SuperDARN in Ireland: A Mid-Latitude Geospace Facility to Study Electrodynamic Coupling in the European and Scandinavian Sectors

拟议的项目涉及在爱尔兰中部的一个地点建造和校准一对超级达恩雷达。这两部SuperDARN雷达的综合视场以磁子午线为中心，方位角超过±75，将能够测量北美东部、格陵兰、冰岛、斯堪的纳维亚半岛和俄罗斯西部地区的电离层电场。该部门的测量目前仅限于65纬度以北地区，这将扩大SuperDARN网络的能力，在扩大的地磁活动水平范围内提供对流电场的近乎实时的地图，并将当地时间(LT)的覆盖时间增加到12小时以上。类似纬度的现有雷达已经证明，在地磁条件平静到较为活跃的情况下，必须对位于中纬度地区的雷达进行测量，特别是这些雷达有能力在较大范围内(当地时间8小时)以快速时间尺度(1分钟)详细测量亚极光极化流。在爱尔兰安装两个SuperDARN雷达将有可能调查与SAPS和电场结构中的南大西洋异常有关的纵向差异，以及与南半球雷达的共轭研究。根据地球空间界审查小组的建议，分散的地面仪器网络在解决与空间环境稀疏测量有关的时空模糊问题和朝着太阳风-磁层相互作用的科学目标方面取得进展方面非常有价值。爱尔兰雷达将大大增加对中纬度地区电场的测量，使SuperDARN能够提供从亚洲、北美和北欧延伸到电离层的空间天气扰动的实时观测。这将导致朝着提供预测太阳变化对环境和社会影响的能力的更大目标取得重大进展。拟议项目的一个重要方面是对SuperDARN仰角测量进行校准，该测量可用于改进后向散射信号的地理定位，区分传播模式并估计散射位置的折射率-这现在通常是通过使用光线跟踪软件建模完成的，这样的模型有时可能会出错。该项目包括一个小的增强，使其中一个干涉仪阵列可以配置，并允许测试SuperDARN干涉仪的灵敏度和准确性。爱尔兰是干涉仪测试的理想地点，有两个斯堪的纳维亚电离层加热设施，在增强雷达的视场内提供校准源。该项目将非常有效地重复使用大部分可随时使用的雷达系统，由于各种后勤和政治原因，该系统从未安装在亚速尔群岛。这是一个目标明确、用途多样的应用程序，大大减少了安装预算。

The proposed project involves the construction and calibration of a pair of Super-DARN radars at a single site in central Ireland. The two SuperDARN radars, with a combined field-of-view exceeding ±75 in azimuth centered on the magnetic meridian, will be capable of making measurements of the ionospheric electric field over a region that includes eastern North America, Greenland, Iceland, Scandinavia and western Russia. Measurements in this sector, currently limited to the region north of 65 latitude, will extend the capabilities of the SuperDarn network to provide near real-time maps of the convection electric field during an expanded range of geomagnetic activity levels and increase the local time (LT) coverage to more than 12 hours. Existing radars at similar latitudes have demonstrated the importance of measurements from radars located at mid-latitudes during quiet to more active geomagnetic conditions and in particular, the ability of these radars to make detailed measurements of the sub-auroral polarization stream (SAPS) on rapid timescales (1 min) over an extended range (8 hours LT). The installation of the two SuperDarn radars in Ireland would make possible investigations of longitudinal differences associated with the South Atlantic Anomaly in SAPS and electric field structuring as well as conjugate studies with southern hemisphere radars. In line with the geospace community review panel recommendations, distributed networks of ground-based instruments are quite valuable in resolving space-time ambiguities associated with sparse measurements of the space environment and making progress toward the science goals of the Solar Wind-Magnetosphere Interactions. The Ireland radars will significantly increase measurements of the electric field at mid-latitudes enabling SuperDARN to provide real-time observations of space weather disturbances in the ionosphere extending from Asia, across North America and into Northern Europe. This should result in significant progress toward the larger goal of providing the capability to predict the effects of solar variability on the environment and on society.An important aspect of the proposed project is the calibration of SuperDARN elevation angle measurements which can be used to improve the geolocation of backscattered signals, to discriminate between propagation modes and to estimate the index of refraction at the scattering location - this is now normally done by modeling using ray tracing software, and such models might be in error at times.The project includes a small augmentation that will enable one of the interferometer arrays to be configurable and allow for testing of the sensitivity and accuracy of SuperDARN interferometers. Ireland is ideally situated for interferometer testing with two Scandinavian ionospheric heating facilities providing a calibration source within the field-of-view of the augmented radar. The project would very efficiently reuse most of a ready-to-go radar system that for various logistical and political reasons never got installed in the Azores. This is a highly targeted re-purposed application that minimizes substantially the installation budget.