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Abstract
A waveguide mechanism for the whistler wave propagation along the earth's magnetic field in the low-latitude ionosphere near the F-layer maximum is proposed. The particular properties of the ionospheric waveguide characterized by very high values (600 ∼ 800) of the refractive index, are studied. It is shown that waves in the frequency range 1 ∼ 3 kHz can be used for direct communication between two satellites. New possibilities for global diagnostics of the effective thickness of the F-layer are discussed. Contrary to the traditional local sounding techniques, the method proposed in this paper can be used for global diagnostics of the F-layer parameters averaged in the meridional direction over distances smaller than 2 x 103 km during times of the order of 3∼5 seconds.