Abstract
FROM time to time, some observational evidence has been forthcoming suggesting that the strength of signals received from radio transmitting stations over fixed paths is under certain conditions dependent upon the position of the moon at the time of observation. In particular, H. T. Stetson has investigated this matter, and in 1944 (Terr. Mag. and Atmos. Elec., 49, 9) described the results of the analysis of some eight years measurements taken at Boston on the strength of signals received from the Chicago broadcasting station. Contrary to his expectations, the evidence strongly indicated that the strength of the signals was dependent upon the age of the moon, although the effect was of a complex nature. It will also be recalled that in a paper published in 1939 (Proc. Roy. Soc., A, 171, 171), E. V. Appleton and K. Weekes showed the existence of a lunar tide effect in the height of Region E of the ionosphere. The tide was found to be semi-diurnal, with an amplitude variation of about ± 1 km. If these results are interpreted according to the simple theory of the formation of the ionized regions, they indicate a relative air-pressure oscillation several thousand times the measured relative pressure oscillation at ground level.
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Effect of the Moon on Radio Wave Propagation. Nature 159, 396 (1947). https://doi.org/10.1038/159396c0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/159396c0