An adjusted location model for SuperDARN backscatter echoes

Abstract. The radars that form the Super Dual Auroral Radar Network (SuperDARN) receive scatter from ionospheric irregularities in both the E- and F-regions, as well as the Earth's surface, either ground or sea. For ionospheric scatter, the current SuperDARN standard software considers a straight-line propagation from the radar to the scattering zone with an altitude assigned by a standard height model. The knowledge of the group delay to a scatter volume is not sufficient for an exact determination of the location of the irregularities. In this study, the difference between the locations of the backscatter echoes determined by SuperDARN standard software and by ray tracing has been evaluated, using the ionosonde data collected at Sodankylä, which is in the field-of-view of Hankasalmi SuperDARN radar. By studying elevation angle information of backscattered echoes from the data sets of Hankasalmi radar in 2008, we have proposed an adjusted fitting location model determined by slant range and elevation angle. To test the reliability of the adjusted model, an independent data set is selected in 2009. The result shows that the difference between the adjusted model and the ray tracing is significantly reduced and the adjusted model could provide a more accurate location for backscatter targets.