Ionospheric studies at the Jicamarca radar observatory

Abstract

The Jicamarca Radar Observatory is located near Lima, Perú [11°57'S, 76°52'W, magnetic dip 2°N], It consists of a 300 x 300 meter antenna (comprised of 9,216 crossed dipoles), several smaller antennas, 50 MHz transmitiera and receivers, and digital sampling and processing equipment centered around a Harris S123 computer. The peak transmitted power is typically 1.5 MHz. Figure 1 shows a view of the incoherent scatter antenna. The beam of the main antenna can be steered to a limited degree by manually phasing the 64 sub-arrays. The sub-arrays can be operated independently or in various combinations. The allowable range of zenith angles includes directions perpendicular to the magnetic field. This is an special situation since the characteristics of the incoherent scatter signal change drastically when the angle of observations is directed perpendicular to the magnetic field. This also provides a rather unique capability for studying plasma irregularities associated with the equatorial electrojet and spread-F.