The science case for the EISCAT_3D radar

Ian McCrea; Anita Aikio; Lucilla Alfonsi; Evgenia Belova; Stephan Buchert; Mark Clilverd; Norbert Engler; Björn Gustavsson; Craig Heinselman; Johan Kero; Mike Kosch; Hervé Lamy; Thomas Leyser; Yasunobu Ogawa; Kjellmar Oksavik; Asta Pellinen-Wannberg; Frederic Pitout; Markus Rapp; Iwona Stanislawska; Juha Vierinen

doi:10.1186/s40645-015-0051-8

Progress in Earth and Planetary Science

Table 1 EISCAT_3D resolution and range extent requirements for the different science topics. A phased array system with fast pointing, multiple beams and calibrated signal is assumed

From: The science case for the EISCAT_3D radar

Science topic	Parameter for which resolution is given	Temporal resolution (s)	Horizontal resolution (km)	Vertical resolution (km)	Height range (km)
Mesoscale electrodynamics and flows (including BBFs)	N _e, T _e, T _i, V _i	10	20 in the F region	2	85–400
Small-scale (auroral) dynamics	N _e	1	1	0.5	70–500
Small-scale (auroral) dynamics	T _e, T _i, V _i	– “–	– “–	– “–	85–400
Fine-scale auroral structures	N _e, T _e, T _i	0.1	0.1	0.2	70–200
Fine-scale auroral structures	V _i	0.1	0.1	5	120–400
Ion outflow (natural and heater-induced)	N _e, T _e, T _i, V _i, ion comp.	10	10	20	200–1500
NEIALs (aperture synthesis imaging)	Raw data	0.03	0.05 at 300 km	1	100–1500
Ionospheric irregularities	N _e, T _e, T _i, V _i	1	1	1	90–800
Topside composition (O⁺, He⁺, H⁺)	mi (and N _e, T _e, T _i, V _i)	10	N/A	N/A	300–1500
Transition region composition (NO⁺/O₂ ⁺ vs. O⁺)	mi (and N _e, T _e, T _i, V _i)	10	N/A	10 km	100–300
High-energy particle events (SEPs, etc.)	N _e	1	10	1	50–400
High-energy particle events (SEPs, etc.)	T _e, T _i, V _i	– “–	– “–	– “–	100–400
Atmosphere-ionosphere coupling (AGW, winds)	N _e, T _e, T _i, V _i, V _n	<1 min	1	0.1 or better	As low as possible—120 km
Mesosphere-stratosphere-troposphere (MST) small-scale dynamics	Vector neutral wind, N _e	<1 min	1	0.1 or better	As low as possible—110 km
D region phenomena	N _e, T _e (=T _i) V _i (=V _n)	1	1	0.3	70–90
PMSE, PMWE	Raw data, Doppler velocity, spectral width	<1 min	1	0.1 or better	55–95
Meteoroids and their effects on the background (Es, PMSE etc.), high-power mode	Raw data, polarisation matrix, and N _e, T _e, T _i, V _i	1 ms	0.01	0.01	(30) 70–200 (1000)
Planets and asteroids	Raw data, power, polarisation matrix	10-MHz sampling		15 m
Interplanetary scintillation	Raw data	0.01	N/A	N/A	N/A
Heating experiments	N _e, T _e, T _i, V _i	1	1	1	100–2000
Heating experiments, aperture synthesis imaging	Spectra (raw data)	IPP (~2 ms)	0.01–0.05	0.1	100–300
Space debris monitoring and satellite tracking	Raw data, power, Doppler velocity	10-MHz sampling		15 m
Meteoroid monitoring (piggyback and low-power mode)	Raw data, polarisation matrix, and N _e, T _e, T _i, V _i	IPP ~100 ms for low-power mode	0.01	Down to 10 m	(30) 70–200 (1000)

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