Estimation of the mode conversion effect on the determination of
southern boundary for the ∼ 100 MeV electron precipitations
Abstract
Key Points: • The influence of the ultraenergetic relativistic electron
precipitations on mode conversion in the terrestrial waveguide was
analysed. • New statement of a mode conversion problem was used. • The
effect of a normal wave conversion may be neglected in the problem of
southern boundary determination, if the precipitations are not powerful.
Abstract Previously the parameters of sporadic D s layer of electric
conductivity caused by ultraenergetic relativistic electron (URE)
precipitations were determined by us due to indirect electromagnetic
method. Then we determined the southern boundaries of these
precipitations in the frames of the following supposition: the effect of
a normal wave reflection and its conversion into other normal waves on
the boundary between disturbed and undisturbed parts of a radio path
might have been ignored. Now we show by accurate simulation that it was
true for strong and moderate URE precipitations. For the powerful
disturbances of the same nature (16 events for 11 years) the effect is
significant. In order to obtain these results, we had to change a
traditional statement of problem about a normal wave conversion in the
terrestrial waveguide and to solve numerically this new problem with an
abrupt change of inhomogeneous properties on a transverse surface of the
waveguide. We did not divide a near-Earth waveguide at two artificial
altitude parts: with vacuum and with inhomogeneous conducting medium
along the transverse coordinate. Formally the waveguide was considered
by us as inhomogeneous from its top to its bottom.