Preliminary results of new operation mode JULIA Medium Power at JRO

Abstract

The main radar of the Jicamarca Radio Observatory (JRO), for several years, has operated with two main modes, the ISR mode with big transmitters (1.5 MW), operating around 1000 hours per year, to survey the ionosphere and obtain parameters such as drifts, densities and composition; and the JULIA mode with low power transmitters (20 kW), operating around 4000 hours per year, to measure mostly coherent echoes such as Equatorial Electrojet, Spread F and 150 km echoes to provide with a proxy of the behavior of the ionosphere. Starting in 2022, two new solid-state transmitters were installed at JRO, with peak power of 96 kW each, making it possible to not only detect coherent echoes but to be able to estimate zonal and vertical drifts in the ionosphere too. This new mode, called JULIA Medium Power (JULIA MP), is capable of measuring the same coherent echoes as the original JULIA but able to estimate zonal and vertical drifts up to 500 km. This work will present the preliminary results of this mode, comparisons of the coherent echoes obtained with JULIA and JULIA MP and finally show the quality of drifts we are getting with this medium power mode.