HR: 0800h
AN: SA51B-1129    [Abstracts]
TI: Coherent Scatter Imaging Radar Observations: Insights Provided By a New Tool for Studies of Midlatitude Sporadic E and Quasi-Periodic Echo Structures
AU: * Larsen, M F
EM: mlarsen@clemson.edu
AF: Department of Physics, Clemson University, Clemson, SC 29634 United States
AU: Hysell, D L
EM: daveh@geology.geo.cornell.edu
AF: Earth and Atmospheric Science, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY 14853 United States
AB: The development of the coherent scatter radar imaging technique has provided a unique new tool for studying the structure of plasma irregularities in the ionosphere. This in-beam or aperture synthesis technique was applied extensively in an experiment carried out in June and July 2002 on the island of St. Croix in the Caribbean in which the coherent scatter looked westward toward the island of Puerto Rico. In particular, the imaging radar instrumentation was used in conjunction with the Arecibo Observatory incoherent scatter radar to study the horizontal and vertical spatial structure in quasi-periodic echoes associated with sporadic E layers located over Puerto Rico. The imaging technique has provided new measurements with unprecedented resolution that show both the spatial structure and movement of the irregularities. The St. Croix observations show that the quasi-periodic structures are localized in the vertical and horizontal directions. Although there is a slight preference for propagation along the northeast to southwest direction, other propagation directions also occur. Especially when viewed in the context of recent rocket and radar experiments, such as the SEEK 2 experiment that was carried out in Japan, the St. Croix data provide an important new perspective on the dynamics associated with the quasi-periodic echo structures. The types of measurements that can be provided by the imaging technique will be presented, and the observations of quasi-periodic echo structures will be analyzed in the context of other recent rocket and radar experiments.
DE: 2437 Ionospheric dynamics
DE: 2439 Ionospheric irregularities
DE: 2443 Midlatitude ionosphere
SC: SPA-Aeronomy [SA]
MN: Fall Meeting 2005