Research on upper atmosphere with EISCAT radars based upon international collaborations.

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EISCAT radars such as KST UHF radar, VHF radar and Svalbard EISCAT radar (ESR) are one of the greatest tools in the world for observing ionospheric phenomena in the auroral, polar cusp and cap regions. EISCAT radar systems provide us with essential physical parameters over the polar ionosphere. Solar-Terrestrial Environment Laboratory (STEL) has been playing a central role in promoting a variety of research projects using the ESR and KST radars of the EISCAT Scientific Association ; Japan, represented by NIPR, joined the EISCAT Scientific Association as the seventh associate country in April 1996. STEL, in collaboration with researchers across the nation, has been conducting Special Program (SP) experiments and creating Common Program (CP) data archives. The EISCAT database is available to collaborative researchers through network.Japanese Special Program (SP) experiments have been conducted in response to proposals submitted from collaborative researchers across the nation. Those proposals were evaluated by the Polar Radar Committee in STEL. In fiscal year 2003 five major SP projects were conducted: (1) research on black aurora; (2) research on ion upflows; (3) research on coupling process between the magnetosphere and ionosphere; (4) research on the lower thermosphere neutral wind ; and (5) research on Jovian inner magnetosphere with the spectrum observation of the synchrotron radiation. All of these projects except (5) were conducted on an international basis.One of the prominent scientific results in this fiscal year based on SP is a study of the lower thermosphere wind dynamics using both KST UHF and ESR radars. We conducted an 8-day run with the both radar systems which provide us with great oppotunities to study 2 atmospheric tidal waves as well as wind system at high latitudes. We also archived EISCAT Common Program data. Based on the CP database, various studies have been carried on.