SuperDARN Array

Michal Krzysztofowicz
Fri, 16 Dec 2016 23:39:08 +0000

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This season might be all about the Halley move to the new site, but one of the high priorities is to keep the Science Programme going with as little interruption as possible.

In the picture is the SuperDARN radar array, consisting of 16 towers, each with an antenna. The radar, through clever distribution of power and scanning modes on all transmitters can change the direction and range of the beam covering an azimuth range between 50° and 80° wide and distance range in excess of 3000km. The SuperDARN radar at Halley is part of the network consisting of 35 radar installations world wide (primarily focused on high latitudes in both Northern and Southern hemispheres, where several radars have overlapping fields of view to produce a more complete picture). The network is used to study plasma convection in the ionosphere as well as other geospace phenomena such as geomagnetic storms or mesospheric winds.