Ionospheric Heater - Current Facilities

Current Facilities

• The European Incoherent Scatter Scientific Association (EISCAT) operates an ionospheric heating facility, capable of transmitting over 1 GW effective radiated power (ERP), near Tromsø in Norway. Adjacent to EISCAT facilities on the island of Spitsbergen, in Svalbard, is SPEAR (Space Plasma Exploration by Active Radar), an ionospheric heating installation operated by UNIS (the University Centre in Svalbard).
• Russia has the Sura ionospheric heating facility, in Vasilsursk near Nizhniy Novgorod, capable of transmitting 190 MW ERP.
• The United States has three ionospheric heating facilities:
  • HAARP - 4 GW ERP (north of Gakona, Alaska)
  • HIPAS Observatory - 70 MW ERP (northeast of Fairbanks, Alaska)
  • Arecibo Observatory (in Puerto Rico)

• Peru: Jicamarca Radio Observatory

Ionospheric heaters can also be found in China, Australia. Other facilities which are not primarily ionspheric heaters, but act in that capacity are now numerous across the world