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Middle and upper atmosphere radar (MUR) under design in Japan
Author(s) -
Fukao S.,
Kato S.,
Aso T.,
Sasada M.,
Makihira T.
Publication year - 1980
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 - 10.1029/rs015i002p00225
Subject(s) - atmosphere (unit) , radar , antenna (radio) , amplifier , aperture (computer memory) , phase (matter) , optics , power (physics) , phased array , remote sensing , physics , telecommunications , computer science , electrical engineering , acoustics , geology , engineering , bandwidth (computing) , meteorology , quantum mechanics
A large MST radar for observing backscattering from refractive index fluctuations in the middle and upper atmosphere is now under design in Japan. The proposed system is a pulse‐modulated monostatic radar, working at a frequency near 48 MHz. The configuration will be quite different from the existing MST/ST radars. A quasi‐square array with an aperture of 10 4 m 2 is composed of 456 Yagi antennas, each of which is provided with a low‐power amplifier. A peak output power of more than 1 MW is envisaged to be generated when the whole system is coherently activated. In this system a phase shift is obtainable at a low power level by variable phase shifters controlled by electronic means, which enable rapid and continuous scanning of the antenna. The whole system is monitored and controlled by a microcomputer network.