ANALYSIS OF TROPOSPHERIC PATHLENGTH FLUCTUATIONS USING GEOSTATIONARY SATELLITE OBSERVATIONS

We present results of the measurements of the fluctuations in the arrival angle of 4 GHz radio waves from a geostationary satellite. Observations were performed using interferometer of the 145 m baseline. The measurements consist of 123 observation sessions, each of 10 minutes or longer, randomly selected in terms of the time of day. Relationships between the measured temporal structure function of fluctuations and the temporal and spatial structure functions of the pathlength through the troposphere are obtained. Our results are in a good agreement with the turbulent model for the pathlength structure function. Using the experimental data, we estimate parameters of the temporal structure function of the pathlength through the troposphere (the power-law exponent and structure coefficient), the value of the spatial structure function and the average velocity of motion of the irregularity, which allows to relate spatial and temporal parameters to each other. The distribution functions of these quantities are found.