Preliminary AMISR-14 radar observations of F-region incoherent backscatter echoes at the Jicamarca Radio Observatory (JRO)

Abstract

A 14-panel Advanced Modular Incoherent Scatter Radar (AMISR-14) was installed at the Jicamarca Radio Observatory (IGP- JRO) in 2014. Because of its size, this radar was mainly used to observe coherent echoes such as those produced by the Equatorial Electrojet (EEJ) and Equatorial Spread F (ESF). However, the radar operation was intermittent until 2019 when repairs started to make the radar fully operational. Now, AMISR-14 runs regularly in parallel with the main Jicamarca radar in the JULIA (Jicamarca Unattended Long-term studies of the Ionosphere and Atmosphere) mode to monitor the Equatorial Spread F activity. More recently, we found that running these experiments with a more stable peak power, we have been able to detect not only coherently scatter (CS) signals but also what seems to be incoherently scattered (IS) echoes from the F-region ionosphere. In this poster, we will present some examples of the experiments we have been conducting with AMISR-14. More specifically, we will present and discuss examples of these interesting ISR-like echoes observed with AMISR-14 pointing in different directions along the E-W plane.