SESCAT

SESCAT(Sporadic E-Scatter) is a radio backscatter experiment to study coherent echoes from the mid latitude E-region. It is operated in collaboration with Dr. Christos Haldoupis from the University of Crete. SESCAT is a bi-static 50 MHz CW-system with the transmitter (500 W) located in Iraklion/Crete and the receiver in Chania/Crete. The echoes are recorded as Doppler spectra with 5 s time resolution.

The backscatter is assumed to occur from field-aligned irregularities caused mainly by the gradient-drift plasma instability. The echoes occur mainly in summer nights. Their connection with sporadic E-layers and neutral winds is currently investigated. Very puzzling are echoes with large Doppler velocities around 300 m/s which are probably caused by the modified two stream (Farley-Buneman) instability.

Publications