MEASUREMENT OF A LUNAR TIDE IN PHASE HEIGHT OF E-REGION

The measurements of the lunar tidal influence on the group height of radio waves reflected in the E-region made by Appleton and Weekes and others have given rise to problems of interpretation. In this paper we describe an attempt to determine the corresponding lunar influence on the phase height of reflection in the hope that this would give some help in the interpretation. Measurements have been made of the daily change of phase path for a continuous wave (2.5 MHz) reflected at oblique incidence in the E-region and the results have been analysed to reveal the lunar tide. The resultant tide appears to be statistically significant although it is not as well determined as one would wish in our limited set of data. The interpretation of the results in terms of an electromagnetic drift theory relating them to the lunar current flow is examined and the conditions under which such an explanation may be satisfactory are established. © 1969.