Super Dual Auroral Radar Network (SuperDARN)

When most people think about radars they tend to imagine something to do with air traffic control or the tracking of ships on the ocean. Although these application are some of the most common uses of radar - a contraction of the phrase "radio detection and ranging" - a group of scientists in Hermanus exploit this technology to probe naturally occurring structures in the Earth's upper atmosphere. By doing this, they are able to study the interface between the Earth and space environments.

Space isn't as empty as you might think. The Earth and the neighbouring planets of the solar system sit inside the heliosphere, the area of space that is strongly influenced by the Sun. The heliosphere is filled with the solar wind, an electrically charged gas made up of the remnants of the solar atmosphere that streams past the Earth at about 400 km/s - travelling further every second than the fastest Formula 1 racing car moves in an hour!

The electrically conductive upper layer of the Earth's atmosphere (known as the ionosphere) sometimes connect directly to the solar wind. If there is a strong coupling then there is an increased chance that the space environment immediately surrounding our planet will be disrupted - the fast-moving solar wind blows past the Earth it can drag the polar ionosphere with it. Scientists use the SuperDARN radar system to measure how the ionosphere is moving above the polar cap by detecting echoes reflected by patches of electrically charged particles in the ionosphere over hundreds of kilometres above the Earth's surface.

Research in this area reveals the natural coupling between the Earth and the interplanetary environment, including the processes responsible for the mysterious northern and southern lights and some possible links to climate change. But in our increasingly high-tech society, space research is becoming an important research area because some modern technologies, both in space and on the ground, are vulnerable to rapid changes in the space environment known as "space weather".

Links:
http://superdarn.jhuapl.edu/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Super_Dual_Auroral_Radar_Network

Contact:
This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it – Dr Lindsay Magnus