EISCAT Frequently Asked Questions
- What is EISCAT?
- What is EISCAT_3D?
- How and why is so much power needed?
- Is it dangerous?
- Can you affect the weather, create earthquakes etc.?
- Who pays for this research facility?
- Where are you located?
- Why these locations?
- What happens to the results?
- Can I look at the data?
- Can your facilities see other things, like airplanes and satellites?
- Where can I learn more about EISCAT and EISCAT_3D?
What is EISCAT?
EISCAT is an organisation that provides research facilities for scientist form all over the world. We are based in northern Finland, Sweden and Norway with Svalbard. We help scientists research the ionosphere and the upper atmosphere, for example: space weather, GPS- and radio communication, space debris, aurora and much more.
What is EISCAT_3D?
EISCAT_3D will be a radar system for the scientific study of the Earth’s atmosphere and ionosphere. It will use a technique called Incoherent Scatter Radar (ISR) to measure basic physical parameters of the ionospheric plasma and upper atmosphere near the Earth. This kind of system supports the study of phenomena such as the aurora borealis (northern lights) and noctilucent clouds. You can read more abour EISCAT_3D here: EISCAT 3D FAQ.
How and why is so much power needed?
The ISR technique bounces radio waves off of free electrons in the ionosphere. These electrons are extremely small and, as a result, high transmitter powers, large antennas, and sensitive receiver electronics are necessary to see any signal at all! Most of the transmitted signal passes right through the atmosphere and ionosphere and out into space, but the tiny bit that comes back tells us very much about the plasma!
EISCAT_3D will use a transmitter with 1000 W peak power (up to 250 W average power) on each active antenna. With a peak power of 5 MW or an average power of up to 1.25 MW.
Is it dangerous?
No, our facilities are designed to protect both people and wildlife from exposure to high strength radio waves.
A metal fence protect the electronics and antennas from wildlife getting in and from radio waves getting out. Within the fenced area radio waves can be greater than international and local standards allow. The fence is interlocked to turn off when maintenance personnel are inside the fence, but outside the fence the levels will be well below the allowed intensities. In fact, the system will use the fence itself to ensure that this is the case. Additionally, the system will be regularly tested by the relevant government agencies and by EISCAT to ensure that there is never a risk to people (or moose) that may stray close to the radar system.
Can you affect the weather, create earthquakes, hurricanes etc.?
No, our equipment does not affect the weather. Not locally or far away. It affects the ionosphere at altitudes much higher than where our weather is formed, and it does not percolate down to our levels of the atmosphere.
By our radar facilities we send energy upwards, we can not send it downwards, less than a megawatt (MW) and over a large area. It is negligible in comparison to the amount of energy the earth receives from the sun, which is around 44 quadrillion (4.4 E 16) watts annually. A megawatt of energy is a lot of energy down at earth if you compare to a light bulb, but it is very small compared to the energy levels in space. A quadrillion watt is about equal to the amount of energy in 45 million tons of coal, or 1 trillion cubic feet of natural gas, or 170 million barrels of crude oil.
Our facilities does not create earthquakes, tsunami waves, hurricanes or any other type of natural disasters at the earth. Our radars only send energy upwards at the atmosphere. Most of the sent energy pass through the atmosphere and leaves out into space. Only a little bit bounces at the atmosphere and comes back down to us. This energy can not penetrate the ground, because the ground is to dense. Earthquakes requires a lot of energy to build up in the earth’s tectonic plates, that are located deep in the ground. Therefor it is not possible for us to create earthquakes.
Who pays for this research facility?
The EISCAT Scientific Association presently consists of six associate nations (China, Finland, Japan, Norway, Sweden, and the U.K.) and affiliated institutes (currently from Germany, South Korea, Ukraine and USA). These associates and affiliates jointly fund the operation of the radars. The hardware and development were funded via contributions from the EISCAT Associates and the European Union.
Where are you located?
The EISCAT Headquarters is located in Kiruna, Sweden. Our radar facilities is near Skibotn and Tromsø (Norway), Logyearbyen (Svalbard, Kaiseniemi (Sweden), and Karesuvanto (Finland).
Why these locations?
The location of facilities requires certain conditions for the experiments done by our radars. They are located in an area with relatively little cloud cover, which is helpful when combining the radar measurements with optical measurements of, for instance, the aurora borealis.
What happens to the results?
The analysis and results obtained from the measurements are typically published in a variety of peer-reviewed scientific journals. The very large ‘raw’ data files remain the property of EISCAT, but the scientific results are provided to everyone with internet access.
Can I look at the data?
Plots of the measurements will be available for viewing on-line for the majority of experiments. For scientists to run their own experiments they must either be part of the EISCAT Scientific Association (through membership agreements between research councils and institutions) or by competing through a peer-review program. EISCAT only allows open scientific research programs to be run and operates solely in the civilian sector (no defence-related work is allowed).
Can your facilities see other things, like airplanes and satellites?
Yes, to some extent. However, the EISCAT_3D transmit array will be placed in a valley to limit the number of aircraft in its field of view. This is done because reflections from these objects are too strong and will hide the scientific data the system is interested in receiving. Satellites are a particular problem because they travel through the region of space that the radar is primarily interested in, so the reflections from satellites must be carefully removed. The system will also be able to see micro-meteors, which come from sand grain sized particles that fall into the top of the atmosphere all the time. This is another area of study by the EISCAT scientists.
Where can I learn more about EISCAT and EISCAT_3D?
The website of EISCAT Scientific Association (www.eiscat.se) contains information about the association and the radar systems.