Premium
Electron density and electric field over Resolute Bay and F region ionospheric echo detection with the Rankin Inlet and Inuvik SuperDARN radars
Author(s) -
Koustov A. V.,
Ponomarenko P. V.,
Ghezelbash M.,
Themens D. R.,
Jayachandran P. T.
Publication year - 2014
Publication title -
radio science
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.371
H-Index - 84
eISSN - 1944-799X
pISSN - 0048-6604
DOI - 10.1002/2014rs005579
Subject(s) - daytime , ionosphere , ionosonde , echo (communications protocol) , radar , electric field , solstice , f region , physics , environmental science , electron density , geology , atmospheric sciences , remote sensing , geodesy , electron , geophysics , latitude , telecommunications , computer network , quantum mechanics , computer science
Joint observations of the Rankin Inlet and Inuvik Super Dual Auroral Radar Network HF radars and Resolute Bay (RB) Canadian Advanced Digital Ionosonde are used to assess the electron density at the F region peak and the electric field magnitude as factors affecting echo detection over RB. We demonstrate that the radars show similar diurnal and seasonal variations in ionospheric echo occurrence. During nighttime and at radar frequencies of ~12 MHz, optimum densities for both radars are shown to be ∼ 1.4 × 10 5 cm − 3 , ~1.8 × 10 5 cm − 3 , and ~2.0 × 10 5 cm − 3 for winter, equinox, and summer, respectively. During daytime, optimum densities are larger by (0.2 − 0.3) × 10 5 cm − 3 . Observations at lower radar frequencies of ~10 MHz show smaller required densities during nighttime, by ~0.3 × 10 5 cm − 3 . Optimum electric fields for the moments of echo detection over RB are found to be 5–25 mV/m with no clear threshold effect and any seasonal dependence. The presented data suggest that for echo detection, favorable propagation conditions along the entire path of radio waves toward the scattering volume are important.