Observation and analysis of VLF nocturnal multimode interference phenomenon based on waveguide mode theory

Abstract Very low frequency (VLF) signals are propagated between the ground-ionosphere. Multimode interference will cause the phase to show oscillatory changes with distance while propagating at night, leading to abnormalities in the received VLF signal. This study uses the VLF signal received in Qingdao City, Shandong Province, from the Russian Alpha navigation system to explore the multimode interference problem of VLF signal propagation. The characteristics of the effect of multimode interference phenomena on the phase are analyzed according to the variation of the phase of the VLF signal. However, the phase of VLF signals will also be affected by the X-ray and energetic particles that are released during the eruption of solar flares, therefore the two phenomena are studied in this work. It is concluded that the X-ray will not affect the phase of VLF signals at night, but the energetic particles will affect the phase change, and the influence of energetic particles should be excluded in the study of multimode interference phenomena. Using VLF signals for navigation positioning in degraded or unavailable GPS conditions is of great practical significance for very low frequency navigation systems as it can avoid the influence of multimode interference and improve positioning accuracy.