The ST radar under construction at Piura, Peru (6°S, 81°W)

Abstract

The Piura ST radar currently under construction at the Universite de Piura in Piura, Peru will be a 50 MHz VHF system. This radar will form the easternmost facility in the proposed trans-Pacific network of ST radars that will eventually span the equatorial Pacific. Support for the construction of the Piura radar is being furnished by the U.S. National Science Foundation. The ST radar at Piura is part of a cooperative research program involving NOAA's Aeronomy Laboratory and the University of Colorado in the United States and the Universite de Piura and the Instituto Geofísica del Peru in Peru. The radar is being constructed on the campus of the Universite de Piura. A container filled with antenna cables and radar hardware was shipped from Alaska during the past few months. Site preparations are now underway and the antenna construction will begin about the first of the year. A building will be constructed next to the antenna site to house the radar equipment. A diesel generator has been purchased to provide a continuous source of power to the radar. The first phase of construction will be com­pleted by mid-1989 and the radar will be operated for the first year in a vertical-only mode. During 1990 the radar will be modified so that horizon­tal as well as vertical velocities can be measured.