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1)Hmmm… pretend youre at Barnards star… how bright does our sun look from there? How much does that brightness dim when the Earth gets in the way? How does this change compare to the natural variability of our suns output? On a related note, whats with that Flare at Barnards?
2)Why are the D, E, and F regions of the ionosphere called that? And why is the F-layer further divided into F1 and F2?
3)Name three differences between geomagnetic storms and substorms.
4)Consider sunlight striking the atmosphere off-zenith (e.g., at high latitudes). What impact does this have on the height and peak density of a Chapman layer as compared to zenith illumination?
5) Using VOACAP (https://www.voacap.com/hf/), determine the optimal Ham radio band (frequency range) for ionospheric propagation HF communications between a QTH (location) in Hobbiton1, and Penn State University Park2 in a CW, SSB voice, and Data mode (and time) of your choosing. Justify your answers and station setup choices.
6)What is the density of air at 100 km if the atmosphere has a scale-height of 8 km? (compare your answer to a standard atmospheric model)
7)The total electron content (TEC) of the ionosphere is found by vertically integrating electron density from the ground to infinity. a.What are typical values and units for TEC? b.What altitude corresponds to peak electron density? c.Why do I care about TEC?d.How do I measure TEC?
8)What effect would a major solar flare, which emits a large amount of UV and X-ray radiation, have on the dayside ionosphere?
9)A satellite re-entering Earths atmosphere will suffer a radio communications blackout because of the plasma created by the shock wave in front of it. If the satellites radio operates at a frequency of 100 MHz, what is the minimum plasma density during the blackout?
10)Find an article about ionospheric currents… Tell me about it.
