Echo occurrence in the southern polar ionosphere for the SuperDARN Dome C East and Dome C North radars

• Published in: Polar Science
• Main Authors: Marcucci, Maria Federica, Coco, Igino, Massetti, Stefano, Pignalberi, Alessio, Forsythe, Victoriya, Pezzopane, Michael, Koustov, Alexander, Longo, Simona, Biondi, David, Simeoli, Enrico, Consolini, Giuseppe, Laurenza, Monica, Marchaudon, Aurélie, Satta, Andrea Ercole, Cirioni, Alessandro, De Simone, Angelo, Olivieri, Angelo, Baù, Alessandro, Salvati, Alberto
• Other Authors: INAF-IAPS, Istituto Nazionale di Geofisica e Vulcanologia (INGV), Sezione Roma2, Roma, Italia, ASTRA, LLC, Louisville, CO, USA, ISAS-Univ. of Saskatchewan,Saskatoon, Canada, CNR-DTA, CNR-ICT, IRAP, CNRS, Toulouse University, CNES, Toulouse, France, CNR-IAS, CNR-ISMN, University of Milano Bicocca
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: Elsevier 2021
• Subjects: Polar Science
• Online Access: http://hdl.handle.net/2122/14774; https://doi.org/10.1016/j.polar.2021.100684

In this paper, echo occurrence rates for the Dome C East (DCE) and the new Dome C North (DCN) radars are studied. We report the ionospheric and ground scatter echo occurrence rates for selected periods around equinoxes and solstices in the final part of the solar cycle XXIV. The occurrence maps built in Altitude Adjusted Corrected Geomagnetic latitude and Magnetic Local Time coordinates show peculiar patterns highly variable with season. The comparisons of the radar observations with the International Reference Ionosphere model electron density and with ray tracing simulations allow us to explain the major features of observed patterns in terms of electron density variations. The study shows the great potential of the DCE and DCN radar combination to the Super Dual Auroral Radar Network (SuperDARN) convection mapping in terms of monitoring key regions of the high-latitude ionosphere critical for understanding of the magnetospheric dynamics. Published 100684 2A. Fisica dell'alta atmosfera JCR Journal