Characterization of the Ionosphere Above the HAARP HF Heater Using DEMETER Satellite Data

Details Characterization of the Ionosphere Above the HAARP HF Heater Using DEMETER Satellite Data Characterization of the Ionosphere Above the HAARP HF Heater Using DEMETER Satellite Data

Dec 2008

adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=2008agufmsa43b1597p&link_type=abstract

American Geophysical Union, Fall Meeting 2008, abstract #SA43B-1597

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Applications

2403 Active Experiments, 2407 Auroral Ionosphere (2704), 2467 Plasma Temperature And Density, 2487 Wave Propagation (0689, 3285, 4275, 4455, 6934)

Scientific paper

One of the goals of the High Frequency Active Auroral Research Program (HAARP) is to study the properties of the ionosphere and the overlying plasma, especially those which can be modified and controlled by electromagnetic waves [Kennedy and Kossey, 2002]. For this purpose, a phased array of HF transmitters (3.6 MW, 2.8 - 10 MHz) is used to radiate intense electromagnetic waves up into the ionosphere. There are many possible applications of HF transmitter operation, and one of the most important is generation of ELF waves via modulation of the auroral electrojet current [Stubbe and Kopka, 1977]. All these applications depend on the natural parameters of the ionosphere during an experiment and on the change of the parameters produced by the HAARP transmitter on its own. In this work we present measurements of ionospheric parameters carried out during many passes of the DEMETER satellite over HAARP, both when HAARP is transmitting and when not. DEMETER is a low-earth orbit satellite (660 km) capable of simultaneous measurements of electron and ion densities, electron and ion temperatures, and electromagnetic waves in different frequency bands from 0 to 3.3 MHz. It should be noted that the use of the upper band of the receiver enables observation of the HAARP HF signal which directly reaches the spacecraft in some cases of close passes and favorable ionospheric conditions. The purpose of this work is to differentiate the effects naturally existing over HAARP and those created by HAARP. One such effect considered in detail is the depletion of ionospheric densities and formation of a duct for ELF/VLF waves. The first results of direct satellite observations suggested that depletion of electron and ion densities up to one order of magnitude and corresponding increase in electron temperatures can occur during HAARP heating experiments. However, a thorough analysis of a number of DEMETER passes revealed that such depletions also exists over HAARP when the transmitter is not operating. Further correlation of the position of this depletion region with Kp indices suggested that this depletion is in fact an ionospheric trough [Rodgers et al.,1992]. Even though such depletion is not created by HAARP it can substantially affect the propagation of ELF/VLF generated by HAARP and also influences on other experiments conducted with HAARP.

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