Phase calibration of the EISCAT Svalbard Radar interferometer using optical satellite signatures
Abstract. The link between natural ion-line enhancements in radar spectra and auroral activity has been the subject of re-cent studies but conclusions have been limited by the spatial and temporal resolution previously available. The next chal-lenge is to use shorter sub-second integration times in...
| Main Authors: | , , , , , |
|---|---|
| Other Authors: | |
| Format: | Text |
| Language: | English |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | http://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/summary?doi=10.1.1.694.9263 http://www.eiscat.rl.ac.uk/Members/mike/publications/pdfs/2006/angeo-24-2419-2006.pdf/ |
| Summary: | Abstract. The link between natural ion-line enhancements in radar spectra and auroral activity has been the subject of re-cent studies but conclusions have been limited by the spatial and temporal resolution previously available. The next chal-lenge is to use shorter sub-second integration times in com-bination with interferometric programmes to resolve spatial structure within the main radar beam, and so relate enhanced filaments to individual auroral rays. This paper presents initial studies of a technique, using op-tical and spectral satellite signatures, to calibrate the received phase of a signal with the position of the scattering source along the interferometric baseline of the EISCAT Svalbard Radar. It is shown that a consistent relationship can be found only if the satellite passage through the phase fringes is ad-justed from the passage predicted by optical tracking. This required adjustment is interpreted as being due to the vector between the theoretical focusing points of the two antennae, i.e. the true radar baseline, differing from the baseline ob-tained by survey between the antenna foot points. A method to obtain a measurement of the true interferometric baseline using multiple satellite passes is outlined. |
|---|