the virtual height of the ionosphere layer. The frequency at which no echo is returned is known as the critical frequency for that layer.

Using spatial radio wave field processing for diagnostics of inhomogeneous plasma

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Journal Information

Published in Waves in Random and Complex Media, 2021

Sergei I. Knizhin

It is currently one of the main methods for diagnostics of Earth’s ionosphere. The popularity of this method is the relative simplicity of the diagnostic complex. The radio sounding method initially uses an ionosonde that emits radio waves and measures the height of their reflection from the ionosphere [8]. The radio sounding allows us to obtain the group delay as a function of frequency, amplitude, phase, and Doppler shift, which provide information about the structure of the ionosphere.

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Radio Wave Propagation

Using spatial radio wave field processing for diagnostics of inhomogeneous plasma