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Antoniadis, D. A.

Publications and source records attributed to Antoniadis, D. A..

Determination of thermospheric quantities from simple ionospheric observations using numerical simulation

Measured ionospheric electron content and peak electron concentration data are introduced into a numerical simulation of the ionosphere to yield values of induced plasma drifts and exospheric neutral temperatures consistent with the observations. Data collected on 23-24 March 1970 on the East Coast of the U.S.A. are analyzed and the results are in agreement with incoherent radar measurements at Millstone Hill, Massachusetts. Neutral winds and meridional exospheric temperature gradients that give rise to the computed plasma drifts are calculated through the use of a dynamic model of the thermosphere.

Antoniadis, D. A.↗

Lunar perturbations in columnar electron content and their interpretation in terms of dynamo electrostatic fields

Both the sun and the moon exert influences on the ionosphere, causing fluctuations in its electron content. The small lunar effects, though not negligible, are difficult to analyze because their periodicities differ little from the periodicity of the dominant solar effects. A finite duration impulse response filter was perfected, permitting the efficient splitting of our columnar electron content data into a solar, a lunar, and a residual component. The solar component plus the lunar component and the solar component alone were processed by a dynamic ionospheric simulation program that yields values of vertical plasma drifts when electron content data are used as input. The difference between the two plasma drifts so obtained was taken as being the plasma drift caused by the electric field generated by the lunar tides in the dynamo region. This technique appears to be the first to allow a direct estimation of the lunar-induced electric fields in the ionosphere.

Bernhardt, P. A.↗

Thermospheric winds and exospheric temperatures from incoherent scatter radar measurements in four seasons

The time-dependent equations of neutral air motion are solved subject to three constraints: two of them are the usual upper and lower boundary conditions and the third is the value of the wind-induced ion drift at any given height. Using incoherent radar data, this procedure leads to a fast, direct numerical integration of the two coupled differential equations describing the horizontal wind components and yields time dependent wind profiles and meridional exospheric neutral temperature gradients. The diurnal behavior of the neutral wind system and of the exospheric temperature is presented for two solstice and two equinox days. The data used were obtained by the St. Santin and the Millstone Hill incoherent scatter radars. The derived geographic distributions of the exospheric temperatures are compared with those predicted by the OGO-6 empirical thermospheric model.

Antoniadis, D. A.↗

A novel method for measuring the polarization angle of satellite radio waves

One of the most important parameters for the study of the physics of the ionosphere is the columnar electron content. This can be obtained indirectly by measuring the Faraday rotation of signals emitted from satellites. Many different types of polarimeters have been developed for this purpose. Efforts to develop a new type of polarimeter, suitable for extensive network operation, led to a novel technique for measuring the polarization angle.

Antoniadis, D. A.↗