Determination of HF Propagation Conditions Using SuperDARN.

Bill BRISTOW

University of Alaska Fairbanks

SuperDARN is a very flexible tool for monitoring space weather conditions. The primary data product, convection velocity, provides an excellent view of the status of solar wind -- magnetosphere -- ionosphere interactions. In addition to general convection observations, SuperDARN can provide other information on the magnetospheric state. For example, by combining the SuperDARN data with other types of data, such as observations of particle precipitation or satellite images, the patterns of Hall and Pedersen currents and Birkeland currents may be estimated. SuperDARN is also capable of monitoring some of the effects of space weather. The ground-scattered portion of the return signal may provide a good monitor of high-latitude HF propagation conditions. A portion of the transmitted signal reflects obliquely from the bottomside F-region ionosphere down to the ground where it scatters back to the radar along the same path. The signal path from the radar through the ionosphere to the point on the ground is the same path that a HF radio communications signal would take. Hence, each beam of the radar provides the potential for monitoring HF propagation paths. In this talk a technique for HF propagation condition monitoring will be discussed to demonstrate SuperDARN's ability to observe one aspect of space weather effects.

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