SGER: Investigation of Lightning and Lightning Induced Ionospheric Effects with Arecibo Observatory UHF and VHF Radars

This SGER proposal requests support for an experimental campaign to perform correlative studies of lightning and lightning-induced ionospheric effects using the Arecibo Observatory (AO) UHF and co-axial VHF radars, a VHF radio interferometer, and a VLF receiver. The campaign will be performed during a three-week period in August-September 2001 in Puerto Rico.

The radar data taking modes necessary for the proposed effort exist as do the basic analysis and display routines. The proposed program will employ combination of instruments which has never been used before and uniquely qualifies for SGER program as small-scale, exploratory research, which can potentially lead to major discoveries in the fields of lightning physics and lightning induced lower ionospheric effects.