European Incoherent Scatter Radar Facility (EISCAT) - UK Support

This proposal is seeking funding for a small group of four people, all of whom also work on other projects, who spend part of their time working with researchers using a powerful radar system in northern Scandinavia, called EISCAT, which undertakes research on the upper atmosphere and space weather. Our aim is to help UK researchers to get the maximum benefit from the financial investment that NERC makes to keep the EISCAT facilities operating, by helping to ensure that UK scientists can use the facilities effectively. In return for the money which NERC invests, UK scientists get access to about 200 hours of measurement time per year, which they can use to run their own experiments, to investigate particular properties of the polar upper atmosphere and the physics of space weather processes. These user-specific experiments are known as Special Programmes. In addition, UK EISCAT users also get access to a larger pool of more generic observations, called Common Programmes, which are carried out on behalf of the whole international community, and are made available to all EISCAT scientists.

The study of space weather, the effect of the space environment on the Earth, has been part of NERC's remit since 2010. EISCAT is the most significant space weather research facility in which NERC invests and it acts as a focus for UK researchers in this area. It also forms part of a worldwide network of similar radars which study how our atmosphere is changing on short and long timescales, in response to changes originating in the Sun and solar wind. As well as studying the outermost part of the Earth's atmosphere, EISCAT can also carry out other kinds of research on phenomena such as meteors, satellites, space debris, planetary bodies and even do research into low-frequency radio astronomy.

Although the EISCAT radars have a great deal of capability and flexibility, they can also be very complicated to use and their data can be hard to interpret. Particular procedures have to be followed for scheduling and operations and some training is needed to understand how the radar operates. The data sets produced by the radar are also often very large and special software is required to analyse them and turn them into estimates of parameters in the upper atmosphere. The members of the EISCAT support group have worked with these radars for many years and are sufficiently familiar with them that they can help scientific users who might not have the same level of knowledge, making NERC's investment in the support team cost effective. We also provide limited funding for UK scientists travelling to EISCAT to conduct experiments, and we lecture on training courses and take part in PR and media events to tell people about the EISCAT radar systems and what they can do.

For the last decade, we have been heavily involved in helping to plan a new kind of radar system, which will eventually replace EISCAT's current generation of radars. This facility is called EISCAT_3D, and it is based on a design principle called the "phased array", using arrays of antennas, rather than steerable dishes. The use of phased antenna arrays, coupled with recent advances in modular transmitters, receiver systems and high-performance computing, now make it possible to design a much more powerful, efficient and flexible type of radar. Thanks partly to NERC's investment of £6M, this new radar project has just entered its construction phase. The UK support group needs to remain closely involved in this project to ensure that the design of the new radar system takes account of the requirements of our scientists, ideally also making sure that UK companies can also benefit from some of the opportunities offered by this new project.

The main impact of the proposal will on those members of the UK science community using the EISCAT radars in their research, since continued funding for the support group will make it easier for them to apply for observing time, schedule experiments, plan and execute observations, as well as analysing and interpreting their data. The community will also benefit from the involvement of support group members in training new users of the radars and disseminating news of technical developments and new research possibilities to the UK community, especially in relation to new aspects of EISCAT, such as the EISCAT_3D radar system. All of this will make UK exploitation of the EISCAT facilities more productive and cost-effective.

To the extent required by the UK EISCAT community, we will continue to promote their requirements for particular developments of the system in discussion with the responsible individuals at EISCAT. This is especially important with regard to EISCAT_3D, where the UK has already been active in setting out the science requirements for the new system and considering how these will translate into practical implementation (e.g. as considered in the EISCAT_3D Science Case: McCrea et al (2015) The science case for the EISCAT_3D radar, DOI 10.1186/s40645-015-0051-8). As far as we can, we will also support UK requests to deploy supplementary equipment (such as optical instruments, radio receivers and other types of radar) at the EISCAT sites, since this requirement is likely to become more pressing as EISCAT_3D develops.

As well as the UK EISCAT community, there will be an impact on the wider international space weather and upper atmosphere community, through the collaborative research papers produced with UK scientists. The global incoherent scatter community will also be positively impacted by the role that Dr. Kavanagh plays in planning the coordinated observations of the worldwide incoherent scatter radars, in his role as vice-chair of the URSI Incoherent Scatter Working Group.

EISCAT as a facility will benefit from continued exploitation by the UK community and the engagement of the UK, provided through its representatives on EISCAT's Council and Scientific Advisory Committee, funding for whose activities is included in this proposal. The UK has historically been by far the most productive community in terms of EISCAT publications (see Section A6 of the Case for Support) and we anticipate that this productivity will continue into the future. It has also been among the most active in influencing the future evolution of the system, leading much of the preparatory planning when the EISCAT Svalbard Radar was being developed and being heavily involved in the EISCAT_3D process since the very first meetings to discuss the idea.

Global collaborative efforts in space weather and space surveillance will be impacted through continued UK advocacy of the use of EISCAT to provide data for programmes of space debris and space weather monitoring, such as those run by the European Space Agency as part of its current Space Situational Awareness programme. We will continue to lobby for such operational uses of EISCAT, in line with NERC's requirement to maximise the economic and societal impact of its facilities.

There will be an impact on general public through the outreach activities that will be carried out by the EISCAT Support Group staff, especially if there are further opportunities for high-profile media exposure. We will continue to publicise the project through press articles, our web presence and talks to groups and societies. At the time of writing, we have just agreed to produce a piece on EISCAT_3D for the "Astronomy and Geophysics" magazine of the Royal Astronomical Society.