On the Factors that Enhance the Spectral Width

R. ANDRE (1), M. PINNOCK (2), J.-P. VILLAIN (1) and C. HANUISE (3)
(1) LPCE/CNRS, France
(2) British Antarctic Survey, UK
(3) LSEET/University de Toulon, France

The SuperDARN radars are proving to be a very powerful experimental tool for exploring solar wind-magnetosphere-ionosphere interactions. They measure the autocorrelation function (ACF) of the transmitted signal backscattered from ionospheric irregularities, and derive parameters such as the Doppler velocity and spectral width. This paper reviews the physical origin of the spectral width and the factors which can affect it, such as micro-scale ionospheric turbulence, low-frequency wave activity and gradients which occur naturally in the polar ionosphere.

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