HAARP-Like Ionospheric Research Project Underway

The Arecibo SETI observatory

Its official now, work is underway to complete the construction of an ionospheric research facility at the Arecibo Observatory in Puerto Rico that bears some similarities to the High Frequency Active Auroral Research Program (HAARP) far to the north in Alaska, but on a different scale and with different research goals.

"It is basically the same as HAARP for the science, except that HAARP was in the Auroral Region, where the physics of the ionosphere is quite different with all the energetic particles and magnetic fields," Penn State Electrical Engineering Professor Jim Breakall, WA3FET, told ARRL. "HAARP also had 3 gigawatts of effective radiated power, where Arecibo will only be about 200 megawatts." The Arecibo Observatory Amateur Radio Club, KP4AO, is headquartered at the research facility, which celebrated its 50th anniversary last fall.

The National Science Foundation and Cornell University, which previously operated Arecibo Observatory, contracted with Penn State's Electrical Engineering Department to construct the "new and enhanced" HF ionospheric instrument. It will be used to study the interaction between HF radio energy and ionospheric plasma.