First Observations of the McMurdo-South Pole Ionospheric HF Channel
We present the first observations from a new low-cost oblique ionosonde located in Antarctica. The transmitter is located at McMurdo Station, Ross Island and the receiver at Amundsen-Scott Station, South Pole. The system was demonstrated successfully in March 2019, with the experiment yielding over...
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ftcopernicus:oai:publications.copernicus.org:amtd82850 2023-05-15T13:24:26+02:00 First Observations of the McMurdo-South Pole Ionospheric HF Channel Chartier, Alex Timothy Vierinen, Juha Jee, Geonhwa 2020-01-27 application/pdf https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-2020-2 https://www.atmos-meas-tech-discuss.net/amt-2020-2/ eng eng doi:10.5194/amt-2020-2 https://www.atmos-meas-tech-discuss.net/amt-2020-2/ eISSN: 1867-8548 Text 2020 ftcopernicus https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-2020-2 2020-02-03T15:42:01Z We present the first observations from a new low-cost oblique ionosonde located in Antarctica. The transmitter is located at McMurdo Station, Ross Island and the receiver at Amundsen-Scott Station, South Pole. The system was demonstrated successfully in March 2019, with the experiment yielding over 30 000 ionospheric echoes over a two-week period. These data indicate the presence of a stable E-layer and a sporadic and variable F-layer with dramatic spread-F of sometimes more than 500 km (in units of virtual height). The most important ionospheric parameter, NmF2, validates well against the Jang Bogo VIPIR ionosonde (observing more than 1000 km away). GPS-derived TEC data from the MIDAS algorithm can be considered necessary but insufficient to predict 7.2 MHz propagation between McMurdo and South Pole, yielding a true positive in 40 % of cases and a true negative in 73 % of cases. The success of this pilot experiment at a total grant cost of $116k and an equipment cost of ~$15k indicates that a large multi-static network could be built to provide unprecedented observational coverage of the Antarctic ionosphere. Text Amundsen-Scott Antarc* Antarctic Antarctica Ross Island South pole South pole Copernicus Publications: E-Journals Amundsen-Scott ENVELOPE(0.000,0.000,-90.000,-90.000) Antarctic Bogo ENVELOPE(9.783,9.783,63.095,63.095) McMurdo Station ENVELOPE(166.667,166.667,-77.850,-77.850) Ross Island South Pole The Antarctic |
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Open Polar |
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Copernicus Publications: E-Journals |
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ftcopernicus |
language |
English |
description |
We present the first observations from a new low-cost oblique ionosonde located in Antarctica. The transmitter is located at McMurdo Station, Ross Island and the receiver at Amundsen-Scott Station, South Pole. The system was demonstrated successfully in March 2019, with the experiment yielding over 30 000 ionospheric echoes over a two-week period. These data indicate the presence of a stable E-layer and a sporadic and variable F-layer with dramatic spread-F of sometimes more than 500 km (in units of virtual height). The most important ionospheric parameter, NmF2, validates well against the Jang Bogo VIPIR ionosonde (observing more than 1000 km away). GPS-derived TEC data from the MIDAS algorithm can be considered necessary but insufficient to predict 7.2 MHz propagation between McMurdo and South Pole, yielding a true positive in 40 % of cases and a true negative in 73 % of cases. The success of this pilot experiment at a total grant cost of $116k and an equipment cost of ~$15k indicates that a large multi-static network could be built to provide unprecedented observational coverage of the Antarctic ionosphere. |
format |
Text |
author |
Chartier, Alex Timothy Vierinen, Juha Jee, Geonhwa |
spellingShingle |
Chartier, Alex Timothy Vierinen, Juha Jee, Geonhwa First Observations of the McMurdo-South Pole Ionospheric HF Channel |
author_facet |
Chartier, Alex Timothy Vierinen, Juha Jee, Geonhwa |
author_sort |
Chartier, Alex Timothy |
title |
First Observations of the McMurdo-South Pole Ionospheric HF Channel |
title_short |
First Observations of the McMurdo-South Pole Ionospheric HF Channel |
title_full |
First Observations of the McMurdo-South Pole Ionospheric HF Channel |
title_fullStr |
First Observations of the McMurdo-South Pole Ionospheric HF Channel |
title_full_unstemmed |
First Observations of the McMurdo-South Pole Ionospheric HF Channel |
title_sort |
first observations of the mcmurdo-south pole ionospheric hf channel |
publishDate |
2020 |
url |
https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-2020-2 https://www.atmos-meas-tech-discuss.net/amt-2020-2/ |
long_lat |
ENVELOPE(0.000,0.000,-90.000,-90.000) ENVELOPE(9.783,9.783,63.095,63.095) ENVELOPE(166.667,166.667,-77.850,-77.850) |
geographic |
Amundsen-Scott Antarctic Bogo McMurdo Station Ross Island South Pole The Antarctic |
geographic_facet |
Amundsen-Scott Antarctic Bogo McMurdo Station Ross Island South Pole The Antarctic |
genre |
Amundsen-Scott Antarc* Antarctic Antarctica Ross Island South pole South pole |
genre_facet |
Amundsen-Scott Antarc* Antarctic Antarctica Ross Island South pole South pole |
op_source |
eISSN: 1867-8548 |
op_relation |
doi:10.5194/amt-2020-2 https://www.atmos-meas-tech-discuss.net/amt-2020-2/ |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-2020-2 |
_version_ |
1766379695193980928 |