Steerable ELF/VLF radiation produced by an array of ionospheric dipoles generated from HF heating

A very low frequency (VLF) or extremely low frequency (ELF) dipole source has been created within the lower ionosphere by modulating the atmospheric dynamo currents with a ground-based high power HF source from the Arecibo Observatory. The authors and their colleagues have demonstrated that ELF or VLF generated in this way and injected into the earth-ionosphere waveguide could be received a few thousand kilometers away. The injection properties due to an array of ionospheric dipoles as a function of array geometry and element currents that will allow steerable ELF/VLF radiation within the earth-ionosphere waveguide are investigated theoretically. The ionospheric array factors for a linear and a planar array of Hertzian dipole sources are developed and their properties examined. The principle of pattern multiplication is then applied to include the effect of the ionospheric array element. This provides a means for predicting the field strengths at a remote receiving site due to a steerable linear or planar array of ionospheric sources generated by high power HF periodic plasma heating.