Спектры HAARP

HAARP stands for High Frequency Active Auroral Research Program (HAARP) which is an investigation project to "understand, simulate and control ionospheric processes that might alter the performance of communication and surveillance systems". Started in 1993, the project is proposed to last for a period of twenty years.

The project is jointly funded by US Air Force, Navy, and University of Alaska. It is said that the project is similar to numerous existing ionospheric heaters around the world, and has a large suite of diagnostic instruments that facilitate its use to increase scientific understanding of ionospheric dynamics. Though many have expressed fears of HAARP being used as a nefarious weapon, the scientists involved in aeronomy, space science, or plasma physics dismiss these fears as unfounded.

The HAARP Site in Alaska

The project site is near Gakona, Alaska (lat. 62.39џ N, long 145.15 W), just West of the Wrangell-Saint Elias National Park. An environmental impact statement led to permission for an array of up to 180 antennas to be erected. HAARP has been constructed at the previous site of an over-the-horizon radar installation.

A large structure, built to house the OTH now houses the HAARP control room, kitchen, and offices. Several other small structures house various instruments. The Ionospheric Research Instrument (IRI) is the primary instrument at HAARP, which is a high-frequency (HF) transmitter system used to temporarily modify the ionosphere.

Study of this modified volume yields important information for understanding natural ionospheric processes.During active ionospheric research, the signal generated by the transmitter system is delivered to the antenna array, transmitted in an upward direction, and is partially absorbed, at an altitude between 100 to 350 km (depending on operating frequency), in a small volume a few hundred meters thick and a few tens of kilometers in diameter over the site.

The intensity of the HF signal in the ionosphere is less than 3 microwatts per cm2, tens of thousands of times less than the Sun's natural electromagnetic radiation reaching the earth and hundreds of times less than even the normal random variations in intensity of the Sun's natural ultraviolet (UV) energy which creates the ionosphere.

The small effects that are produced, however, can be observed with the sensitive scientific instruments installed at the HAARP facility and these observations can provide new information about the dynamics of plasmas and new insight into the processes of solar-terrestrial interactions.

The HAARP site has been constructed in three distinct phases.

The Developmental Prototype (DP) had 18 antenna elements, organized in three columns by six rows. It was fed with a total of 360 kilowatts (KW) combined transmitter output power. The DP transmitted just enough power for the most basic of ionospheric testing.

The Filled Developmental Prototype (FDP) had 48 antenna units arrayed in six columns by eight rows, with 960 KW of transmitter power. It was fairly comparable to other ionospheric heating facilities. This was used for a number of successful scientific experiments and ionospheric exploration campaigns over the years.

The Final IRI (FIRI) will be the final build of the IRI. It has 180 antenna units, organized in 15 columns by 12 rows, yielding a theoretical maximum gain of 31 dB. A total of 3600 KW (3.6 MW) of transmitter power will feed it. The total effective radiated power (ERP) will be 3,981 MW (96 dBW).

As of the summer of 2005, all the antennas were in place, but the final quota of transmitters had not yet been installed.Each antenna element consists of a crossed dipole that can be polarized for linear, ordinary mode (O-mode), or extraordinary mode (X-mode) transmission and reception.

Each part of the two section crossed dipoles are individually fed from a custom built transmitter, that has been specially designed with very low distortion. The ERP of the IRI is limited by more than a factor of 10 at its lower operating frequencies. Much of this is due to higher antenna losses and a less efficient antenna pattern. HAARP can transmit between 2.8 and 10 MHz. This frequency range lies above the AM radio broadcast band and well below Citizens' Band frequency allocations. HAARP is only licensed to transmit in certain segments of this frequency range, however.

When the IRI is transmitting, the bandwidth of the transmitted signal is 100 kHz or less. The IRI can transmit continuously (CW) or pulses as short as 100 microseconds. CW transmission is generally used for ionospheric modification, while short pulses are frequently repeated, and the IRI is used as a radar system.

Researchers can run experiments that use both modes of transmission, modifying the ionosphere for a predetermined amount of time, then measuring the decay of modification effects with pulsed transmissions.

Stated objectives

The HAARP project aims to direct a 3.6 MW signal, in the 2.8-10 MHz region of the HF band, into the ionosphere. The signal may be pulsed or continuous wave. Then effects of the transmission and any recovery period will be examined associated instrumentation, including VHF and UHF radars, HF receivers, and optical cameras.

According to the HAARP team, this will advance the study of basic natural processes that occur in the ionosphere under the natural but much stronger influence of solar interaction, as well as how the natural ionosphere affects radio signals.

This will enable scientists to develop techniques to mitigate these effects in order to improve the reliability and/or performance of communication and navigation systems, which would have a wide range of applications in both the civilian and military sectors.

The project is funded by the Office of Naval Research and jointly managed by the ONR and Air Force Research Laboratory, with the principal involvement of the University of Alaska. Fourteen other universities and educational institutions have been involved in the development of the project and its instruments, namely the University of Alaska, Penn State University (ARL), Boston College, UCLA, Clemson University, Dartmouth College, Cornell University, Johns Hopkins University, University of Maryland, College Park, University of Massachusetts, MIT, Polytechnic University, Stanford University, and the University of Tulsa.

The project's specifications were developed by the universities, which are continuing to play a major role in the design of future research efforts. There is both military and commercial interest in its outcome, as many communications and navigation systems depend on signals being reflected from the ionosphere or passing through the ionosphere to satellites.

The HAARP project offers annual open days to permit the general public to visit the facility, and makes a public virtue of openness; according to the team, "there are no classified documents pertaining to HAARP."

Each summer, HAARP holds a summer-school for visiting students, giving them an opportunity to do research with one of the world's foremost research instruments.

HAARP controversy

Numerous parties have found reasons to suspect that HAARP is more than the government claims it to be. Various theories draw on brain waves, confusion of the ionosphere with the neutral atmosphere, and over-stated claims of HAARP supporters. Many of the concerns about HAARP have been presented so as to be dismissed as "conspiracy theories" by some, while seen as proof of nefarious governmental plotting by others.

В 15 километрах к северу от Дакона (штат Аляска), на площади около 13 гектаров установлены 180 антенн высотой 25 метров каждая, способных выдавать мощность до 3600 кВт. Направленные в зенит антенны позволяют фокусировать импульсы коротковолнового излучения на отдельных участках ионосферы и разогревать их до образования высокотемпературной плазмы.

Существуют аналогичные HAARP системы:

§ EISCAT (Норвегия, Тромсё) — 1200 кВт

§ SPEAR (Норвегия, Лонгйир) — 288 кВт

В отличие от радиовещательных станций, многие из которых имеют передатчики 1000 кВт, но слабонаправленные антенны, системы типа HAARP использует остронаправленные передающие антенны типа фазированная антенная решётка, способные фокусировать всю излучённую энергию на небольшом участке пространства.

Рис. 1. Кривая соответствует зависимости электронной концентрации от высоты, измерянной на трассе навигационный спутник – низкоорбитальный спутник системы FORMOSAT-3. Сеанс состоялся 12 января 2008г. в 10:18 UTC. На вставке изображена циклограмма работы нагревного стенда HAARP для того же дня. Во время измерений – 10:18 UTC стенд излучал в непрерывном режиме на частоте 2.8 МГц. Эта частота соответствовала критической частоте ионосферного слоя E1, в результате образовался максимум электронной концентрации на высотах 85-105 км, порядка 10⁵ электронов/см³ . Район радиопросвечивания смещен на 140 км к востоку и 26 км к югу от стенда HAARP.

Рис. 2. Кривая соответствует зависимости амплитуды на первой частоте сигнала навигационного спутника от высоты, измерянной на трассе навигационный спутник – низкоорбитальный спутник системы FORMOSAT-3. Сеанс состоялся 12 января 2008г. в 10:18 UTC. На вставке изображена циклограмма работы нагревного стенда HAARP для того же дня. Во время измерений – 10:18 UTC стенд излучал в непрерывном режиме на частоте 2.8 МГц. Эта частота соответствовала критической частоте ионосферного слоя E1, в результате заметен амплитудный отклик на высотах 100-108км . Район радиопросвечивания смещен на 140 км к востоку и 26 км к югу от стенда HAARP.

Рис. 3. Кривая соответствует зависимости электронной концентрации от высоты, измеренной на трассе навигационный спутник – низкоорбитальный спутник системы FORMOSAT-3. Сеанс состоялся 30 октября 2008г. в 01:31 UTC. На вставке изображена циклограмма работы нагревного стенда HAARP для того же дня. Во время измерений – 01:31 UTC стенд излучал в непрерывном режиме на частоте 3.5 МГц. Эта частота соответствовала критической частоте ионосферного слоя F, в результате образовался максимум электронной концентрации на высотах 200-300 км, порядка (1.5-2.0)10⁵ электронов/см³ . Район радиопросвечивания смещен на 120 км к востоку и 21 км к югу от стенда HAARP.