Radio Interferometric Research of Ionosphere by Signals of Space Satellites

Abstract

Since 2012, the Radiophysical Research Institute and the Lobachevsky State University at Nizhny Novgorod, Russia and the Ventspils International Radio Astronomy Centre at Irbene, Latvia are making radio interferometric experiments on study of ionosphere parameters in a quiet (natural) state of medium and research of artificial turbulence of the ionosphere, heated by the emission from the SURA facility. Remote diagnostics of the ionosphere is implemented using a method of radio sounding by signals of navigation satellites in combination with the Very Long Baseline Interferometry (VLBI) method. As a result of spectral and correlation analysis, interferometric responses of the two-element (RRI–UNN) and three-element (RRI–UNN–Irbene) interferometers were received by observations of 12 satellites of the navigation systems GLONASS and GPS. Here the first results are reported.

Keywords

• instrumentation: interferometers, vlbi
• earth ionosphere
• space vehicles
• solar-terrestrial relations