Space Plasma Exploration by Active Radar (SPEAR): an overview of a future radar facility

SPEAR is a new polar cap HF radar facility which is to be deployed on Svalbard. The principal capabilities of SPEAR will include the generation of artificial plasma irregularities, operation as an 'all-sky' HF radar, the excitation of ULF waves, and remote sounding of the magnetosphere. Op...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Annales Geophysicae
Main Authors: Wright, D. M., Davies, J. A., Robinson, T. R., Chapman, P. J., Yeoman, T. K., Thomas, E. C., Lester, Mark, Cowley, S. W. H., Stocker, A. J., Horne, R. B., Honary, F.
Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
Language:English
Published: European Geosciences Union (EGU), Copernicus Publications, Springer Verlag (Germany) 2012
Subjects:
Science & Technology
Physical Sciences
Astronomy & Astrophysics
Geosciences
Multidisciplinary
Meteorology & Atmospheric Sciences
Geology
ionosphere
active experiments
radio science
instruments and techniques
space plasma physics
IONOSPHERIC MODIFICATION EXPERIMENTS
POWER RADIO-WAVES
CUTLASS
TROMSO
BACKSCATTER
HEATER
Svalbard
Tromso
EISCAT
Online Access:http://hdl.handle.net/2381/12690
http://www.ann-geophys.net/18/1248/2000/angeo-18-1248-2000.html
https://doi.org/10.1007/s00585-000-1248-7
Description
Summary:SPEAR is a new polar cap HF radar facility which is to be deployed on Svalbard. The principal capabilities of SPEAR will include the generation of artificial plasma irregularities, operation as an 'all-sky' HF radar, the excitation of ULF waves, and remote sounding of the magnetosphere. Operation of SPEAR in conjunction with the multitude of other instruments on Svalbard, including the EISCAT Svalbard radar, and the overlap of its extensive field-of-view with that of several of the HF radars in the SuperDARN network, will enable in-depth diagnosis of many geophysical and plasma phenomena associated with the cusp region and the substorm expansion phase. Moreover, its ability to produce artificial radar aurora will provide a means for the other instruments to undertake polar cap plasma physics experiments in a controlled manner. Another potential use of the facility is in 'field-line tagging' experiments, for coordinated ground-satellite experiments. Here the scientific objectives of SPEAR are detailed, along with the proposed technical specifications of the system. 11018

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