WP10: New ways of exploiting incoherent scatter radars
February 12, 2010
The unique capabilities of the proposed EISCAT_3D radar will make it possible to undertake continuous observations of different physical parameters in the polar upper atmosphere. Long and continuous time series of such parameters are of vital importance for understanding the climatic conditions in the upper parts of the atmosphere. This Work Package of the EISCAT_3D Design Study exploited the use of such data for climatic studies. The aim of this work package was to conduct a survey of the possible “non-traditional” uses of incoherent scatter radars and explore the potential of implementing such uses on the EISCAT_3D systems.
Some of the results from this work package were:
- Conclusions about “non-traditional” uses of EISCAT_3D
- Artificial ionospheric targets
Feasible, warrants further investigations - Space debris
Feasible - Planetary radar
Feasible - Magnetospheric radar
Seems feasible; requires high sensitivity and longer integration intervals. Requires further investigation - General relativity theory
Requires exceedingly high accuracy. Seems infeasible but requires further consideration - Radiation belts monitoring
Needs further investigations - Meteor radar
Feasible - SETI (Search for Extra-Terrestrial Intelligence)
Feasible, requires specialised software and processing techniques
- Artificial ionospheric targets
- A software package designed and implemented to retrieve and process data from the EISCAT Madrigal database for analysis of long time series of ionospheric measurements.
- Identification of the need for long time-series of electron density data for improving ionospheric correction models at high latitudes.
This Work Package was performed by the University of Tromsø.