Inferring E Region Electron Density Profiles at Jicamarca from Faraday Rotation of Coherent Scatter

这是一个实施和开发使用低功率地面雷达测量电离层等离子体密度分布的新方法的项目。该技术利用等离子体不规则性相干散射的雷达信号的法拉第旋转。测量是利用位于基卡马卡射电观测站和秘鲁帕拉卡斯一个偏远地点的双基地雷达系统进行的。最近，该项目的PI演示了法拉第旋转技术，他得到了雪松赠款的支持，为期一年，以研究其可行性。目前项目的目标是在电喷流流动的纬度区段测量赤道E区的电子密度分布。这种分布无法用Jicamara非相干散射雷达测量，因为自相矛盾的是，电喷流中的小尺度不规则性产生了杂波。赤道E区的密度分布曾几次用探空火箭测量，但以前从未用遥感测量过。因此，对赤道E区的结构，特别是在夜间的结构，发展得很差，因此，低纬电离层物理中的几项实验、理论和模拟工作都受到了影响。

This is a project to implement and exploit a novel means of measuring plasma density profiles in the ionosphere using low-power, ground-based radar. The technique utilizes the Faraday rotation of radar signals coherently scattered by plasma irregularities. Measurements are made with a bistatic radar system located in this case at the Jicamarca Radio Observatory and at a remote site in Paracas, Peru. The Faraday rotation technique was demonstrated recently by the PI of this project, who was supported by a CEDAR grant for one year to investigate its feasibility. The objective of the current project is to measure electron density profiles in the equatorial E region in the latitude sector where the electrojet flows. Such profiles cannot be measured with the Jicamarca incoherent scatter radar because, paradoxically, of clutter generated by small-scale irregularities in the electrojet. Density profiles in the equatorial E region have been measured on a few occasions with sounding rockets but never before by remote sensing. Consequently, there is a poorly developed picture of the structure of the equatorial E region, particularly at night, and several experimental, theoretical, and modeling efforts in low latitude ionospheric physics are suffering as a result.