EISCAT Radar Sites

There are ten incoherent scatter radars in the world, and we here at EISCAT operate three of the highest-standard facilities. These sites are located in the Scandinavian sector, north of the Arctic Circle. They consist of two independent radar systems under the auroral oval on the mainland, together with another radar in the north polar cap region on the island of Spitzbergen in the Svalbard archipelago.

EISCAT UHF and EISCAT VHF-system

The EISCAT UHF system was designed as a tristatic radar, that is, three facilities that work together. These are located in Finland, Norway and Sweden. In Norway there are two different EISCAT facilities that work in UHF and VHF. Recently the remote sites in Finland and Sweden were converted to the VHF frequency. The Heating facility is also located in Norway. The exact location of the EISCAT facilities can be found here.

Developments in hardware, software and observational techniques have allowed the range of science addressed to be dramatically broadened since the first observations were made and the Association continues to provide and develop appropriate tools to support its user community.

As the current EISCAT system is getting old, the decision to develop a totally new and modernized was taken. This also means that the current EISCAT system will be decomissioned.

EISCAT 3D

The newest addition to EISCAT is the EISCAT 3D system. As the previous EISCAT system, EISCAT 3D will work as a tri-static radar, with facilities in Finland, Norway and Sweden. Right now the system is built, but the development is still ongoing. The plan is that the system will be up and running in late 2025.