An alternating code technique for HF magnetospheric sounding at the SURA facility

Abstract

The alternating code technique, primarily designed for incoherent scatter radars, is found to be suitable for HF magnetospheric sounding, providing simultaneously good range and spectral resolutions. Problems related to its implementation at the ‘Sura’ facility are considered. The data processing algorithm has been modified, taking into account data oversampling. The influence of ground clutter at HF due to reciprocal oblique scattering is also investigated, as is the autocorrelation function zero lag problem for relative measurements.