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Application of adaptive optics to scintillation correction in phased array high‐frequency radar
Author(s) -
Theurer Timothy E.,
Bristow William A.
Publication year - 2015
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 - 10.1002/2015rs005703
Subject(s) - phased array , scintillation , optics , radar , remote sensing , physics , adaptive optics , active electronically scanned array , computer science , telecommunications , radar engineering details , geology , radar imaging , antenna (radio) , detector
At high frequency, diffraction during ionospheric propagation can yield wavefronts whose amplitude and phase fluctuate over the physical dimensions of phased array radars such as those of the Super Dual Auroral Radar Network (SuperDARN). Distortion in the wavefront introduces amplitude and phase scintillation into the geometric beamformed signal while reducing radar performance in terms of angular resolution and achieved array gain. A scintillation correction algorithm based on adaptive optics techniques is presented. An experiment conducted using two SuperDARN radars is presented that quantifies the effect of wavefront distortion and demonstrates a reduction in observed scintillation and improvement in radar performance post scintillation correction.