A signal-to-noise model for ELF propagation in subsurface regions

Measurements of the natural extremely low-frequency (ELF) radio noise (known as Schumann resonances) in the period 1988-1989 have enabled average atmospheric noise levels and Schumann resonance parameters to be deduced. At 45 Hz, the average measured electric field was 41.6 dB·μV/m·√(Hz). It is assumed that the Schumann resonance noise field in the air-space in the vicinity of the observation point can be considered to be represented as the sum of four components, one arising from propagation over a short great-circle path, and a second representing a long great-circle path contribution, each of these having an upgoing and a downgoing part. The noise fields can then be estimated at any given depth below the ground (or sea) surface from the measured values in the air. The authors present results showing the computed fields produced in the sea from submerged horizontal electric quadrupole and vertical electric dipole man-made sources, and compare these with the subsurface atmospheric noise fields deduced from the experimental measurements