Electromagnetic waves propagation from moving

sources in atmosphere
V.S.Rabinovich
IPN, ESIME-Zacatenco, Dep. de Telecomunicaciones,
Av. IPN, edif. 1, México, D.F., 07738.

Abstract
We consider the problem of wave propagation from non uniformly
moving sources in the atmosphere taking into account the dispersive
properties of ionosphere and strati…cation. Asymptotic formulas for
all components of electromagnetic …eld have been obtained in which
the large parameter is a distance between moving source and receiver
and slowness of acceleration of the source.

1 Introduction

We consider the propagation of electromagnetic waves produced by moving

sources in the earth atmosphere. This problem has important theoreti-
cal and applied interests, for instance, the sattelite communications, radio-
astronomia, etc. (see for instance [13], [6], [23]).
We simulate the electromagnetic properties of the atmosphera by the
electric permittivity " which is a function of height above ground and fre-
quency ! of propagated electromagnetic waves. The lower layers of at-
mosphere is the mixture of di¤erent gases, in main nitrogen and oxigen with
" depended in main on the concentration of moleculas and their polariz-
ability, which are depending on the height underground. The upper part of
the atmosphere is the ionosphere which is electrically neutral gas (plasma)
consisting of free electrons and ions. The electric permittivity of cold no
magnetized plasnma is
!
! 2p
"ion (!) = "0 1
!2

1
where "0 is the electric permittivity of vacuum, ! p is the electron plasma
frequency,
Ne e2
! 2p =
"0 m
where Ne is the electron density, e is the charge of electron, m is the mass of
electron. Note that the electron density Ne depends on height and Ne grows
with height. Moreover, with increasing height the electron density Ne , the
electron density Ne stabilizes and we will consider it constant Ne (H) from
a height H:
This way it’s natural to simulate the electromagnetic properties of at-
mosphere by a half-space R3+ = x = (x1 ; x2 ; z) 2 R3 : z > 0 characterized
by the electric permittivity depending on the vertical coordinate z

"a (!; z); 0 < z < H

"(!; z) = ;
"i (!); z H

where "a (!; z) > 0 is the electric permittivity in the atmosphere depending
on the height z > 0 and the frequency ! > 0 and "i (!) is the electric
permittivity in the half-space R3H = r = (x;z) = (x1 ; x2 ; z) 2 R3 : z > H
…lled by the cold no magnetized plasma, that is
!
! 2p (H)
"i (!) = "0 1
!2

We consider the electromagnetic waves produces by the moving source

in the atmosphere given by the charge density (x; t) of the form
i! 0 t
(r; t) = a(t)e (r r0 (t))

where ! 0 > 0 is the support frequency radiated by the source, a(t) is a

narrow-band amplitude, r = r0 (t); t 2 R is the trajectory of source. We
assume that the support frequency ! 0 > ! p (H); that is the ionospheric
layer is re‡ective for the waves of the frequency ! 0 :
It should be noted that the problem of propagation of electromagnetic
waves from the moving particle in a homogeneous space is a classical problem
of electrodynamics (see, for instance, [17], [14], [11], [12] ). The electromag-
netic …eld produced by uniformly moving source in homogeneous waveguides
was considered in the monograph [9], see, also papers devoted the well-
known Vavilov-Cherenkov e¤ect in homogeneous waveguides generated by
uniformly moving sources (see, for instance, [2], [11] and references cited
there).

2
 Our approach is based on the asymptotic analysis of the problem where
the large parameter characterizes simultaneously a large distance between
the source and receiver, slowly oscillation of the velocity v(t) and the ampli-
tude A(t). We apply in the paper the methods which developed earlier under
investigation of the problem of underwater wave propagation from moving
sources (see [19], [20], [21]) and in the electromagenetic waves propagation
in dispersive media in [4], [22]. )

2 Auxiliary material
2.1 Maxwell equations

In the vector notations , Maxwell’s equations in the di¤erential representa-

tions are (see for instance [27])

@B(x;t)
r E(r;t) = ; (1)
@t
@D(r;t)
r H(r;t) = + J(r;t);
@t
r B(r; t) = 0; r D(r;t) = (r;t); r = (x1 ; x2 ; x3 )

where
r= (x1 ; x2 ; x3 ) 2 R3 ; t 2 R;
E = (E1 ; E2 ; E3 ) is the electric …eld,
H =(H1 ; H2 ; H3 ) is the magnetic …eld,
D =(D1 ; D2 ; D3 ) is the electric ‡ux,
B =(B1 ; B2 ; B3 ) is the magnetic ‡ux,
J(r;t) is the vector of current density,
(r; t) is the charge density.
The current density J(r;t) and the charge density (r; t) are connected
by the continuity equation
@
r J+ = 0: (2)
@t
In what follows we are of interest the case of the moving source. where
r = r 0 (t) = (x01 (t); x02 (t); x03 (t)); t 2 R is a trajectory of the moving source.
We will assume that electromagnetic waves are produced of the moving
source for which
i! 0 t
(r; t) = a(t)e (r r 0 (t)); J(r;t) = a(t)e i! 0 t
v(t) (r r 0 (t))

3
where (x; t) and J(r;t) are connected by continuity equation (2).
For isotropic dispersive strati…ed media

D ="(Dt ; x3 )E; B = (Dt ; x3 )H; (3)

where
" = "(!; x3 ) is the electrical permittivity,
= (!; x3 ) is the magnetic permittivity,

Z 1
1
"(Dt ; x3 )u(t; r) = u(!; r)ei!t d!;
"(!; x3 )^
2 1
Z 1
1
(Dt ; x3 )u(t; r) = u(!; r)ei!t d!
(!; x3 )^
2 1
R
where u^ (!; r) = R u(t; r)e i!t dt is the Fourier transform with respect to
the time t 2 R:
In what follows we consider the propagation of transverse electric (T E)
waves. More speci…cally for the T E-waves the electric …eld is trans-
verse to the x3 direction, The electric …eld in the T E-waves is directed
in x1 x2 plane. We will characterize a T E waves to use the Hx3 compo-
nent of the magnetic …eld. We assume that (!; x3 ) = 0 is the magnetic
permittivity in vacuum.
Let x3 = z: Then the following equations describe the electric waves
(Ez = 0) (see for instance, [27], p. 45-46)

2 @ 2 (t; x; z) @ @ (t; x; z)
c (Dt ; z) 2
r2x0 (t; x; z) "(Dt ; z) (" 1
(Dt ; z) (4))
@t @z @z
@J2 (t; x; z) @J1 (t; x; z)
= = F (t; x;z)
@x1 @x2

where c 2 (!; z) = "(!; z) 0 ; and = Hz :

For the moving source J(r;t) = a(t)e i!0 t v(t) (r r 0 (t)): Hence
i! 0 t 0
F (t; r) =a(t)e v2 (t) x1 (r r 0 (t)) v1 (t) 0
x2 (r r 0 (t)) : (5)

After Fourier transform with respect of the time t we obtain the equation

@ @ ^ (!; x; z)
H(!) ^ (!; x; z) = r2x ^ (!; x; z) "(!; z) (" 1
(!; z) ) k 2 (!; z) ^ (!; x;(6)
z)
@z @z
= F^ (!; x; z); x 2 R2 ; z 2 R+

4
 where Z
^ (!; x; z) = ei!t (t; x; z)dt;
R
Z Z
F^ (!; x; z) = ei!t
F (t; x; z)dt = ei(! ! 0 )t
a(t)rx (x x0 (t))dt
R R
under conditions
@ ^ (!; x; 0)
= 0; (7)
@z

^ (!; x; H 0) = ^ (!; x; H + 0); (8)

1 @ ^ (!; x; H 0) 1 @ ^ (!; x; H + 0)
= :
"a (!; z) @z "i (!) @z

2.2 Two-dimensional stationary phase methos

We consider an integral depending on a parameter > 0
Z
I = f (x)ei S(x) dx; x = (x1 ; x2 ) 2 R2 :
R2

We assume that:
(i) f; S are two times di¤erentiable functions on R2 ;
(ii) f has a compact support, that is there exists R > 0 such that f (x) =
0 for all x : jxj > R:
(iii) S is a real-valued function on R2 :
We say that x0 = (x01 ; x02 ) is a non-degenerate stationary point of the
phase S if
rS(x0 ) = 0;
that is ( @S(x01 ;x02 )
@x1 =0
@S(x01 ;x02 ) :
@x2 =0
and 0 1
@ 2 S(x0 ) @ 2 S(x)
@x21 @x1 @x2
det S 00 (x0 ) = det @ @ 2 S(x) @ 2 S(x0 )
A 6= 0
@x2 @x1 @x22
n
@ 2 S(x)
where S 00 (x) = @xi @xj i;j=1 is the Hess matrix of phase S at the point x:

5
Proposition 1 (see for instance [5]) Let there exist a …nite set x1 ; :::; xN
of non-degenerate stationary points of the phase S in the round jxj < R:
Then
XN
I = Fj ( ); (9)
j=1

where
i
2 exp(i S(xj ) + 00 j
4 sgn S (x )) 1
Fj ( ) = f (xj )(1 + O( )) (10)
jdet S 00 (xj )j1=2
and sgn S 00 (xj ) is the di¤ erence between the number of positive and negative
eigenvalues of the matrix S 00 (xj ):

2.3 Green function for the operator H(!)

Let
"a (!; z); 0 < z < H
"(!; z) = ;
"i (!); z H
where "a (!; z) > 0 is the electric permittivity in the atmosphere depending
on the height z > 0 and the frequency ! > 0 and "i (!) is the electric
permittivity in the half-space R3H = x = (x1 ; x2 ; z) 2 R3 : z > H …lled by
the cold no magnetized plasma, that is
! 2p
"i (!) = 0 (1 )
!2
where 0 is the electric permittivity of vacuum,
r
4 e2 N p 1
!p = = (5:64 104 N ) (11)
m sec
is the plasma frequency, where N is the density of the concentration of
electrons, the constants m; e are the mass and charge of the electron.is the
plasma frequency, where N is the density of the concentration of electrons
depending on the height z, the constants m; e are the mass and charge of
the electron.
Let
1
ca (!; z) = p
0 "a (!; z)
be the phase velocity in the layer z : 0 < z < H and
1
ci (!) = p
0 "i (!)

6
be the phase velocity in the ionosphere layer.
We will asume that
ca (!; z) < ci (!)
for every z 2 [0; H] and !: We set
(
!
ka (!; z) = ca (!;z) ; z 2 [0; H] ;
k(!; z) = ! :
kion (!) = ci (!) ; z 2 (H; +1):

The Green functions g = g(!; x; z; z0 ) is a solutions of equation

@ @g
H! g = r2x g + "(z) (" 1
(z) ) + k 2 (!; z)g = (x) (z z(12)
0 );
@z @z
(x; z); (x; z) 2 R3+

under conditions
@g(!; x; 0; z0 )
= 0; (13)
@z

g(!; x; H 0; z0 ) = g(!; x; H + 0; z0 ); (14)

1 @g(!; x; H 0); z0 1 @g(!; x; H + 0; z0 )
= :
"a (!; H) @z "i (!) @z

2.4 Sturm-Liouville problem associated with the Green

function
Let us introduce the one-dimensional spectral Sturm-Liouville problem con-
nected with the problem (12)-(??)
8
>
>
>
d
"(z) dz (" 1 (z) d'(!;
dz
;z)
) k0 (!; z)'(!; ; z) = '; z 2 (0; 1)
< 0
' (!; ; 0) = 0;
L0! '(!; ; z) =
> '(!; ; H + 0) '(!; ; H 0) = 0;
>
>
: 1 0 1
"a (!;H) ' (!; ; H 0) "i (!) '0 (!; ; H + 0) = 0
(15)
where
! !2 ka2 (!; z) 2 (!); z 2 [0; H]
kion
k 2 (!; z) = ; k 2
(!) = ; k 2 (!; z) =
c2 (!; z) ion c2ion (!) 0 0; z > H:
(16)
where 2 C is the spectral parameter of the problem,

ka2 (!; z) 2
kion (!) > 0; z 2 [0; H] : (17)

7
 Note that L0! is a selfadjoint operator in the Hilbert space L2 (R+ ; ")
with the norm
Z 1 1=2
kukL2 (R+ ;") = " 1 (!; z) ju(z)j2 dz
0

and with the domain

domL! = (18)
' 2 H 2 ([0; H]) H 2 ((H; +1)) : '0 (!; 0) = 0;
1 :
'(!; H 0) = '(!; H + 0); "a (!;H) '0 (!; H 0) "ion1(!) '0 (!; H + 0) = 0

It is well-known (see for instance [24]) that the operator L0! has a con-
tinuous spectrum [0; +1) and a …nite set j (!) = 2 (!); j = 1; :::; N (!)
j
of points of discrete spectrum situated on the interval

L0! = max ka (!; z); 0 :

z2[0;H]

The number N (!) of eigenvalues depends on the frequency ! and increases

under increasing of !: We will denote:
2 (!) < 0 are the eigenvalues of L0 ;
j (!) = j !
'j (!; z); j = 1; :::; N (!) the normed in L2 (R+ ; ") corresponding eigen-
functions, that is
Z 1 1=2
1 2
k'kL2 (R+ ;") = " (!; z) j'(!; z)j dz = 1:
0

Let f (!; ; z) be the soltion of the Cauchy problem on the interval (0; H]
d df (!; ; z)
"a (!; z) ("a 1 (!; z) ) k02 (!; z)f (!; ; z) = 2
f (!; ; z); > 0; z 2 (0; H]
(19);
dz dz
f (!; ; 0) = 1; fz0 (!; ; 0) = 0: (20)

Equation (19) on the interval is of the form

d2 '(z) 2
= '(z); z 2 (H; +1)
dz 2
and its general solution is of the form
(z H) (z H)
'(z; !; ) = C1 (!; )e + C2 (!; )e ; > 0; z > H

where

8
 1 "a (!; H)fz0 (!; ; H)
C1 (!; ) = f (!; ; H) + ;
2 "i (!)
1 "a (!; H)fz0 (!; ; H)
C2 (!; ) = f (!; ; H) :
2 "i (!)
The function '(z; !; ) has to be such that
lim '(z; !; ) = 0 for every ! 2 R and > 0:
z!+1

Hence = 2 is an eigenvalue of problem (19), (20) if is a solution of

the dispersion equation
"i (!)
fz0 (!; ; H) + f (!; ; H) = 0: (21)
"a (!; H)
Note that all eigevalues have the multiplicity one, that is all eigenspaces of
the operator L! are one-dimensional. Note that the normalized eigenfunc-
tions are given as
1 f (!; j ; z); z 2 [0; H]
'j (!; z) =
Mj (!) C2 (!; j )e j z ; z 2 (H; +1)
where
Z H 1=2
2 1 C22 (!; j )
Mj (!) = jf (!; j ; z)j "a (!; z)dz + :
0 2 j
Note that the roots j (!) of dispersion equation (21) satisfy the esti-
mates
0< j (!) < max k0 (!; z): (22)
z2[0;H]

For each root j (!) of dispersion equation (22) there is a cut-o¤ frequency
! 0j such that
lim j (!) = 0:
!!! 0j (j!j>! 0j )

The cut-o¤ frequencies forms an increasing sequence and they are solutions
of the equation
f 0 (!; 0; h) = 0: (23)
Note that a cut-o¤ frequency ! 0j are the frequency under which an eigenvalue
2 (!) arises from the continuous spectrum. It is easy to see that
j

lim 'j (!; z) = 0

!!! 0j (j!j>! 0j )

9
for each point z 2 R+ :
Let us consider the eigenvalue problem
8
>
>
> "(z) d (" 1 (z) d'(!; ;z)
) + k 2 (!; z)'(!; ; z) = 2 '; z 2 (0; 1)
< 0 dz dz
' (!; ; 0) = 0;
L! '(!; ; z) = :
>
> '(!; ; H + 0) '(!; ; H 0) = 0;
>
: 1 0 1
"a (!;H) ' (!; ; H 0) "i (!) '0 (!; ; H + 0) = 0
(24)
Then the eigenvalue of the operator L! are
2 2 2
j (!) = kion (!) + j (!) (25)
with the same eigenfunctions 'j (!; z); j = 1; :::; N (!): Note that
kion (!) j (!) max ka (!; z): (26)
z2[0;H]

By the de…nition the generalized eigenfunction of the operator L0! is a

bounded solution of the equation
L0! ' = 2
'
where > 0: Normalized generalized eigenfunctions of the operator L0!
associated with the spectral parameter 2 > 0 are given by the formula
r
2"ion (!) f (!; ; z)
'(!; ; z) = 1=2
; (27)
(f 2 (!; ; H) + (m ) 2 f 0 2z (!; ; H))
"a (!; H)
m(!) = :
"ion (!)
,
Proposition 2 (see )Let 2 L2 (R+ ; " 1 (!; z)): Then
N (!)
X Z 1
(z) = ~ (!)' (!; z) + ~ (!; )'(!; ; z)d ; (28)
j j
j=1 0

where
Z 1 Z 1
~ (!) = (z)'j (!; z)" 1
(!; z)dz; ~ (!; ) = (z)'(!; ; z)" 1
(!; z)dz:
j
0 0
(29)
Corollary 3
N (!)
X Z 1
1 1
(z z0 ) = " (!; z0 ) 'j (!; z)'j (!; z0 )+" (!; z0 ) '(!; ; z)'(!; ; z0 )d
j=1 0
(30)

10
2.5 Mode representation of the Green function
Applying the Fourier transform with respect x to equation (12) we obtain
that

c! ( 0 )^ 0 2 @ g ( 0 ; z; z0 )
@^
H g ( 0 ; z; z0 ) = g^( 0 ; z; z0 ) + "(z) (" 1
(z) ) + k 2 (!; z)g( 0 ; z; z0 ) = (z (3
z0
@z @z
2 R2 ; z; z0 2 R+

Applying formula (??) we obtain

N (!)
X 'j (!; z)'j (!; z0 )
1
g^( ; z; z0 ) = " (!; z0 ) (32)
j=1
j j2 2
j (!)
Z +1
1 '(!; ; z)'(!; ; z0 )d
+" (!; z0 ) :
0 j j2 (kion
2 (!) 2)

Hence
N (!) Z
!
1 X eix d
g(!; x; z; z0 ) = 2 'j (!; z)'j (!; z0 )(33)
(2 )2 "(!; z0 ) R2 j j
2
j (!) + i0
j=1
Z +1 Z
1 eix '(!; ; z)'(!; ; z0 )d d 0
+
(2 )2 "(!; z0 ) 0 R2 j j2 (kion2 (!) 2 + i0)

N (!)
i X (1)
= H0 ( 2j (!) x0 )'j (!; z)'j (!; z0 )
4"(!; z0 )
j=1
Z +1 q
i (1) 2 (!) 2 x0 )'(!; ; z)'(!; ; z )d :
+ H0 ( (kion 0
4"(!; z0 ) 0

N (!)
X i (1)
g(!; x; z; z0 ) = H j (!) jxj 'j (!; z)'j (!; z0 )
4"(!; z0 ) 0
j=1
Z 1 q
i (1) 2 (!) 2 jxj '(!; ; z)'(!; ; z )d
+ H0 kion 0
4"(!; z0 ) 0

The trems
i (1)
gj (!; x; z; z0 ) = H j (!) jxj 'j (!; z)'j (!; z0 ); j = 1; :::; N (!)
4"(!; z0 ) 0

11
are called the propagated modes, and the term
Z 1 q
i (1) 2 (!) 2 jxj
gion (!; x; z; z0 ) = H0 kion '(!; ; z)'(!; ; z0 )d
4"(!; z0 ) 0
(34)
is called the ionspheric wave.
Applying the asymptotics of the Hankel function
r
1 2 i(r )
H0 (r) e 4 ; Im r > 0; r ! 1 (35)
r
we obtain the main term of the mode asimtotics
'j (!; z) 'j (!; z0 )
gj (!; x; z; z0 ) exp ( i =4) 1=2
exp i j (!) jxj+ ; j = 1; :::; N (!)
"(!; z0 )(8 j (!)jxj) 4

The asymptotics of the lateral wave is given by the formula:

3
ei 4 eikion (!)jxj kion (!) (h)2 f (!; 0; z)f (!; 0; z 0 )
gion (!; x; z; z0 ) :
2 "(!; H)"ion (!)jxj2 jfz0 (!; 0;H)j2

Hence we obtain the asymptotics g(!; x; z; z0 ) as

1
X 'j (!; z) 'j (!; z0 )
g(!; x; z; z0 ) exp ( i =4) 1=2
exp i j (!) jxj+(36)
"(!; z0 )(8 j (!)jxj) 4
j=1
3
ei 4 eikion (!)jxj kion (!)"(!; H)f (!; 0; z)f (!; 0; z 0 )
+ ;
2 "ion (!)jxj2 jfz0 (!; 0;H)j2
jxj ! 1

3 Radiation of moving source

Now we are able to obtain the solution of dynamical equation (4). Applying
the Fourier transform with respect to the time t we obtain the equation

@ @ ^ (!; x; z)
H(!) ^ (!; x; z) = r2x ^ (!; x; z) (" 1 (!; z)
"(!; z) ) k 2 (!; z) ^ (!; x;
(37)
z)
@z @z
= F^ (!; x; z); x 2 R2 ; z 2 R+ :
Z
^ (!; x; z) = g(!; x y;z; w)F^ (!; y; w)dydw: (38)
R3

12
In what follows we consider the moving source given by the formula
i! 0 t
F (t; r) = A(t)e (r r0 (t)); (39)

where A(t) is a narrow-band amplitude of source, ! 0 is a carrier frequency

of source, and r = r0 (t); t 2 R is a law of motion.
Applying the inverse Fourier transform and the Green function we obtain
the solution of dynamic problem (4) as
Z Z
1
(t; x; z) = e i!t g(!; x y;z; w)F^ (!; y; w)d dydw (40)
2 R R3
Z Z
1
= e i!(t ) g(!; x y;z; w)F ( ; y; w) d d!dydw
2 R2
Z Z
1
= e i[!(t )+!0 ] g(!; x y;z; w)A( ) (y r 0 ( ))d d!dydw:
(41)
2 R2

It follows from the property of function and (41) we obtain the rep-
resentation of the …eld of moving source as the oscillatory integral
Z
1
(t; x; z) = e i[!(t )+!0 ] g(!; x x0 ( );z;z0 ( ))A( )d d!: (42)
2 R2
Our aim is to obtain the asymptotics of (t; x; z) for large values of time
t ! 1 and the large horizontal distance jxj ! 1 between a source with
horizontal coordinate 0 and a receiver with horizontal coordinate x: For
calculation of this asymptotics we introduce a dimensionless large parameter
> 0 and we …x a time T > 0 and the horizontal vector X = (X1 ; X2 ) : Then

x = X;t = T:

We assume that the source also depends on the dimensionless parameter

> 0; that is

A(t) = a(t= ); r0 (t) = X0 (t= ); z 0 (t= ) : (43)

Formula (43) yields that for enough large values of > 0 the amplitude of
source is narrow-band, the sorce has a small vertical velocity, and a small
horizontal acceleration.
Then we obtain the representaqtion of …eld of moving source by the
integral depending on the parameter
Z
(t; x; z) = (T; X;z) = e i [!(T )+!0 ] g(!; X X 0 ( ) ;z;z0 ( ))a( )d d!:
2 R2
(44)

13
 Applying formula (36) we obtain the asymptotic formula
1
X
(T; X;z) j (T; X;z) + ion (T; X;z); (45)
j=1

where
p Z
ei 4 X 0 ( )j !(T 'j (!; z) 'j (!; z0 ( ))d!d
j (T; X;z) = ei [ j (!) jX ) !0 ] ;
2 R2 "(!; z0 )(8 j (!)jX X 0 ( )j)1=2
(46)
i 34 Z i [kion (!)jX X 0 ( )j j!(T ) !0 ]k
e e ion (!)"(!; H)f (!; 0; z)f (!; 0; z 0 )d!d
ion (T; X;z) = 2 :
2 R2 "ion (!) X X 0 ( ) jfz0 (!; 0;H)j2
(47)

3.1 Asymptotics of modes

We consider now the asymptotics of modes j (T; X;z) for …x values of

T; X;z: We will apply Proposition 1. The phase function of the mode
j (T; X;z) is

S~j (T; X;!; ) = j (!) X X 0( ) !(T ) !0 : (48)

The stationary points (! j ; j ) of the phase Sj are solutions of the system

of the equations

S~j (T; X;!; ) 0

= j (!) X X 0( ) (T ) = 0; (49)
@!
0
S~j (T; X;!; ) X X 0 ( ) X_ ( )
= j (!) + (! ! 0 ): (50)
@ X X 0( )
1 1 0
Note that j (!) has the demension m; ! has the dimension sec : Hence j (!)
has the dimension sec
m ; and

1
vgj (!) = 0 (51)
j (!)
m
has the dimension sec of velocity, and it is called the group velocity of
j mode generated by the moving source. The expression
0
X X 0 ( ) X_ ( )
V( )= (52)
X X 0( )

14
 m
has the dimension of the velocity sec and V ( ) is the proection of vector
0 0
dX ( )
_
X ()= d 0
on the vector X X ( ): Hence equation (49) has the di-
1
mension of time sec, and equation (50) has dimension of frequency sec .
In what follows we assume that the velocity of source is smaller that the
phase velocity in the atmosphere, that is

max jv(t)j max ca (!; z);

t !2R;z2[0;H]

v(t) = x(t)
_ is the velocity of source. We denote by (! j ; j ) the stationary
point of the phase Sj : Then the equation (50) yields that

M
j! j !0j (53)
1 M
where
supt jv(t)j
M=
inf !;z 0 c(!; z)
1
v(t) = x(t)
_ is the velocidad of source, c(!; z) = p is the phase
0 "(!;z)
velocity of atmosphere. Formula (53) yields that the …nite set only of modes
have the stationary points, and if M is a small enough number the stationary
points located in a small neighborhood of carrier frequency ! 0 :
The system of the equations (49), (50) can be written of the form
0
= T j (!) X X 0( ) ; (54)
0
X X 0 ( ) X_ ( )
! = !0 + j (!) ;
X X 0( )

and can be solved by the method of successive approximations

0
n = T j (! n 1 ) X X 0( n 1) ; (55)
0
X X 0( n 1) X_ ( n 1)
!n = !0 + j (! n 1 ) 0 ; n = 1; :::;
X X ( n 1)

where 0 = T:
Applying formula (10) for the mode j (T; X;z) we obtain
~ j ; j )+i sgnS~j (T;X;! j ; j )
ei 4 ei Sj (T;X;! 4 'j (! j ; z) 'j (! j ; z0 ( j ))
j (T; X;z) p j
; ! +1
"(! j ; z0 )(8 j (!
j )jX X 0 ( )j)1=2 det S~j00 (T; X;! j ; j )
(56)

15
where j = 1; :::; N (! 0 ) ; ! j ; j are stationaru points which are solution of
system (54).
Coming back to the coordinate (t; x) we obtain the asymptotic formula
under condition M << 1
Sj (t;x;! j ; j )+i
ei 4 'j (! j ; z) 'j (! j ; z0 ( j ))
j (t; x;z) ; (57)
"(! j ; z0 )(8 j (!
j )jx x0 ( j )j)1=2

where
Sj (t; x;!; ) = k j (!) x x0 ( ) !(t ) !0 ; (58)
and the stationary points (! j ; j) are the solution of system

@Sj (t; x;!; ) x x0 ( )

= (t ) = 0; (59)
@! vgj (!)

@Sj (t; x;!; ) x x0 ( ) v 0 ( )

= j (!) + (! ! 0 ) = 0: (60)
@ jx x0 ( )j
The numerical calculation of j (t; x;z) has the following steps:
(i) Calculations of solutions j (!) of dispersion equations (21) in a neigh-
borhood of the frequency ! 0 ;
(ii) To obtain stationary points (! j ; j ) by solving of system (59),(60);
(iii) To calculate the functions 'j (! j ; z); 'j (! j ; z0 ( j ))
(iv) To caculate j j (t; x;z)j for by formula (57).

3.2 Asymptotics of the inospheric wave

For calculation of asymptotics of inospheric wave we will apply the sta-
tionary phase method to the integral representation (47) fot the function
ion (T; X;z): The phase in the integral (47) is

S~ion (T; X;!; ) = kion (!) X X 0 ( ) !(T ) !0 ;

s q
! 2p !2 ! 2p
kion (!) = ! 0 "0 1 = ;
!2 c0
where c0 = p1 is the velocity of light in vacuum,
0 "0

0 !
kion (!) = q :
c0 !2 ! 2p

16
Hence the group velocity of ionspherc wave is
q s
! 2 ! 2p ! 2p
vgion (!) = c0 = c0 1 < c0 ; for ! > ! p :
! !2

The stationary phase point (!; ) is the solution of system of equations

S~ion (T; X;!; ) 0

= kion (!) X X 0( ) (T ) = 0; (61)
@!
0
S~ion (T; X;!; ) X X 0 ( ) X_ ( )
= kion (!) + (! ! 0 ) = 0: (62)
@ X X 0( )
As in the case of modes
0 1
kion (!) = ;
vgion (!)
where vgion (!) is the group velocity of the inospheric wave.
Note if the velocity of source is much less then the phase velocity cion (!) =
1
"ion (!) of inosphere, that is
0

supt jv(t)j
<< 1 (63)
cion (!)

then the system (61),(62) has an uniqe solution (! ion ; ion ):

The stationary phase method gives the following asymptotics of in-
ospheric waves
3
S~ion (T;X;! ion ; ~
ei 4 ei ion )+i 4 sgnSion (T;X;! ion ; ion )
kion (! ion )"(! ion ; H)f (! ion ; 0; z)f (! ion ; 0;
ion (T; X;z) 2 1=2
2
"ion (! ion ) X X 0 ( ion ) jfz0 (! ion ; 0;H)j2 det S~ion (T; X;! ion ; ion )
(64)
where
!
kion (!) = =!
cion (!)
S~ion (T; X;!; ) =kion (!) X X 0 ( ) !(T ) !0 :
Note that if the condition (63) is satis…ed, then

sgnS~ion (T; X;! ion ; ion ) = 0; (65)

and
det S~ion (T; X;! ion ; ion ) 1: (66)

17
 Coming back to the coordinates x = X;t = T we obtain under condi-
tion (63) that
3
ei 4 eiSion (t;x;!ion ; ion ) kion (! ion )"(! ion ; H)f (! ion ; 0; z)f (! ion ; 0; z 0 )
ion (T; X;z) 2 0 2
"ion (! ion )jx x0 ( ion )j jfz (! ion ; 0;H)j
(67)
where f (!; ; z) is the solution of the Cauchy problem (19), (20),
Sion (t; x;!; ) = k ion (!) x x0 ( ) !(t ) !0 ; (68)
and the stationary point (! ion ; ion ) is the solution of the system
@Sion (t; x;!; ) x x0 ( )
= (t ) = 0; (69)
@! vgion (!)
@Sion (t; x;!; ) x x0 ( ) v 0 ( )
= kion (!) + (! ! 0 ) = 0: (70)
@ jx x0 ( )j

4 Doppler e¤ect and retarded time

4.1 Mode Doppler e¤ect and retarded time
The asymptotic formula (57) can be written as some wave process for …x
point (x;z)

j (t; x;z) = Aj (t)eiFj (t)

with amplitude Aj (t) and the real-valued phase Fj (t):
According to the signal processing theory (see for instance [8]) Fj (t) is
a phase of the wave process, and the instantaneous frequency ! in
j (t) of the
wave process j (t; x;z) is de…ned as
! in
j (t) = F 0 (t):
In our case
F (t) = Sj (t; x;! j (t; x); j (t; x)) (71)
= k(! j (t; x)) jx x0 ( j (t; x))j ! j (t; x)(t j (t; x)) ! 0 j (t; x);
where (! j (t; x); j (t; x)) are the stationary point of the phase Sj (t; x;! j (t; x); j (t; x)):
Di¤erentiating of F as a composed function we obtain
@Sj (t; x;! j (t; x); j (t; x)) @Sj (t; x;! j (t; x); j (t; x)) @! j (t; x)
F 0 (t) =
@t @! @t
@S(t; x;! j (t; x); j (t; x)) @ j (t; x)
:
@ @t

18
Taking into account that (! j (t; x); j (t; x)) is the stationary point of S; we
obtain that
@Sj (t; x;! j (t; x); j (t; x))
F 0 (t) = = ! j (t; x):
@t
It implies that the instantaneous frequency ! in j (t) of the wave processes
j (t; x;z) for …x x coincides with the stationary point ! j (t; x): Hence the
instantaneous Doppler e¤ect is

Dj (t) = ! in
j (t) ! 0 = ! j (t; x) ! 0 = ka (! j (t; x))v(x; j (t; x)) (72)

where
(x x0 ( j (t; x))) v( j (t; x))
v(x; j (t; x)) = :
jx x0 ( j (t; x))j
Note since k(! j (t; x)) > 0 we obtain the mode Doppler e¤ ect:

Dj (t) > 0 if v(x; j (t; x)) > 0

and
Dj (t) < 0 if v(x; j (t; x)) < 0 :
Note that the mode retarded time is
jx x0 ( j (t; x))j
Rj (t) = t j (t; x) = j
>0 (73)
vg (! j (t; x))

because the group velocity vgj (!) > 0:

4.2 Ionospheric Doppler e¤ect and retarded time

In tha same way as for the modes we obtain that the instantaneous frequency
and the retarded time for the ionospheric wave ion (t; x;z) for …x (x;z)
coincides with the stationary point (! ion (t; x); ion (t; x)) which is obtained
as the solution of system (69),(70).
It implies the formulas for the ionospheric Doppler e¤ect

Dion (t) = ! ion (t; x) ! 0 = kion (! j (t; x))v(x; j (t; x)); (74)

and for for the ionospheric retarded time

jx x0 ( ion (t; x))j

Rion (t) = ion (t; x) t= j
> 0: (75)
vg (! ion (t; x))

19
5 Application
We consider the application of tesults given above to the model of two-
layered atmosphere:
the lower layer [0; H] has the electric permittivity "0 aproximatly coin-
sides with the electric permittivity of vacuum, and we assume that the upper
layer is the ionosphere consisting of the plasma with electric permittivity
given as
! 2p
"ion (!) = 0 (1 )
!2
where 0 is the electric permittivity of vacuum,
r
4 e2 N p 1
!p = = (5:64 104 N ) (76)
m sec
is the plasma frequency, where N is the density of the concentration of
electrons, the constants m; e are the mass and charge of the electron.
Then (
ka (!) = c!a ; z 2 [0; H] ;
k(!; z) = ; (77)
kion (!) = cion!(!) ; z 2 (H; +1):
where ca is the light velocity in the vacuum, the phase velocity in the
ionosphere is
1 c0
cion (!) = r =q > c0
! 2p ! 2p
0 "0 1 1 !2
!2

for the frequency ! > ! p :

The wavenumbers j (!) are solutions of problem
8 2
> d '(!; ;z)
>
> 2 + k 2 (!; z)'(!; ; z) = 2 '(!; ; z); z 2 (0; 1)
< 0 dz
' (!; ; 0) = 0;
L0! '(!; ; z) = :
> '(!; ; H + 0) '(!; ; H 0) = 0;
>
>
: 1 0 1
"a (!;H) ' (!; ; H 0) "i (!) '0 (!; ; H + 0) = 0
(78)
The problem (78) on the interval [0; H) has a solution
q
2
f (!; ; z) = cos ka2 (!) z; (79)

The solution of problem (78) on the interval (H; +1) is of the form
p 2 2 p 2 2
kion (!)(z H) kion (!)(z H)
f (!; ; z) = C1 (!)e + C2 (!)e : (80)

20
Taking into account conditions (78) we obtain the system of equations
q
2
C1 (!) + C2 (!) = cos ka2 (!) H (81)
q
ka2 (!) 2 q
"i (!) 2
C1 (!) C2 (!) = q sin ka2 (!) H
"a 2 2
k (!) ion

The d…nition of the egenfunction implies that the condition

lim f (!; ; z) = 0:
z!+1

This condition implies that C1 (!) = 0: Hence we obtain the dispersion

equation for the de…nition of the wavenumbers
q
q ka2 (!) 2 q
2 "i (!) 2
cos ka2 (!) H q sin ka2 (!) H = 0;
"a 2 2
kion (!)

which can be written as

q
q 2 2 (!)
kion
2 "a
tan ka2 (!) H= q : (82)
"i (!) 2
ka2 (!)

Solutions j = j (!), j = 1; 2; :::; N (!) of the dispersion equations are

searched on the segment [kion (!); ka (!)] :

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