Space weather study using the HF radar in King Salmon, Alaska

Earth orbiting and geostationary satellites often suffered from damages caused by space storms, of which energy is produced by the interaction between the solar wind and magnetosphere. In particular, the energy transmission to the inner magnetosphere and low latitude ionosphere is a critical issue in the space weather study. To monitor the electromagnetic energy coming into the magnetosphere and ionosphere, we built an HF radar in King Salmon, Alaska, and operated it as a part of the SuperDARN radar network. Combining with magnetometer data from the low latitude and equator, we revealed new aspects of the energy transmission to the equatorial ionosphere. Here we report the radar system and initial results basing on the radar and magnetometer observations.