The U.S. Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL) is hoping that a combination of power line noise and an antenna built primarily for radio astronomy can help identify and track the movement of sporadic-E clouds in real time. And of course, a ham is part of the team!
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| Some of the University of New Mexico's Long
Wavelength Array stations in the desert near Kirtland Air Force Base (also in New Mexico). While built primarily for radio astronomy, this array is now a key element of an Air Force Research Laboratory program to identify and track sporadic-E openings in real time. (U.S. Air Force courtesy photo) |
According to an Air Force news release, the
research team – led by physicist Ken Obenberger – is using the unintentional RF
radiation from power lines and the University of New Mexico's Long Wavelength
Array (LWA) to map and track dense sporadic-E clouds. The announcement
explained that while the climatology of sporadic-E has long been able to
provide a probability of when it will occur (e.g., we know that it's most
likely in the summer, during late morning and late afternoon/early evening), "but
the actual presence of sporadic-E can only be determined through trial and
error observations at the time" (in the case of hams, that means getting on
the air and calling CQ!). This method will reportedly permit what the Air Force
is calling "now-casting" of Es openings.
Chris Fallen, KL3WX, former Chief Scientist for
HAARP, the High-Frequency Active Aurora Research Program, is part of the AFRL research
team. He compared this method to tracking thunderstorms. "This is similar
to how meteorologists can predict how likely thunderstorms will occur in the afternoon
above New Mexico during monsoon season," he explained, "but use Doppler
radar to identify and track specific thunderstorms as they occur… Ken's technique
basically provides weather radar for sporadic-E, only using radio noise from power
lines as the radar transmitter."
