Polar Communications

The problem of polar communications has revolved main[y about communications affected by aurorae, or communications from middle to high latitudes. However, these aspects merely represent but two views of a larger problem that contains four subdivisions prescribed by geography: (a) intrapolar; (b) auroral zone; (c) polar-middle latitude; and (d) interpolar. Interest in the first topic is recent. It is concerned with communications within either the Arctic or Antarctic polar cap regions. The second includes propagational difficulties arising from auroral absorption even when the terminals are well outside the polar regions. The third considers communications (not contained within (b)) between one terminal equatorwards of the two auroral zones and a second terminal within either polar cap region. The fourth category, with which this paper is concerned, encompasses communications from one polar cap region to the other. Present studies indicate that h.f. radio wave propagation between the two polar cap regions is possible. Over a typical Arctic-Antarctic circuit the operating frequency could be constant throughout the day. On some occasions, m.u.f.'s for a pole-to-pole circuit exceeded those for an equator-to-pole circuit. A short duration experiment between the Arctic and Antarctic showed that interpolar communications may occur, even during instances of h.f. absorption at lower latitudes. Results from the limited tests implied that h.f. interpolar propagation may be exploited for communications by allowing a middle latitude station to contact one polar region which then may contact the opposite polar site. Today, where problems of polar logistics and energy sources are readily solved, interpolar circuits may play an important role in relaying traffic from polar regions to middle latitudes.