Theoretical aspects of sounder antenna operation

The fundamental problem of calculating the radiation from an electric dipole immersed in a magnetoplasma is one of solving Maxwell's equations coupled to the self-consistent field-particle equations describing the plasma. For very small applied antenna voltages, the plasma dynamics may be linearized, and the plasma reaction currents computed self-consistently in terms of the voltage on the antenna. Thus, the short dipole can be idealized as a point dipole of moment P sub o = C sub a, V sub o el, where C sub a is the antenna element-to-plasma capacitance for a sheath of dimensions roughly several plasma Debye lengths and el is the dipole element's length. In actual practice, it is at this point that the first difficulty with the antenna theory arises. Even for small signals, the sheath around such an antenna will exhibit a complex impedance. For larger signals, nonlinear effects appear. Attemps are made to solve this problem.