Ionospheric electron number densities from CUTLASS dualâ frequency velocity measurements using artificial backscatter over EISCAT

Using quasiâ simultaneous lineâ ofâ sight velocity measurements at multiple frequencies from the Hankasalmi Cooperative UK Twin Auroral Sounding System (CUTLASS) on the Super Dual Auroral Radar Network (SuperDARN), we calculate electron number densities using a derivation outlined in Gillies et al....

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Journal of Geophysical Research: Space Physics
Main Authors: Sarno‐smith, Lois K., Kosch, Michael J., Yeoman, Timothy, Rietveld, Michael, Nel, Amore’, Liemohn, Michael W.
Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
Language:unknown
Published: National Committee for Radio Science 2016
Subjects:
ionospheric number density
SuperDARN
EISCAT
dual frequency
CUTLASS
Astronomy and Astrophysics
Science
Norway
Online Access:https://hdl.handle.net/2027.42/134143
https://doi.org/10.1002/2016JA022788
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Summary:Using quasiâ simultaneous lineâ ofâ sight velocity measurements at multiple frequencies from the Hankasalmi Cooperative UK Twin Auroral Sounding System (CUTLASS) on the Super Dual Auroral Radar Network (SuperDARN), we calculate electron number densities using a derivation outlined in Gillies et al. (2010, 2012). Backscatter targets were generated using the European Incoherent Scatter (EISCAT) ionospheric modification facility at Tromsø, Norway. We use two methods on two case studies. The first approach is to use the dualâ frequency capability on CUTLASS and compare lineâ ofâ sight velocities between frequencies with a MHz or greater difference. The other method used the kHz frequency shifts automatically made by the SuperDARN radar during routine operations. Using ray tracing to obtain the approximate altitude of the backscatter, we demonstrate that for both methods, SuperDARN significantly overestimates Ne compared to those obtained from the EISCAT incoherent scatter radar over the same time period. The discrepancy between the Ne measurements of both radars may be largely due to SuperDARN sensitivity to backscatter produced by localized density irregularities which obscure the background levels.Key PointsDirection comparison of EISCAT and SuperDARN derived electron densitiesTest of multiple methods with SuperDARN dataSuperDARN and EISCAT disagree by large margins Peer Reviewed http://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/134143/1/jgra52841_am.pdf http://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/134143/2/jgra52841.pdf

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