HAARP Fe Lidar
This project is a collaborative effort between researchers at the University of Alaska Fairbanks (UAF), GATS, the University of Colorado Denver (CU Denver), Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University (VTech), and the German Aerospace Center (Deutsches Zentrum für Luft- und Raumfahrt, DLR). The High-Frequency Active Auroral Research Program (HAARP) facility in Gakona, Alaska (62°N, 145°W) has allowed controlled scientific investigation of the ionosphere for over 30 years (Pedersen, 2015). We are building a new resonance lidar that is capable of making high-resolution wind, temperature, and neutral metal measurements. The iron resonance wind-temperature lidar (IRWTL) will be used to conduct coordinated observations with the established Ionospheric Research Instrument (IRI) at HAARP. The IRI will operate in campaign mode conducting heating experiments. The lidar, a solid-state IRWTL, matches the measurement capabilities of the IRI and is based on solid-state technologies that will operate robustly at this remote site. We propose to advance current studies of the mesosphere-thermosphere-ionosphere by conducting simultaneous lidar and IRI measurements at HAARP, and by conducting coordinated measurements at HAARP and Poker Flat Research Range (PFRR, (65°N, 147°W)), Chatanika, Alaska.