Incoherent Scatter Radars Current Status and Future Plans

1
Incoherent Scatter RadarsCurrent Status and
Future Plans

• Ian McCrea
• Space Science and Technology Department
• Rutherford Appleton Laboratory
• Chilton, Oxfordshire OX11 0QX
• United Kingdom

i.w.mccrea_at_rl.ac.uk
2
An Idealised Radar System
env(t)
e(t)
3
(No Transcript)
4
ISR coverage at 500km

• EISCAT Svalbard Radar
• EISCAT UHF
• Poker Flat
• Resolute Bay
• Sondrestrom
• Millstone Hill
• Arecibo
• Jicamarca
• ALTAIR
• MU
• EISCAT VHF
• Kharkov
• Irkutsk

Courtesy Craig Heinselman, SRI
5
EISCAT UHF VHF
6
ISR Science Topics Understanding the Solar Wind

• AIMS
• Find the factors determining structure and
  evolution with distance
• Study transfer of energy between scale sizes in
  solar wind
• Study terrestrial response to fast solar wind
  streams, CIRs, CMEs etc
• METHOD
• Long-baseline observations e.g. EISCAT and MERLIN
• Opportunistic observations of solar wind events
  arriving at Earth
• Coordination with ground (e.g. GLORIA) space
  (e.g. THEMIS) instruments

7
ISR Science Topics Magnetosphere-Ionosphere
Coupling

• AIMS
• Understand the location and timing of substorm
  initiation.
• Understand extent of plasma loss to magnetosphere
• Test hypothesis of magnetic reconnection for
  various IMF
• Predict effects on ionospheric structure
• METHOD
• Coordination with Cluster, Double Star and THEMIS
  space missions.
• Coordination with THEMIS and SuperDARN
  ground-based networks.

8
ISR Science Topics Fundamental Plasma Physics

• AIMS
• Study particle acceleration within the ionosphere
• Probe the energy transfer between particles and
  waves (and vice versa)
• Study generation and effects of non-linear plasma
  instability
• Explain the structure of heater-stimulated
  emissions
• Study magnetospheric dynamics via artificial
  striations.
• METHOD
• Coordination with SPEAR, HAARP and space missions
  (e.g. FAST).
• Coordination with SuperDARN HF radar network.

9
ISR Science Topics Auroral Physics

• AIMS
• Understand how aurora are generated and evolve.
• Understand small-scale structure and
  electrodynamics.
• Study plasma physics in aurora (e.g. NEIALs).
• Study the relationship between proton and
  electron aurora.
• Study meso-scale ion-neutral coupling.
• METHOD
• Coordination with all kinds of optical imagers
• Use of multi-wavelength/multi-scale data
• Sub-beamwidth interferometry

10
ISR Science Topics Ionosphere-Atmosphere Coupling

• AIM
• Study vertical coupling of energy from upper to
  lower atmosphere
• Understand role of upper atmosphere in long-term
  global change
• Understand effects of long-term change on the
  upper atmosphere
• Study how upper atmosphere phenomena couple to
  sub-mesopause heights.
• Quantify low frequency oscillations (planetary
  waves and tides).
• Study vertical coupling and wave ducting in the
  high-latitude mesosphere and lower thermosphere
  and their dependence on solar variability.
• METHOD
• Coordination with ground-based meteor radar
  network and spacecraft instruments (e.g. TIMED.
  AIM)

11
ISR Science Topics Micrometeoroids and Solar
System Formation

• AIM
• Resolve source of meteor streams, i.e.
  differentiate between solar system and
  extra-solar system populations.
• Study meteor smoke as source of condensation
  nuclei for mesopause dust/ice layers (e.g. PMSE).
• Understand how meteor dust phenomena respond to
  global change
• METHOD
• Synoptic observations at various
  seasons/locations to determine MIF

12
ISR Science Topics Applications

• AIMS
• Provide input and test data for ionospheric
  modelling.
• Test and refine communications prediction models
• Monitor the global space debris environment
• METHOD
• Synoptic observations at various
  seasons/locations to determine MIF

13
The Competition US AMISRs
14
Europes Answer EISCAT-3D
15
How is EISCAT_3D different, and why do we need
it?
EISCAT_3D will give accurate, large-scale, three
dimensional measurements of the ionosphere and
atmosphere for the first time and much else
besides EISCAT_3D will give us unprecedented
temporal and spatial information about the plasma
environment essential to understanding crucial
and societally relevant problems in the geospace
environment, in space weather, and in the global
energy budget and related climate change
16
Test array
96 elements
17
Module
The module (or sub-array) is the point where
the data is beam-formed In fact, we shall
beam-form rows first, and then beam form the
columns This keeps each beam-former managable
(24 inputs) The compromise is a square module
576 elements
18
Central site
The central site will comprise 32 modules Each
module becomes an interferometric
element Packing arrangement to be determined!
13824 elements
19
Multi-site, multi-beam, multi-static

• 5-10 electronically steered beams per site
• Near and far receiver sites (150, 300km),
  selected for the sky view
• near sites are too close for good tri-statics
  at high altitudes
• far sites cant see low altitude
• Note that Tx site also has receive ability

E-W
N-S
20
Proposed locations

• Four Rx-only sites (Examples shown here)
• One dual-Tx/Rx site (Tromsø)
• N-S and E-W lines
• Uniform spacing
• 150 and300 km

21
What are the next steps ?

• Next-generation ISRs represent large strategic
  investments
• Only possible with wide multi-national
  collaboration
• EU already funds EISCAT-3D design study under FP6
• Design study ends May 2009
• Bidding for build money 2010-2011
• EISCAT-3D build will require collaboration
  between national councils (RCs) and
  multi-national organisations (e.g. EU Framework
  Programmes)
• Hence importance of recognition by Roadmap
  exercises such as ESFRI and AstroNet

22
Summary

• ISRs are the most powerful instruments for
  studies of the geospace environment
• Science topics range from solar wind, to plasma
  physics, to global change.
• Significant applications benefits
• Europe already has a world-leading community (cf
  EISCAT) and the state-of-the-art design for the
  next generation radar (cf EISCAT-3D)
• We have the potential (and the plan) to build and
  exploit the best atmospheric radar in the world
  hence our desire to be included in the
  infrastructure roadmaps

23
(No Transcript)