Articles | Volume 20, issue 7
https://doi.org/10.5194/angeo-20-1023-2002
Special issue:
https://doi.org/10.5194/angeo-20-1023-2002
31 Jul 2002
 | 31 Jul 2002

Determining characteristics of HF communications links using SuperDARN

J. M. Hughes, W. A. Bristow, R. A. Greenwald, and R. J. Barnes

Abstract. Space weather effects can strongly influence high-frequency (HF) communications by changing the ionospheric environment through which the radio waves propagate. Since many systems utilize HF communications, the ability to make real-time assessments of propagation conditions is an important part of space weather monitoring systems. In this paper, we present new techniques for measuring high-latitude HF communications link parameters using data from SuperDARN radars. These techniques use ground-scatter returns to define the variation in skip distance with frequency. From these data, the maximum usable frequency (MUF) as a function of range is determined and ionospheric critical frequencies are estimated. These calculations are made in near-real-time and the results are made available on the World Wide Web. F-region critical frequencies calculated using this method show good agreement with ionosonde data.

Key words. Ionosphere (active experiments; instruments and techniques) – Radio science (ionospheric propagation)

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