The lower E and D regions of the ionosphere as deduced from long wave measurements

A diurnal and seasonal model representing the E and D regions of the ionosphere above State College, Pennsylvania is presented. This model consists of a Chapman-like E-region and an electron D-region. Approximate 150-kc wave solutions including coupling are obtained for this model. These wave solutions, of course, exhibit the well known reflection condition corresponding to an N value of around 3,000 electrons per cm3. It is shown that the effect of the coupling is to cause a wave traversing a coupling region to excite a new wave propagated in the direction of propagation of the incident wave and also a back scattered wave propagated in the reverse direction. The back scattered wave will appear as a reflected wave originating in the coupling region. The forward scattered wave due to the downgoing wave from the upper "reflection" level also must be considered in calculating the polarization of ionospherically reflected waves.