Hf propagation through actively modified ionospheres

We have developed a computer modeling capability to predict the effect of localized electron density perturbations created by chemical releases or high-power radio frequency heating upon oblique, one-hop hf propagation paths. We have included 3-d deterministic descriptions of the depleted or enhanced ionization, including formation, evolution, and drift. We have developed a homing ray trace code to calculate the path of energy propagation through the modified ionosphere in order to predict multipath effects. We also consider the effect of random index of refraction variations using a formalism to calculate the mutual coherence functions for spatial and frequency separations based upon a path integral solution of the parabolic wave equation for a single refracted path through an ionosphere which contains random electron density fluctuations. 5 refs., 8 figs.