Analyse of the vlf curves

Amateur Radio Astronomy

Jean Marie Polard – Peter Newton
[F5VLB - 2020]

The book you need to understand and perform an amateur analyse of vlf signals.

It is free, may be freely distributed, but nothing can be changed and the source must be cited.

Ver 0.1

[email protected]

facebook : https://www.facebook.com/groups/VLF.ULF.ELF/
Abstract

The idea of this pdf is to guide you through the procedure used to analyze the curves found during your
measurements of the amplitude of VLF's signals. After a brief explanation of what is happening in the
ionospheric regions above us, I will set out the data required, and what can be deduced from it.

Introduction

The D region which constitutes the lower part of the ionosphere and which can be confused in a first approx-
imation with the mesosphere of aeronomists occupies the altimetric range extending from 50 to 100 km. Its
ionization and photochemistry are under the direct influence of the flux of UVex (extreme UV) and solar XR
(X-rays). While the diurnal evolution of its ionization is well understood, the same is not true of the pre-rising
and post-sunset phenomena which develop while the Sun is in limb. The current solar minimum, which has
lasted beyond all forecasts, offers a study opportunity that should be seized. (1)

The propagation of very low frequency signals (Very Low Frequencies) whose spectrum extends from 3 to
30 KHz is modulated by the ionization state of region D. The ionization rate of the latter increases with alti-
-15 -9 4 3
tude, from 10 to 3.10 corresponding to an electron concentration between 1 and 10 electrons / cm for a
16 13 3
concentration of neutrals evolving from 2.3 10 to 3.2.10 / cm
.
While the reflection altitude of frequency signals of the order of 20 KHz is close to 75 km at local noon, it is
greater than 95, or even 100 km at night. At an altitude of 100 km, the Sun rises for a zenith angle of 100°.
The time slot extending from the appearance of the Sun in limb to rising on the ground, which corresponds to
a zenith angle of 90 °, is called pre-rising or ionospheric rising. The pre - rising phenomena therefore corre-
spond to the rising of the Sun at mesospheric altitudes. Mutatis mutandis, we will define the post-bedtime
phenomena. The reception of VLF signals, all for military purposes, at distances of less than 2,000 km re-
sults in interference between a ground wave whose amplitude varies in a first approximation in inverse pro-
portion to the distance and a sky wave whose the modulus varies with the ionospheric reflection coefficient.
The amplitude of the interference fringe, unique in each reception location, depends on the relative phase of
the ground wave and the sky wave evolving with the reflection altitude, the distance to the ground separating
the receiver transmitter and polarization mode. For distances of the order of 1000 km, the ray path theory,
similar to that of geometric optics, correctly explains the evolution of interference fringes with distance. For
distances greater than 1,500 km, it will be replaced by the theory of the earth-ionosphere waveguide. How-
ever, at such distances the sky wave undergoes more than one reflection on the D region, and the study of
the latter through an interference phenomenon becomes more complex. Unambiguous results will therefore
only be obtained in the case of a so-called 1D propagation circuit (a single reflection on region D).

Géométrie d’un circuit de propagation 1D

Let an emitter E and a receiver R placed at the two ends of a 1D circuit characterized by the existence of a
ground wave and a sky wave which interfere on the site R. Assuming that the reflective part of the region D
that interests us sees, during the diurnal cycle, its altitude evolving in the 95 to 60 km range, with:
 R = 6378 km
E : transmitter
R : Receiver
ds : distance to ground
dc : distance to sky
i : half distance to sky
: elevation angle at emission
: underlying center angle ds
: difference between dc et ds
given in 
i : angle of incidence

We have for hmax = 90 km :

Maximum opening distance for a circuit

1D

© JJ Delcourt in ‘Levers Ionosphé-

riques’

When the wave from the VLF station reaches region D, it penetrates it and because of the different concen-
trations of the ions present it undergoes refraction until it is forced to return to the ground.

Interpretation of the measured curve

The curve noted is that of the interference between the sky wave and the ground wave. It can appear in
this form:

It represents a sunrise, recorded in the west of

France, for the NRK station, located in the south of
Iceland. (2056km). The midpoint is 1000km (blue
point)
What the curve represents is what happens in region D at the midpoint here over the ocean, with the majority
of the trip being over the Atlantic.

Midpoint calculation

If you do not use the map provided on the VLF-ELF-ULF group on Facebook, you can calculate as follows:

You will need :

• Your gps position

• The gps position of the VLF station

Go on :https://www.movable-type.co.uk/scripts/latlong.html

Complete the Point and Point 2 boxes with your GPS and VLF data

Point 1 : these are your GPS coordinates

Point 2 : these are the coordinates of the VLF station

You get the following information

What interests you is the distance and midpoint position. I continue the calculation, keeping the data from the
example above;
Solar zenith angle - SZA

In this drawing by Dr. Sc Jean Jacques Delcourt, and

even if the sun should be on the left (the earth
turns from west to east) represents a sunrise. When
the sun is below the horizon, it is night. As the earth
turns towards it, the sun seems to emerge from
below the horizon. At altitude, this rising also takes
place and it happens from the highest altitude,
down to ground level. The sun over time ionizes
molecules at different altitudes and creates the
regions known as F1 / F2 - E - D (and although it's
controversial, but I believe it, region C and the
ozone layer ).

This illumination of the different regions will be

transferred to our curves.

For this we must calculate the solar zenith angle

from which we will deduce the height of the
sunrise.

To perform this calculation you will need: The position of the midpoint between you and the
station calculated above

Convert DDD MM SS to DD, ddddd by going to: https://www.latlong.net/degrees-minutes-seconds-

to-decimal-degrees

 Go to : https://www.esrl.noaa.gov/gmd/grad/antuv/SolarCalc.jsp
• Complete with the coordinates of the mid point, but BE CAREFUL of the longitude value.

Latitude:
-90.0 to +90.0, Negative for South, Positive for North.
Longitude:
-180.0 to +180.0, Negative for East, Positive for West.
Start Date:
Enter start date in the format yyyy-MM-dd HH:mm [UTC]

End Date:
Enter end date in the format yyyy-MM-dd HH:mm [UTC]

Interval:
The internal (in seconds) between successive solar calculations.

Date Format:

 yy[yy] Format for years. Two or four digits.

 M[MM] Format for months. MM=01-12, MMM=Jan-Dec, MMMM=January-
December
 d[d] Format for day of month. One or Two digits.
 D[DD] Format for day-of-year. One to three digits (zero padded).
 HH[or hh] Format for hour-of-day. HH=24 hr clock, hh=12 hr clock.
 mm Format for minutes. mm=00-59.
 ss Format for seconds. ss=00=59.
 a AM/PM.
 z Timezone Acronym.
 Z Timezone hours offset. Examples: +0600, -0200

Examples:
yyyy/MM-dd_DDD hh:mm:ss aa
yyyyMMdd[DDD]HHmmss

Air mass
If the sun is below the horizon, Air mass = -1.0000. Toggle the checkbox to enable/disable
column in report.

Air mass Calculation

Airmass = 1.0/(cos(90 - elev) + 0.50572 * (6.07995 + elev)-1.6364)

Solar Zenith Angle

Solar elevation in Degrees from zenith (90°). Angles are corrected for atmospheric diffrac-
tion. Toggle the checkbox to enable/disable column in report.

Elevation:
Solar elevation in Degrees above horizon (0 degrees). Angles are corrected for atmospheric
diffraction. Toggle the checkbox to enable/disable column in report.

Azimuth:
Sun azimuth, 0° = N, 90° = E, 180° = S, 270° = W. Toggle the checkbox to enable/disable
column in report.
For the interval in seconds choose according to the precision required on your measurement curve. Click on
solar zenith angle, that's what you need to continue.

To explain the rest, I choose 600 secs to limit the image format

We have the local time in UTC and the solar zenith

angle (SZA) in degrees.

When the SZA is at 90 ° the sun is on the horizon for

the location concerned.

On this image on the x-axis you have the

SZA and on the y-axis, the height of the
sunrise.

We know the altitude of the different

regions, although they can vary a little.
Conversely, it is possible to know the
region concerned, depending on the SZA
value.

© JJ Delcourt in ‘Levers Ionosphériques’

Note :
One use several sunrises for several applications i.e.

astronomical sunrise when the sun is at -18° under horizon SZA 90+18=108°

nautical when the sun is at -12° SZA 90+12=102°

civilian when the sun is at -6° SZA 90+6=106°

sunrise when the sun is at 0° SZA 90+0=90°

Report values on the graph

The original curve Introduction of time and SZA Introduction of altitudes

An idea of the position of the regions ( )

Notes
If a region is located between region D and the ground, (called region C) it will shade the sun's rays, and
interrupt the ionization of layer D. This will produce a small increase in amplitude or a small phase change.
Its altitude can be determined by the use of the SZA. This is my own opinion and may not reflect what is
commonly accepted.

On the other hand, by performing these calculations for different VLF stations, you will be able to highlight
the sunrise at different times, which can be explained by the position of the stations in relation to you.

Thank you for your attention, good calculations!