RadioScience,

Volume32, Number4, Pages1681-1694,July-August

1997

Ionospheric soundingin support of over-the-horizon radar

B. W. Reinisch,D. M. Haines,K. Bibl, I. Galkin,X. Huang,
D. F. Kitrosser,G. S. Sales,and J. L. Scali
Centerfor AtmosphericResearch,Universityof Massachusetts
Lowell

Abstract.Precisecoordinate registration
for HF over-the-horizon (OTH) radarapplications
requiresaccurateknowledgeof theionospheric structure.
In themid-1980sDigisonde256
systems weredeployedin theAmericansectorto providethisinformationfrom strategically
locatedsitesvia telephonelinesto theuser.The mid-1990ssawthe development of a new
advancedsystem,the Digisondeportablesounder,or DPS, now beingdeployedin Australiain
supportof theAustralianOTH radarsystem.A summaryof thenew featuresprovidedby the
DPSis asfollows:low radiofrequency power(300 W); narrowtransmission bandwidth;
advancedautomaticscaling;andcontrolanddataaccessvia thelntemet.The availabilityof real-
timeelectrondensityprofilesasfunctionof timefroma networkof stations makesit possibleto
calculatethethree-dimensional electrondensitydistribution
in theregionof interestusing
Fouriertransformtechniques. The resultingdensitymapsare thebasisfor the OTH radar
coordinateregistration.The DPSusesDopplerinterferometry to determinethedevelopment of
ionosphericirregularities.

1. Principles of Ionospheric HF Sounding permittivity, and Bo is the Earth'smagneticfield. To

Since the early experimentsby Breit and Tuve probetheE andF regionsof theionosphere, ionosondes
[1926], high-frequency(HF) radio sounding with generally scan from 1 to 20 MHz, transmitting
ionosondes hasprovideda wealth of informationon the modulated radiowavesandreceivingand analyzingthe
behavior and physics of the ionosphere.The basic ionosphericallyreflectedecho signals [Wright et al.,
principleof vertical incidenceionosphericsoundingis 1957; Bibl, 1958]. Conventionally,the ionosonde
simple:HF radiowavesof frequency fare reflectedat the presentsthe demodulated echosignalsas time of flight
cutoff frequenciesof the ionosphericmagnetoplasma, (range)versussoundingfrequency in form of ionograms
which are givenby (Plate 1). Advancedmodem ionosondes[Reinisch,
1986;Argo and Kelley, 1986] measureall characteristics
Ordinarywaye X -- 1 (1a)
of the reflectedelectromagneticsignalsas a functionof
Extraordinary
wave X- 1-Y (lb)
zwave X = 1+Y (1c) frequency, not just their time of flight: virtual height,
wave polarization, Doppler frequency, amplitude,
2 phase, and angle of arrival. Accurate coordinate
registration for over-the-horizon (OTH) radar
X 4•)'Y=--fH,
fp-• •'fl-I
fNe2=eBo
2xm 4•2meo
(ld)
applications requires reliable information of the
ionosphericelectrondensity distributionbetween the
radarand the target. In the 1980s the U.S. Air Force
N, e, andm arenumberdensityand chargeand massof installeda networkof Digisonde256 systems[Reinisch,
the electron, respectively, •o is the free space 1996; Buchau et al., 1995] for the mapping of the
ionosphere in supportof their OTH radaroperation.A
more advancedsystem,the Digisondeportablesounder
Copyright1997 by the AmericanGeophysicalUnion. or DPS, is now being deployedin Australiato support
the AustralianJindaleeOTH radarnetwork.By mid-
Papernumber97RS00841. 1997, some1! Digisondeswill be in placealong the
0048-6604/97/97RS-00841 $11.00 northern shores of Australia.

1681
1944799x, 1997, 4, Downloaded from https://agupubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1029/97RS00841 by Cochrane Canada Provision, Wiley Online Library on [20/02/2024]. See the Terms and Conditions (https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/terms-and-conditions) on Wiley Online Library for rules of use; OA articles are governed by the applicable Creative Commons License
RADAR
FOR OVER-THE-HORIZON

•J

I
u N N
N
SOUNDING
IONOSPHERIC
ET AE.:
REINISCH
1682
1944799x, 1997, 4, Downloaded from https://agupubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1029/97RS00841 by Cochrane Canada Provision, Wiley Online Library on [20/02/2024]. See the Terms and Conditions (https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/terms-and-conditions) on Wiley Online Library for rules of use; OA articles are governed by the applicable Creative Commons License
1683

receivingantenna,
REINISCHET AL.: IONOSPHERICSOUNDINGFOR OVER-THE-HORIZONRADAR

Figure 1. The Digisondeportablesounder(DPS) system,one crossed-loop

andtheconfiguration receivingarray.
of thefour-antenna
 1944799x, 1997, 4, Downloaded from https://agupubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1029/97RS00841 by Cochrane Canada Provision, Wiley Online Library on [20/02/2024]. See the Terms and Conditions (https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/terms-and-conditions) on Wiley Online Library for rules of use; OA articles are governed by the applicable Creative Commons License
1684 RE1NISCH ET AL.: IONOSPHERIC SOUNDING FOR OVER-THE-HORIZON RADAR

2. A Modern Ionosonde Figures1 and2 showthe Digisondeportablesounder

(DPS) as an exampleof a modem ionosonde[Reinisch
2.1. The DPS System
et al., 1992; Haines, 1994] and its block diagram.One
In manyrespects, modemionosond½s operatelike a of the two 19-inch chassiscontainsthe analog
Dopplerradarsystem,measuringthe angle of arrival, subsystems,the digital processingand control
polarization,and spectrumas functionof range.While subsystems,and two 486 CPU systems. The 80486
incoherentand coherentscatterradar systemsusually mother board computer (MBC) controls the DPS
operateat fixed frequency,the ionosond½makes all operationand signalprocessing,and the 80486 single
measurements as function of sounding frequencyto board computer(SBC) handles the postanalysis
probethe ionosphere from the E regionto the peak c/ (automaticreal-time ionogram scalerwith true height
the F• layer. Such a large array of measurements can (ARTIST)) and Intemet communicationfacilities. The
only be obtained with a digital system with high-speed signal processing is done on the
computerizedcontrolsand digital signal processing. TMS320C25 based digital signal processing(DSP)
The great advantagesof a digital system arc high card. All analog and digital signals, derived from a
precision,operationalversatility,and efficienton-line stable10-MHz frequencystandard,are generatedon four
data analysis, like the real-time calculation of the printed circuit boards: oscillator, synthesizer,timing,
electron density profiles and HF communications and exciter.Direct digital synthesison the synthesizer
parameters cardgeneratesa phasestablevariableoscillatorfrequency

KEYBOARD

50Q COAX

KBD KBD

. .......
ANTENNA ANTENNA
CONTKOL
SWITCH

XMTK ON
486 CPU .486 CPU
PBUS
VGA VIDEO VGA VIDEO

PBUS
IDE I/O
SYTHESIZER
FDD CNTL BIT I/O
(71 to 115MI-Iz)
ETHERNET
(SYN)
ETHERNET

SERIAL PORT DSP CARD

80486 SBC

DIGITIZER

28.8K BAUD
MODEM MULTI I/O
FDD CNTL 20.48MHz
TCP/IP ••
ROUTER m L'• I--
-'I'D•'r/• C20.48MHz
••'" 49.6MHz
(PULSED) (OSC) 67.48
MHz
GPS
RECEIVER 80486
MBC I 7.2
MHz 4Channel
IFInput
BUS

GPS
1PPS II l1STANDARD
0MHZ
FKEQ CARD
BACKPLANE
CAGE

4"x5" DPS
chassis cards

Multi-conductor bus

-- -- -' Moduleor Assembly

Figure2. DPS blockdiagram.

The analogandthedigitalcircuitcardsarehoused
in one19-
inchchassis;
thepoweramplifiers(PA) andthehalf-octavefiltersarehousedin a second19-inch
chassis(shadedregion).
 1944799x, 1997, 4, Downloaded from https://agupubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1029/97RS00841 by Cochrane Canada Provision, Wiley Online Library on [20/02/2024]. See the Terms and Conditions (https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/terms-and-conditions) on Wiley Online Library for rules of use; OA articles are governed by the applicable Creative Commons License
REINISCH ET AL.: IONOSPHERIC SOUNDING FOR OVER-THE-HORIZON RADAR 1685

scanningfrom 71 to 115 MHz. The systemtiming is two orthogonallinear antennas+90ø out of phase,
linkedto theGlobalPositioningSatellite(GPS) system resulting in left- or right-hand circularly polarized
to provideaccuratesynchronization
of betterthan 1 gs, transmissions.For transmission over the requiredwide-
importantfor oblique soundingstudiesbetweentwo or frequencyrange,widebandantennaslike rhombic, delta,
more sounders.The four single-boardreceivers are or log-periodicantennaswith heights of 20-60 m are
triple-conversionpulsereceiverswith eight single-stage, generallyused. A four-elementtriangularantennaarray
two-polefiltersof 100-kHzbandwidtheach,resultingin is used for reception(Figure 1). Each element of the
a overall bandwidth of 34 kHz. The receivers feed the receiveantennaarrayconsistsof two orthogonalloops
intermediatefrequency (IF) of 225 kHz directly to the whose signalsare addedor subtractedthrough a 90ø
digitizercard,whichconverts theanalogIF signalsinto phaseshifter.At equatorialstationslike Jicamarca,Peru,
12-bit quadraturesamplesthat are directly fed to the the antenna elements are combined to form linear
DSP card without interactionby the CPU. Two RF polarizations,parallel and perpendicularto the Earth's
poweramplifiersof 150 W eachare housedin a second magnetic field. The polarization switching of the
chassis(shadedpanel in Figure 2). Half-octavefilters transmitandreceiveantennasis done synchronouslyon
(HOF) at the amplifier outputs limit harmonics a pulseby pulsebasis.Properidentificationof the signal
radiation. wave polarizationis mandatoryfor automaticionogram
To correctly identify the ordinary (O) and scaling,as will be discussedlater.
extraordinary (X) wavepolarizationsof the ionospheric What really qualifiesa modem ionosondeas an HF
echoes,circularlypolarizedantennasare used for both radaris its capabilityto measurethe anglesof arrival of
transmissionand reception.The RF amplifiers drive ionospheric echoes. The DPS uses the Doppler

Table 1. Performance
Specifications
of theDigisonde
Portable
Sounder
Parameter Value
Antennas
Transmit two crosseddelta (20-60 m) or equivalent
Receive four active crossedloops,60 m equilateraltriangle
Sounder
Physical Description 50kg;0.25m3;monitor
andkeyboard
extra
Systempower two 12-V batteries,750 W; continuouschargewith 120 or 240 V
RF output power 2x150 W on 50 ohm; 10%-100% duty cycle
RF power spectrum 160 kHz between40-dB points
Performance
Frequencyrange 1-40 MHz
Frequencyincrements 1 kHz; typically 25, 50, and100 kHz
Transmission waveform
533 [ts=16x33Its phasecodedfor verticalsounding;cw, 127-chipM-sequence
code for oblique sounding
Pulse repetition rate 50, 100, 200 pps
Number of heightranges 128, 256, 512
Height increments 2.5, 5, and 10 km
Height resolution 5 km; 34-kHz receiver bandwidth
Height accuracy 1 km in bqb/bfmode;precisiongroupheight
Amplitude resolution 3/8 dB; 3 dB for routineionograms
Phase resolution 2n/256
Dynamic range 70 dB (+54 dB automaticgain)
Receiver sensitivity -130 dBm
Receiver bandwidth 34 kHz between6 dB points
Doppler resolution 0.012 Hz
Doppler range +50 Hz
Spectrum 2NpointFFT,N=3-7
Autoscaling ARTIST including.N(h)-profile 128 to 512 heights,
Af=25-200 kHz
Remote
Telephone 28.8 k baud modem;Windows NT RAS
Network TCP/IPEthernet
port;Intemetaccessible

1686 REINISCH ET AL.: IONOSPHERIC SOUNDING
interferometertechnique[Bibl and Reinisch, 1978],
which is also applied by some VHF coherentradars
[e.g., Kudeki and Stitt, 1987] and in mesosphericLF
sounding [Adams et al., 1986]. The spacedreceive
antennasin the DPS systemform an equilateraltriangle
of 60-m baselength with a fourthantennain the centerof
the triangle, as shown in Figure 1. For a typical
wavelengthof 60 m (5 MHz), sucha small apertureis
unable to separateand identify individual echoes
arrivingwithin a smallangularcone.Bibl and Reinisch
[1978] have shownhow to overcomethis difficultyin
ionosphericsoundingby first Fourier analyzing the
signaland then applyinginterferometry to eachspectral
component.
At eachof up to 512 heightrangesthe DPS calculates
an N point fastFourier transform(FFT) for eachof the
four antennasand for both polarizations. Selectingthe
maximum value for N, N-7 (seeTable 1), resultsin
1024 complexsamplesfor eachheightrange,or 1 Mb of
data per soundingfrequency.For a typical ionogram
with 200 frequencies this means 200 Mb of data. For
routine soundingit is impracticalto archive all this
data, and specialmodes of collecting,processing,and
archivingof data can thereforebe selectedfor different
applications.Table 1 lists the main specifications
of the
DPS. Details are given by Haines [1994] and in the
DPS Systems Manual [Universityof Massachusetts,
1996].
2.2. Coherent Phase Modulation and Pulse
Compression
The useof a complementarycodepulse compression
techniquemakesa 300-W transmissionequivalentto a
50-kW uncodedpulse transmission.The transmitted
spreadspectrumsignals(t) is a biphasemodulatedpulse
consisting of sixteen 33-gs chips. The receiver
bandwidth of 34 kHz is matchedto the 33-gs pulse
width. The total pulse width is 533 gs, so that
transmissionis completedbeforethe arrival of echoes
reflectedat heig'ntsof 80 km or higher.The __+180
øphase
modulation is a linear multiplication of the binary
spreading codep(t) with thecardersignalexp(jco t). The
appliedpulse compression code was carefullyselected
with respectto its imperfectionsthat cause energy
leakageinto other height bins. Haines [1994, andamplitude-versus-time profilesby finding the leading
edgeof the echopulse. Dependingon signal-to-noise
references therein] investigated the mathematical
imperfectionsof differentpulse compressioncodes ratio, signalfading,and the receivercharacteristics,
(complementary series,maximumlengthsequence (or h' accuracy achievedby this grouppath techniqueis at
M-code)codes,Barkercodes,andthe Kasamisequence best2.5-5 km. A betteraccuracy
1944799x, 1997, 4, Downloaded from https://agupubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1029/97RS00841 by Cochrane Canada Provision, Wiley Online Library on [20/02/2024]. See the Terms and Conditions (https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/terms-and-conditions) on Wiley Online Library for rules of use; OA articles are governed by the applicable Creative Commons License
FOR OVER-THE-HORIZON RADAR
codes)and selectedthe complementary seriescodefor
verticaland the M-code for oblique bistatic sounding.
The Barker codes are not useful because of their
unacceptably high leakage.The complementarycode
uses pairs of pulses that have codes with identical
leakage
except
thattheirphases
areopposite.
By adding
the two compressionoutputs, the correlationpeak
(whichhasthesamephasefor bothcodes)increases by a
factorof 2, while all the spuriouscorrelationpeaks
cancel. The effective processing gain (i.e., the
enhancement of the signal-to-noise
voltageratio) is 15
dB for the 2xl 6 chip pulsecompression and 21 dB for
the 127-chip M-code sequenceused for bistatic
sounding.
2.3. Coherent Doppler Integration
Fourier transformationenhancesthe signal-to-noise
(S/N) ratio and also determinesthe line-of-sight
velocitiesof thereflectingplasmasurfaces.
Repeatingthe
transmissionof the complementary pulse pair N times
providesN equidistantlyspaced(e.g., 10 ms) pulse-
compressedtime samples at each range, which are
Fouriertransformedon the DSP card.Dopplerrange and
resolution must be matched to the prevailing
ionospheric conditions and the objectives of the
measuringprogram. The largest achievableDoppler
rangeis +50 Hz. The samplinggenerallymultiplexes
differentsignalchannels,for example,two polarizations
O and X, or two polarizationsand severalfrequencies
O(fl), X(fl), O(f2),X(f2), O(f3), X(f3), O(f4), and X(f4),
reducingthe unambiguousDopplerrangeto +25 Hz or
+6 Hz, respectively.Dividing the Dopplerrangeby the
numberof time samples
(2•) givesthe Doppler
resolution. The S/N enhancement is 21 dB for N-7.
Combining the processinggain of pulse compression
(15 dB for vertical incident sounding) and coherent
integration(21 dB) and adding 3 dB for polarization
gain gives a total gain of 39 dB, correspondingto a
powerratioof about8000 (300 W to 2.4 MW). When
the M-code is applied for oblique sounding,the total
gain is 45 dB, i.e., 10 MW equivalent.
2.4. Precision Group Height
Conventionally,
the virtualheighth'-ctg/2,wheretg
is the pulse travel time, is determined from the
the
that is independentof
1944799x, 1997, 4, Downloaded from https://agupubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1029/97RS00841 by Cochrane Canada Provision, Wiley Online Library on [20/02/2024]. See the Terms and Conditions (https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/terms-and-conditions) on Wiley Online Library for rules of use; OA articles are governed by the applicable Creative Commons License
1687 RADAR
HERICSOUND•GFOROVER-THE-HORIZO.N

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 1944799x, 1997, 4, Downloaded from https://agupubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1029/97RS00841 by Cochrane Canada Provision, Wiley Online Library on [20/02/2024]. See the Terms and Conditions (https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/terms-and-conditions) on Wiley Online Library for rules of use; OA articles are governed by the applicable Creative Commons License
1688 REINISCH ET AL.: IONOSPHERIC SOUNDING FOR OVER-THE-HORIZON RADAR

STATION: KOKUBUNJI (LAT:$5.?N LON:139.SE) CONTOUR OF DENSITY PROFILE

JadepJ TWO DAYS DATA RT 1996
DATA FROM KO960?2.ADP
MAR 12 (72)
SMOOTH FIX
00:00 (NOON:02:51
LINK:60
SSE:06:40
PLOTTED AT MAY/13/199?
SSF:07'06) JULCARJ
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318 31(9

::hmF:;2 286

228 228

196 190

166 166

130 13(9

KM KM

12 14 16 18 28 22 60 02 84 06 88 18 12 14 16 18 28 22 0OUT

Figure3. Diurnalvariations
of plasmafrequency
contours
atKokubunji,
Japan,for March12-13,
1996. The lowestcontourfor theE andF layersis 2.0 MHz, and adjacemcontoursare spaced
by 0.2 MHz. The contours usethe trueheightelectron
densityprofilescalculatedfromthe 5-
min ionogramsequence.Largequasi-periodicheightvariationswereobserved at both nights,
anda strongdaytimegravitywaveoccurred around0300UT on the firstday (0251 UT is local
noon).(CourtesyK. Igarashi,PREASA campaign).
the slope of the echo's leading edge is obtained by signalsindividuallyand calculatingthe incidenceangle
comparing the HF phases of echoes from two for eachspectralcomponentfromthephaseanglesat the
neighboring frequencies.As shown in the literature four antennas.While useful for scientificstudies, it is
[e.g.,Davies, 1990], the virtualheight canbe expressed difficult to evaluate all this information in routine
as h'= (c/4•t)64)/6f.Preprogramed modes in the DPS ionosonde soundings where synoptic information is
calculate this precision group height from two required.Off-verticalechoesare a common featureon
multiplexedfrequencies spacedby 5 kHz. With a phase ionogramsat high latitudesand in the equatorialregion
resolutionof 64)=2•t/256, this resultsin a theoretical and arenot infrequentat middle latitudes.The 30-min
height accuracyof 117 m, but the output is given in sequence of multibeamionogramsat SondreStromfjord,
unitsof 1 km. The 2•t ambiguitywhichoccursevery 30
Greenland,in Plate2 showsa seriesof patches[Buchau
km for bf=5 kHz must be resolvedby the group path
and Reinisch,1991] movingthroughthe field of view of
technique.
the Digisonde.The DPS usesdigital beamforming to
2.5. Multibeam 1onograms createmultibeamionograms.At eachheight rangethe
High-precision angle-of-arrivalmeasurementsare strongestspectralcomponentis selectedand the four
made by Fourier analyzingeach of the four antenna antennasignalsare addedwith phasecorrections that
 1944799x, 1997, 4, Downloaded from https://agupubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1029/97RS00841 by Cochrane Canada Provision, Wiley Online Library on [20/02/2024]. See the Terms and Conditions (https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/terms-and-conditions) on Wiley Online Library for rules of use; OA articles are governed by the applicable Creative Commons License
RE1NISCH ET AL.: IONOSPHERIC SOUNDING FOR OVER-THE-HORIZON RADAR 1689

correspond to selectedlooking angles.A plane wave successful autoscaling

under disturbedand undisturbed
arrivingwith zenithangle0 andazimuthangle { results conditions.Autoscalingalgorithmsfind the leading
in a phasedifference
betweenantenna1 (at thecenter;see edge of the O echo traces,i.e., h'(f), determinethe
Figure 1) and an outerantennaj (j=2,3,4) of [Murali, standardionosphericcharacteristics, and calculatethe
1993] electrondensityprofries.The performance of the scaling
[Gilbert and Smith, 1988] is verifiedby overlayingthe
= 2• sin 0 scaledh'(f) function(blackdots)on the O trace(red) of
A• L(•cos
{+•sin
{) (2),
the ionogramas illustratedin Plate 1 for a midday
(April 1, 1996, 1426 LT) midlatitude ionogram
where xj and yj are the Cartesian north and west (MillstoneHill, 42.6øN, 71.5øW geographical, +72.9ø
coordinates,respectively,of antennaj with respectto the dip). The most importantscaledparameters,together
locationof antenna1. The sums S• for sevenlooking with modelpredictions(indicatedby p), are listed on
anglesare calculatedby the left side. The DPS usesthe Chebyshevpolynomial
fitting technique[Huang and Reinisch, 1996] for the
4 real-timecalculationof N(h) profiles.PresentingN(h) as
function of time shows the diurnal variations of the
-- E • cos(c•-A•,m); m= 1,2,...,7
Sm plasma frequencycontours at a given location, as
o)
illustratedin Figure3 for Kokubunji, Japan,March 12-
HereF• and c• areamplitudeand phaseon antennaj.
The vertical beam is obtained for 0=0. Six off-vertical 13, 1996.
To provide the OTH radar operatorwith frequency
beamsareformedfor a fixed 0 (usuallysetto between8ø
managementand coordinateregistration information
and 15ø) and azimuth angles{=0, 60, 120, ..., 300ø.
requiresaccurateknowledgeof the three-dimensional
The beamdirectionwith the maximumsum is assigned electron distribution between the radar site and the
to the rangepixel. All X echoes,verticalor off-vertical,
targets. A network of verticaland oblique incidence
are plottedin greenin Plate2.
sounderscan establishthe requireddatabase. Sinceno
2.6. Interference Avoidance and Digital Gain proven methodhasyet beendevelopedfor the automatic
Control real-time scaling of oblique ionograms, which is a
requirementfor OTH support,the followingdiscussion
To optimizethe S/N ratio,eachfrequencychannelis
tested for its interference level before transmission
is limited to vertical incidencesounding data where
ARTIST provides reliable vertical electron density
begins. The interference level is checkedfrom -20 kl-lz
profiles. Theprofilefor eachlayeris givenin the form
to +20 kHz in 10-kHz steps,and the frequency with the
minimum interferenceis selectedfor sounding; the
4 ln(f/fm)
frequencycorrection is recorded in thedatapreface.Next, z=zm+• Z •T[(g);g=•
the receivergain is adjustedso that no signal at any i= o ln(fs/f
m) (4)
heightbin saturatesthereceiver.Only afterthe sounding
frequencyand the receivergain are selecteddoes the
wherez denotesthe altitude,f is the plasmafrequency,
coherentintegrationbegin.
and Ti* is the ith-ordershiftedChebyshevpolynomials
[Reinisch and Huang, 1983; Huang and Reinisch,
3. Applicationsof Modern Ionosondes 1996]. The indicess and m referto the startingand
3.1. Frequency Management and Coordinate maximum frequency. The parameters[ and f•n are
Registration for OTH Radar directlyscaled from theionogram,while z•, A0, A•, A2,
A3,andA• aredetermined by theHuang-Reinisch profile
Modem ionosondesautoscalethe ionograms and inversionalgorithm. The objectiveis to determine
provideradiochannelinformationin realtime. Data and z(N,x,y,t) from the sequenceof prof'deparametersets
ionograms like Plate 1 for the University of p(xk,yk, t)= (f•, f•, Zm,A0,..., A•)k, wherek designates
Massachusetts Lowell Digisondesite at Millstone Hill the stationnumber.The simplestapproachof specifying
are available on the Word Wide Web via our home the profile at time t at location (x,y) would be an
page(http://ulcar.uml.edu). Polarizationswitchingand. interpolation,linear or nonlinear,for eachof the seven
multibeamformingare the importantprerequisitesfor parametersof the station parametersat time t. It has
 1944799x, 1997, 4, Downloaded from https://agupubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1029/97RS00841 by Cochrane Canada Provision, Wiley Online Library on [20/02/2024]. See the Terms and Conditions (https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/terms-and-conditions) on Wiley Online Library for rules of use; OA articles are governed by the applicable Creative Commons License
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....... -. -.... 10.0

0 S00 1000 1500 2000 [l•rnl 0 $00 1000 1500 2000 [l•rn] 9.0
280.0 283.6 287.7 292.$ 298.3 [Des] 280.0 285.6 291.7 298.3 305.2 [Des]
4S.0 48.8 S2.4 SS.9 59.2 [De9] 4S.0 47.2 49.2 S0.7 S1.• [Deg] 8.0

r• .... 7.0

3 0
L 300
L ......

4.0

200 200 3.0

::..•••
'"•••••-•••••.......•.•......•••'•.:•::•.•;•:•:.:s:
...... ............
•.o
.................

.:;'.::K::-:'
.:::::
.....0
o $oo •ooo •$oo 2000 •1 o •oo •ooo lsoo 2000

2•.0
45.0 284.9
42.2 289.3
39.2 293.4
3•.1 297.1
32.8 [D
[D eg]
es] 280.0
45.0 286.2
44.2 292.2
43.1 298.0
41.? 303.S
40.0 [Deg] b )

Figure 4.. Wide-areathree-dimensional

electrondensitydistributionovernortheastern America
on October10, 1989,1130UT, calculated frommeasuredN(h) profilesat five stations.(a)foF2
mapin 30øby 30øarea.Thegrayshading changesevery1 MHz from6 MHz in thenorthwest to
13 MHz in the southeast.The stationlocationsareindicatedby white dots. (b) Verticalcross
sections
in fourdifferentdirections,
startingfrom280ølongitudeand45ølatitude.
 1944799x, 1997, 4, Downloaded from https://agupubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1029/97RS00841 by Cochrane Canada Provision, Wiley Online Library on [20/02/2024]. See the Terms and Conditions (https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/terms-and-conditions) on Wiley Online Library for rules of use; OA articles are governed by the applicable Creative Commons License
RE1NISCH ET AL.' IONOSPHERIC SOUNDliNG FOR OVER-THE-HORIZON RADAR 1691

1'07 UT

1'37 UT 1:47 UT 1-57 UT

;
4" ,,/
,,
\ - _
,' "•

w ........
--•.__• .......•,- \.

2'07 UT 2' 17 UT 2:27 UT

,

x' ' ' '.,

...

W' , ...... :--',., •, ...... E

ß,
ß ..
,, ß ß

2:47 UT 2-57 UT 3'07 UT

Figure
5.Ten-minute
sequence
ofsky
maps
atAgua
Verde,
Chile,
onOctober
1,i996,starting
at 2007LT. Thetickmarkson eachskymapmark9øincrements
in zenithangle.Eachskymap
represents
one20-sobservation.
Thelocations
of theindividual
reflection
pointsareindicated
by
dotswith barsthatareproportional
to theline-of-sightvelocity.
 1944799x, 1997, 4, Downloaded from https://agupubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1029/97RS00841 by Cochrane Canada Provision, Wiley Online Library on [20/02/2024]. See the Terms and Conditions (https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/terms-and-conditions) on Wiley Online Library for rules of use; OA articles are governed by the applicable Creative Commons License
1692 REINISCH ET AL.' IONOSPHERIC SOUND•G FOR OVER-THE-HORIZON RADAR

• V½'•i-....-;:..-:
.•..5...-::;-!•-'-•-.:..:.':,.-½..
'%: '- -' " ...... ':'•'•:•:•.i.'•..
.•-•t:-.;-: .
.;.'4-'
'•-•..
:::"
7"•'.•-.'?::"
'-•.
'.'"-.'.-'?
:>'.'-.

7'"-'--7.'--
- .....

..... .

0207UT 0217UT 0227 'UT

Figure 6. Superpositionof HF sky map sourceson 630-nm all-sky images at Agua Verde,
Chile, on October 1, 1994, at 2107, 2117, and 2127 LT. The sounderwas collocatedwith the
all-sky'unagerat the centerof thepicture.

been shownthat the resultingsynopticparametermaps equation(4). Reinischet al. [1991] had successfully
andthe corresponding z(N,x,y,t) profilesare not reliable appliedthis techniqueto a five-stationnetwork in the
estimatesof the actualprofiles[Reinixchet al., 1991]. North American sector for use with the U.S. east coast
The three-dimensional (3-D)mapping techniquemust OTH radar.Figure4a shows
a 30øx30
øfoF2mapover
considerthe time variabilityof the ionosphereand the northeastern America at 1130 UT for day 283 in 1989;
fact that thereis a time relation(within a limited area) the white dots representthe stationlocations. Vertical
between changesoccurring at different locations. In crosssectionsfrom a startinglocationat (45ø, 280ø) in
general, the local time at the different stations is four differentdirectionsare shownin Figure4b. Shading
different. Assuming a wave-like propagationof any indicatestheplasmafrequency,increasingfrom 0 to over
ionization
change
across
thenetwork,
each
parameter
can 13 MHz; the horizontalaxis gives the groundrangein
be represented
asa superposition
of planewaves: kilometersand longitudeand latitudein degrees.

N/2-1 3.2. Structure and Electrodynamics of Ionospheric

P(x,y,t
n) = Z a(v)exp Irregularities
v--N/2
Precise coordinate registration in OTH radar
applicationsrequiresidentificationand description of
{Sx(V)X+Sy(v)y-i[kx(V)x+ky
(v)y+{o(v)-2xnv/N]
} (5) ionosphericirregularities, including tilts, ionization
enhancements(patches), and depletions, as well as
The wave parametersa, S,,, Sy, k,,, ky, and q)0can be plasmaflow velocities. When the DPS is used as an
determinedas functionof wave frequency v considering HF radar, it determinestilts and the locations and line-
that at the station locations
of-sight(LOS) velocitiesof irregularities.This Doppler
imagingis illustrated in the 10-rainsequenceof sky
N/2-1
maps in Figure 5 for Agua Verde, Chile (25.4øS,
P(Xk,Yk,
tn)= v--N/2
Y aexp
70.0øW,-18.9 ø dip). The resultsof one 20-s coherent
integration
for a 3-MHz sounding signalarepresented in
[SxXk+
SyYk-i
(kxXkYk
+q•0-2xnv/N)
l (6) each sky map. The measuredLOS velocities of each
reflection
point, or "source,"
aregivenby the lengthof
The spectralcomponentsv that contributeto the wave thebar at eachsource.Comparisonwith collocatedall-
field are determinedfrom the Fourier spectrumover 24 sky 630-nm airglow observationsshowedthat the DPS
or48 hours'of
observation
foreachparameter.Oncethe trackedthe locationsof the F region depletionsthat
sevenprofileparameters
for an arbitrarylocation(x,y) at extended fromthemagneticequatorto neartheAppleton
time t are determined,the profile is calculatedusing anomaly.A superposition of the DPS sky mapson the
 1944799x, 1997, 4, Downloaded from https://agupubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1029/97RS00841 by Cochrane Canada Provision, Wiley Online Library on [20/02/2024]. See the Terms and Conditions (https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/terms-and-conditions) on Wiley Online Library for rules of use; OA articles are governed by the applicable Creative Commons License
REINISCH ET AL.: IONOSPHERICSOUNDING FOR OVER-THE-HORIZONRADAR 1693

C. G. Time and Latitude

Stations:

Goose Bay
(64.5ffN, 19.92E )

Sondre Stromfjord
( 75.22N, 42.2.3E )

Qaanaaq
( 86.90N, 37.50E )

Horizontal Velocity
Scale x100 nays

'""/'..........L...... 3.-""
I I,jl
0 3 12

Latidude Increments = 5

Figure7. Twenty-four
hoursof plasma driftvelocities
at Qaanaaq,
SondreStromfjord,
and
GooseBayonJanuary 10, 1992.The stations
rotateon therespective
corrected
geomagnetic
latitudesaroundthe CG north pole. The length of the horizontalvelocityvectorsusesa
logarithmicscaleshownonthefight.

opticalimages,shownin Figure6, indicates thatall the Acknowledgments.Partof thisworkwas supported by AF contract

HF reflectionscome from the depletedregions.Using F19628-90-K-0029 from the GeophysicsDirectorate of Phillips
Laboratory. The authorsthank T.W. Bullettof the Phillips
ray tracing,Saleset al. [ 1996]showedthat spreadF on Laboratory,HanscomAir Force Base, and K. Igaxashiof the
ionogramsin the equatorialregion is the result of Communications ResearchLaboratory,Tokyo, for someof the data
coherentscatterfrom field-alignedirregularitiesin the usedi• the paper.
wallsof thedepletions.Theseirregularities are a source
of clutterfor equatorward pointingOTH radars.
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(ReceivedOctober 15, 1996; revisedMarch 3, 1997;
acceptedMarch 19, 1997.)