New Possibilities of Oblique Ionospheric Sensing Using Phased Array Antennas

Additional possibilities of the method of oblique ionospheric sounding with the measurement of the angle of location and azimuth of the radial trajectories of short-wave radio signals using receiving and transmitting phased array annular arrays with a software-controlled directional pattern are discussed. For a midlatitude radio path for four days, experimental measurements at the receiving point of the radio path of the angles of arrival of modes of single-jump propagation of radio waves were compared with the results of calculations of radial trajectories for this radio path, performed using the empirical GDMI ionosphere model developed in IZMIRAN. It is shown that in the morning hours from 06:00 UT to 07:30 UT there is a good correspondence between the measured and calculated arrival angles, and in the daytime, to achieve the same correspondence, a slight correction of the distributions of ionospheric plasma parameters calculated using the GDMI model is required.