Determining polarization parameters and angles of arrival of HF radio signals using three mutually orthogonal antennas

This paper presents results of an experimental verification of our earlier suggested spectral-polarisation method of measuring the polarization parameters and angles of arrival of HF electromagnetic waves by analyzing three mutually orthogonal projections of the radio signal field vector using a single receiving antenna. The initial stage of analysis involves calculating complex Doppler spectra of time variations of these projections. Thereupon, for each spectrum component, these data are used to determine polarization parameters and angle-of-arrival spectra. The measurements were made on a HF radio path about 100 km in length, with simultaneous monitoring of the ionospheric situation using the oblique-incidence sounding chirp-ionosonde. In an effort to eliminate multipath effects, in the analysis we used nighttime intervals, for which a stable one-mode reflected radio signal was observed. It is shown that the proposed method gives mean values of the azimuth and zenith angle which differ by no more than 2 degrees-5 degrees from calculated values. Results of an experimental verification of the suggested technique are in agreement with published data obtained by classic methods.