Ionospheric scintillation suppression based on chemical release

Abstract

There occur frequently the ionospheric scintillation events at low and middle latitudes, which seriously affect the radio transmission process of satellite link, resulting in the decline of satellite communication and navigation signal quality and even interrupt. During the gestation period before the ionospheric scintillation, the growth rate of plasma instability can be reduced and thus suppress the scintillation events by releasing the electron density-enhancing chemicals in the ionosphere plasma bubble, filling with plasma bubble, changing the plasma environmental characteristics, and regulating the ionospheric dynamics process. The theory and method of suppressing the ionospheric scintillation based on chemical release are tnvestigated. According to the change of the plasma environment caused by the chemical release, and the quantitatively calculating of the contribution of control factors to the growth rate of instability, an ionospheric scintillation suppression model is built, which is based on chemical release into ionosphere. The process of plasma bubble filling out is simulated and the results of the simulation show that the plasma cloud is completely filled with plasma bubbles after 1200 seconds, which reduces the plasma density gradient and suppresses the growth of plasma instability. The growth of plasma instability decreases from 0.2 before releasing to about 0.0004 after releasing, and no new instability is excited within 20 minutes after the plasma bubble has been filled up. Guangdong, South China Sea and other regions in China are at the peak of equatorial anomalies, and the occurrence rate and severity of scintillation are more significant than those in the equatorial and Polar Regions, thus these regions become the regions where there occur most frequently the scintillation and the most serious influence globally. The research work of this paper will lay a solid theoretical foundation for the technology of suppressing the satellite signal ionospheric scintillation in middle and low latitude area of China.