Modeling of scintillation effects on high-latitude transionospheric paths using ionospheric model (UAF EPPIM) for background electron density specifications

[1] This paper addresses the effects of scintillation on high-latitude paths of propagation. To specify the high-latitude ionosphere environment as a time-dependent three-dimensional distribution of the electron density, the first-principles ionospheric model UAF EPPIM (University of Alaska Fairbanks Eulerian Parallel Polar Ionosphere Model) is utilized. For the specification of time-varying small-scale irregularities, superimposed onto the background EPPIM, the full three-dimensional inverse power law spectrum is chosen. It is augmented with the introduction of the irregularities' aspect ratio for two mutually perpendicular directions: transverse (to the geomagnetic field) direction and for the longitudinal direction to the transverse one. This full description of the propagation environment, comprised of the “background” and “irregularities” components, is further merged with the propagation scintillation model to set up the computational suite, capable of modeling the scintillation effects. The parameters of the spectrum of the electron density fluctuations, as well as the models of meso-scale local polar structures (e.g., patches) are chosen empirically. The integrated simulator enables realistic predictions of the scintillation effects for high-latitude transionospheric propagation for a number of different propagation scenarios for GPS L-band and other UHF transionospheric signals. The specific scintillation effects, caused by ionospheric patches, are simulated.