Development of a Phased-Array Ionospheric Imaging System

A novel approach to ionospheric imaging with the purpose of weather/disaster prediction and climate study is introduced. This feasibility study combines High Frequency (HF) radio via Software Defined Radio (SDR) systems with traditional imaging techniques in order to capture three-dimensional images of the atmosphere. An experiment is devised and the necessary instrumentation built in order to capture coherent images of the ionosphere. The experimental results show these three-dimensional images as well as a novel approach to measuring ionospheric height. The novelty of the research comes from the use of a closely spaced phased-array of radio antennas in conjunction with a post-correlation beamformer re-purposed from radio astronomy.