RUI: Exploiting Innovative Radio Techniques for the Study of Plasma Turbulence and Structure

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The award provides for the operations at Aquadilla in Puerto Rico an imaging radio array that would provide an excellent diagnostic capability for observing the radio wave effects generated by the powerful Arecibo Observatory heater in the F-region ionosphere. The InterAmerican University Aquadilla imaging facility would be capable of observing the spatial distribution of the heated region. This array would also detect and track the motions of these waves generated by the Arecibo heater system across the magnetic field line. It would also observe the growth and decay of the wave structures emitted by the heated region. A full time post-doctoral associate and the summer participation of three European graduate students would be supported with this award.The award would support the use of the Aquadilla radio array in application to the study of a wide range of radio wave emissions generated by the Arecibo Observatory heating. The award would enhance the R&D capabilities of the atmospheric, space, and radio infrastructure at Inter American University and in Puerto Rico, and would support STEM undergraduate education and the development of graduate research programs. The project would promote collaborative use of the facilities of the Arecibo Observatory by local students and faculty, thereby supporting the longer-term future of the Observatory. The use and development of the array will drive the development of new radio techniques and technologies. Areas of technological application include imaging techniques, antenna technologies, over-the-horizon radar, long-range communications, and space-based communication and navigation. The work proposed here promotes the development of shortwave radio technologies. Shortwave communications, which do not depend on space systems, and of shortwave radar, against which stealth technologies are largely ineffective, are important and strategic technologies.