A Long Range Propagation Experiment to Investigate the Incidence of Anomalous Propagation in the North Atlantic

• Main Authors: Rider,G. C, Clarke,J
• Format: Report
• Language: English
• Subjects: Air to surface; Air traffic; Anomalous propagation; Civil aviation; Component Reports; Crossings; Elevated layers; Ground level; Marine meteorology; North Atlantic Ocean; Oversea paths; Paths; Profiles; Propagation; Radar antennas; Radar targets; Radiosondes; Search radar; Secondary; Sensitivity; Ships; Stations

The significance of enhanced range on air to ground paths is reviewed and the paper describes an experiment to collect maximum range data on an oversea path. A Secondary Surveillance Radar sited in the Hebrides was used to observe civil air traffic crossing the North Atlantic, and a cumulative distribution of range extending to 0.1% of the year is presented as a result of 14 months of observation. The modifications made to the radar antenna and display in order to provide sufficient system sensitivity, are described. About 99% of the observations are shown to be satisfactorily modelled by employing an exponential atmosphere with linear N profiles as measured by a suitably sited radio-sonde station, Ocean Weather Ship 'L', to model the first 1 Km. of height. This article is from 'Propagation Factors Affecting Remote Sensing by Radio Waves,' AD-A137 559, p29-1-29-12.