Ion acoustic HF radar echoes at high latitudes and far ranges

Abstract

Using data taken over 18 months with the Iceland East (CUT‐LASS/Iceland) Super Dual Auroral Radar Network (SuperDARN) HF radar we have made a statistical study of a class of echoes which occur at ranges typically associated with F region echoes, but which have Doppler speeds near the ion acoustic speed Cs typical of E region echoes [Milan et al., 1997]. Comparison of the seasonal, diurnal, and range distributions of these echoes with the predictions of propagation models show that these are, indeed, E region echoes, differing in morphology from similar echoes at nearer ranges mainly because of the propagation conditions which are required to observe them. For the particular radar geometry of this study, conventional theory predicts that the effects of ionospheric gradients will result in phase velocities (radar Doppler velocities) which differ significantly from Cs. in disagreement with these observations. However, the observations are consistent with a new nonlinear theory of St.‐Maurice and Hamza [2001].