Q-bursts: A comparison of experimental and computed ELF waveforms

Experimental waveforms of natural ELF transient signals (Q-bursts) are compared with computations based on the analytical time domain solution. The computations were performed for the uniform Earth-ionosphere cavity model with a linear frequency dependence of the ELF propagation constant. The vertical electric field was recorded in the frequency band from 1 Hz to 11 kHz by a ball antenna in fair weather conditions at Kochi (geographic coordinates: 33.3°N and 133.4°E) during the period of 2003–2004. Waveforms of discrete pulses were compared, each showing a high similarity. This confirms the validity of the model and the consistency of the source-observer distance found experimentally, directly in the time domain.