Bistatic Sounding of High-Latitude Ionospheric Irregularities Using a Decameter EKB Radar and an UTR-2 Radio Telescope: First Results

We present the first results of the joint Russian–Ukrainian experiments for recording of signals from the EKB radar of the Institute of Solar–Terrestrial Physics of the Siberian Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences (Arti observatory of the Institute of Geophysics of the Ural Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Sverdlovsk region, Russia) at a distance of over 1600 km by using a coherent receiving system and a high-gain phased array of the UTR-2 radio telescope (S.Ya. Braude Radioastronomical Observatory (RAO) of the Institute of Radio Astronomy of the Ukrainian National Academy of Sciences (IRA UNAS), Kharkov region, Ukraine). It is shown that two pulse sequences that are identical to the transmitted EKB radar signal, but arrive with different delays were observed at the reception point. The sequence which was received first corresponded to the direct-signal propagation along the great-circle arc. The second sequence was received with delays corresponding to a path length of 2800 to 3400 km and was the result of scattering of the transmitted radar signal by high-latitude ionospheric irregularities. The Doppler frequency shift of the scattered signal was range-dependent and varied from −3 to +4 Hz, which corresponded to the radial component of the ionospheric irregularity velocity from −43 to +58 m/s. To interpret the results of the experiments, we numerically simulated the signal propagation based on the actual ionospheric conditions at an appropriate time. Ionospheric characteristics were retrieved by the vertical ionospheric sounding technique, with the ionosonde located in close proximity to the EKB radar. Comparison between monostatic radar diagnostic results and bistatic sounding results has shown a good agreement of the retrieved parameters of the high-latitude ionospheric irregularities.