On the Correlation of Radio Transmission with Solar Phenomena

A daily character figure for radio transmission is obtained from the data of the short-wave transatlantic telephone circuits of the American Telephone and Telegraph (AT&T) Company which shows a positive correlation with character figures of terrestrial magnetism and earth currents. Charts of these new radio character figures show the twenty-seven-day recurrence tendency and are similar in general appearance to such charts of terrestrial magnetism and earth currents. A method of prediction, based on the twenty-seven-day recurrence tendency is discussed. Such data as are available at present indicate that long-range predictions based on the eleven-year solar cycle will prove fairly reliable. Attempts to link particular solar disturbances with the individual radio disturbances of several sequences of twenty-seven-day intervals were not very successful. It is indicated that the most promising line of investigation for further study is a more continuous watch for sudden activity of solar disturbances.