Joint KAIRA/EISCAT observations

Continuing on with an overview of Poppy’s observations.



When not working on pulsar observations, Poppy has been running a riometry experiment that is also run at the LOFAR station in Chilbolton (UK).

The most exciting part of this involved simultaneous observations of the ionosphere with KAIRA, EISCAT at Tromsø, and Chilbolton. As KAIRA and EISCAT are co-located, they can be used to observe the same section of the ionosphere. This is done by observing zenith at both sites (using the VHF at EISCAT and using the LBA at KAIRA), then by pointing the UHF over KAIRA, and by pointing some of KAIRA’s beamlets over EISCAT. This allows us to simultaneously observe the ionosphere above both EISCAT and KAIRA using two different instruments, verifying KAIRA’s riometry observations.

A diagram of the simultaneous observations of the ionosphere
using EISCAT and KAIRA. (Credit:  P. Martin)

Derek sciencing [ed: this was Poppy's caption, not mine!] (Photo: P. Martin)

 

Text/images: P. Martin