The Super Dual Auroral Radar Network (SuperDARN) is an international scientific radar network consisting of 41 high frequency (HF) radars located in both the Northern and Southern Hemispheres. SuperDARN radars are primarily used to map high-latitude plasma convection in the F region of the ionosphere, but the radars are also used to study a wider range of geospace phenomena including field aligned currents, magnetic reconnection, geomagnetic storms and substorms, magnetospheric MHD waves, mesospheric winds via meteor ionization trails, and interhemispheric plasma convection asymmetries.
The SuperDARN collaboration is composed of radars operated by JHU/APL, Virginia Tech, Dartmouth College, the Geophysical Institute at the University of Alaska Fairbanks, the Institute of Space and Atmospheric Studies at the University of Saskatchewan, the University of Leicester, Lancaster University, La Trobe University, the Solar-Terrestrial Environment Laboratory at Nagoya University, the British Antarctic Survey and the Institute for Space Astrophysics and Planetology (INAF-IAPS Italy).
History In the 1970s and 1980s, the Scandinavian Twin Auroral Radar Experiment (STARE) very high frequency (VHF) coherent scatter radars were used to study field aligned E region ionospheric irregularities. Using two radars with overlapping fields of view, it was possible to determine the 2D velocity vector of E region ionospheric plasma flow. However, irregularities were only observed when the radar wavevector was perpendicular to the magnetic field in the scattering region.
This meant that there was a problem with operating at VHF since VHF frequencies don't allow for very much refraction of the transmitted radar wave vector; thus, the perpendicularity requirement could not be easily met at high latitudes. At HF frequencies, however, refraction of the radar wave vector is greater, and this allows for the perpendicularity requirement to be met at high latitudes. Refraction of radio waves in the ionosphere is a complicated non-linear phenomenon governed by the Appleton–Hartree equation.
In 1983, a steerable-beam HF radar with 16 log-periodic antennas began operations at Goose Bay, Labrador, Canada. Comparing measurements of F region ionospheric plasma velocity from the Goose Bay radar with the Sondestrom Incoherent Scatter Radar revealed that the Goose Bay radar was capable of measuring the F region plasma convection velocity. A magnetically conjugate radar was constructed in Antarctica at Halley Research Station in 1988 as part of the Polar Anglo–American Conjugate Experiment (PACE). PACE provided simultaneous conjugate studies of ionospheric and magnetospheric phenomena.
From PACE, which was only able to determine a single component of the 2D ionospheric velocity, it became apparent that determining the 2D ionospheric velocity would be advantageous. Combining velocity measurements from Goose Bay with a second coherent-scatter radar in Schefferville in 1989 allowed for a 2D determination of the F region ionospheric velocity.
This work led to SuperDARN, a network of HF radars with pairs of radars having overlapping fields of view. This arrangement allowed for the determination of the full 2D ionospheric plasma convection velocity. Due to the advancement of data assimilation models, radars recently added to the network do not necessarily have overlapping fields of view. Using data from all SuperDARN radars in the northern or southern hemisphere, an ionospheric plasma convection pattern—a map of high-latitude plasma velocity at F region altitudes (300 km)—can be determined.
Primary Goals The primary goals of SuperDARN are to determine or study: Structure of global convection—to provide a global-scale view of the configuration of plasma convection in the high-latitude ionosphere; Dynamics of global convection—to provide a global-scale view of the dynamics of plasma convection in the high-latitude ionosphere. (Previous studies of high-latitude convection had largely been statistical and time-averaged); Substorms—to test various theories of polar cap expansion and contraction under changing IMF conditions and observe the large-scale response of the nightside; convection pattern to substorms: Signatures of atmospheric gravity waves in the ionosphere, High-latitude plasma structures, and Ionospheric irregularities
Operations SuperDARN radars operate in the HF band between 8.0 MHz (37 m) and 22.0 MHz (14 m). In the standard operating mode each radar scans through 16 beams of azimuthal separation of ~3.24°, with a scan taking 1 min to complete (~3 seconds integration per beam).
Each beam is divided into 75 (or 100) range gates each 45 km in distance, and so in each full scan the radars each cover 52° in azimuth and over 3000 km in range; an area encompassing the order of 1 million square km.
The radars measure the Doppler velocity (and other related characteristics) of plasma density irregularities in the ionosphere.
Since Linux became popular, it has become the default operating system for the SuperDARN network. The operating system (superdarn-ros.3.6) is currently licensed under the LGPL).
SuperDARN sites The following is a list of SuperDARN sites, based on a list maintained by Virginia Tech College of Engineering.
As of 2009, an expansion project was underway for expanding the network into the middle latitudes, including the addition of sites in Hays, Kansas (near Fort Hays State University), Oregon, and the Azores, in order to support mapping outside of the auroral regions during large magnetic storms.
Decommissioned
Name Code Location Coordinates BoresightHeading PI Institute Northern Hemisphere Adak Island East ade Adak Island, Alaska 46.0° Penn State Adak Island West adw −28.0° Blackstone bks Blackstone, Virginia -40.0° Virginia Tech Christmas Valley East cve Christmas Valley, Oregon 54.0° Dartmouth College Christmas Valley West cvw −20.0° Clyde River cly Clyde River, Nunavut −55.6° University of Saskatchewan Fort Hays East fhe Hays, Kansas 45.0° Virginia Tech Fort Hays West fhw −25.0° Goose Bay gbr Goose Bay, Newfoundland and Labrador 5.0° Hankasalmi han Hankasalmi −12.0° University of Leicester Hejing East hje Hejing, Xinjiang 39.0° NSSC, CAS Hejing West hjw -39.0° Hokkaido East hok Rikubetsu, Hokkaido 25.0° Nagoya University Hokkaido West hkw −30.0° Iceland East ice Þykkvibær 23.0° Dartmouth College Iceland West icw -52.0° Inuvik inv Inuvik, Northwest Territories 26.4° University of Saskatchewan Jiamusi East jme Jiamusi, Heilongjiang 44.0° NSSC, CAS Kapuskasing kap Kapuskasing, Ontario −12.0° Virginia Tech King Salmon ksr King Salmon, Alaska −20.0° Penn State Kodiak kod Kodiak, Alaska 30.0° Longjing East lje Longjing, Jilin 44.0° NSSC, CAS Longjing West ljw -34.0° Longyearbyen lyr Longyearbyen, Svalbard 23.7° UNIS Þykkvibær pyk Þykkvibær 30.0° University of Leicester Prince George pgr Prince George, British Columbia −5.0° University of Saskatchewan Rankin Inlet rkn Rankin Inlet, Nunavut 5.7° Saskatoon sas Saskatoon, Saskatchewan 23.1° Schefferville sch Schefferville, Quebec 15.0° CNRS/LPCE Siziwang East sze Siziwang, Inner Mongolia 42.0° NSSC, CAS Siziwang West szw -36.0° Stokkseyri sto Stokkseyri −59.0° Lancaster University Wallops Island wal Wallops Island, Virginia 35.9° Applied Physics Laboratory Southern Hemisphere Name Code Location Coordinates BoresightHeading PI Institute Buckland Park bpk Buckland Park, South Australia 146.5° La Trobe University Dome C East dce Concordia Station 115.0° INAF Dome C North dcn -28.0° Falkland Islands fir Falkland Islands 178.3° British Antarctic Survey Halley* hal Halley Research Station 165.0° Kerguelen ker Kerguelen Islands 168.0° IRAP/CNRS/IPEV McMurdo mcm McMurdo Station 300.0° Penn State SANAE* san SANAE IV Station 173.2° SANSA South Pole sps South Pole Station 75.7° Penn State Syowa East* sye Showa Station 106.5° NIPR Syowa South* sys 159.0° Tiger tig Bruny Island, Tasmania 180.0° La Trobe University Unwin unw Awarua, near Invercargill 227.9° Zhongshan zho Zhongshan Station 72.5° PRIC *: Part of the Southern Hemisphere Auroral Radar Experiment
Coverage Northern Hemisphere Because the SuperDARN network evolved in the west during the late Cold War, coverage of Russia's arctic regions is poor. Although there is no shortage of possible sites to cover Russia's Arctic regions from Northern Europe and Alaska, the coverage would probably not be of high quality. Although Russian universities have worked with the University of Leicester and installed a HF radar in Siberia, national funding issues have limited the radar operations. The Polar Research Institute of China has extended mid-latitude coverage, christening the extension to SuperDARN "AgileDARN"
Southern Hemisphere Although Antarctica is covered reasonably well, the Sub-Antarctic regions do not have uniform coverage due to the large expanse of ocean. Java VM real time display software interoperability (where both poles could be observed at the same time) is still a work in progress.
Annual SuperDARN Workshops Each year the SuperDARN scientific community gather to discuss SuperDARN science, operations, hardware, software and other SuperDARN related issues. Traditionally, this workshop has been hosted by one of the SuperDARN PI groups, often at their home institution, or at another location such as a site close to a radar installation. A list of the SuperDARN workshop locations and their host institutions is provided below:
Year Venue Host Institution 2025 Blacksburg, Virginia, USA Virginia Polytechnic Institute of Technology (VT) 2024 Beijing, China National Space Science Center, Chinese Academy of Sciences 2023 Drakensburg, South Africa University of KwaZulu-Natal 2022 Online National Space Science Center, Chinese Academy of Sciences 2021 Online University of Saskatchewan 2020 Online University of KwaZulu-Natal 2019 Fujiyoshida, Yamanashi, Japan National Institute of Information and Communications Technology (NICT) 2018 Banyuls-sur-Mer, France L'Institut de Recherche en Astrophysique et Planétologie (IRAP) 2017 San Quirico D'Orcia, Siena, Italy Institute for Space Astrophysics and Planetology (IAPS) of the National Institute for Astrophysics (INAF) 2016 Fairbanks, Alaska, USA Geophysical Institute, University of Alaska Fairbanks 2015 Leicester, UK Radio and Space Plasma Physics Group (RSPP), University of Leicester 2014 Longyearbyen, Svalbard, Norway The University Centre in Svalbard (UNIS) 2013 Moose Jaw, Saskatchewan, Canada University of Saskatchewan 2012 Shanghai, China Polar Research Institute of China 2011 Hanover, New Hampshire, USA Dartmouth College 2010 Hermanus, South Africa SANSA Space Science (previously the Hermanus Magnetic Observatory, HMO) 2009 Cargèse, Corsica, France Le Centre national de la recherche scientifique (CNRS) 2008 Newcastle, New South Wales, Australia School of Mathematical & Physical Sciences, University of Newcastle 2007 Abashiri, Hokkaido, Japan Institute for Space-Earth Environmental Research, Nagoya University 2006 Chincoteague, USA Johns Hopkins University, Applied Physics Laboratory (APL) 2005 Cumbria, UK British Antarctic Survey (BAS) 2004 Saskatoon, Canada University of Saskatchewan 2003 Kiljava, Finland 2002 Valdez, Alaska, USA Geophysical Institute, University of Alaska Fairbanks 2001 Venice, Italy 2000 Beechworth, Victoria, Australia La Trobe University 1999 Reykjavik, Iceland 1998 Tokyo, Japan National Institute of Polar Research (NIPR) 1997 Ithala Game Reserve, South Africa 1996 Ellicott City, MD, USA 1995 Madingley Hall, Cambridge, UK British Antarctic Survey 1994 Orléans, France Institut de Recherche en Astrophysique et Planétologie (IRAP) 1993 Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada University of Saskatchewan
References
Research papers Research papers related to SuperDARN and related technologies Double Pulse Operations with SuperDARN The TIGER Radar, An Extension of SuperDARN
Real time display of SuperDarn radar