HIPAS
High Power Auroral Stimulation Observatory
HIPAS
Fairbanks Alaska
64° 52' 19" N 146°  50' 33" W
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HIPAS  is located 30 miles Northeast of Fairbanks Alaska; in the small community of Two Rivers. It occupies 120 acres of land and has six buildings. The facility is located at:  latitude and  longitude.
The facility operates year-round.

The HIPAS facility is engaged in the study of the Ionosphere through the use of high power radio transmission as well as a state-of-the-art LIDAR (LIght Detection And Ranging ) facility.

The Heater system consists of  8 transmitters capable of conducting amplitude modulation of 100 Hz - 20 kHz and phase modulation of 0 -20 kHz.  Each transmitter can transmit up to 150kW at 2.85 or 4.53 MHz on CW mode.

The Heater antenna system consists of a circular array of 8 crossed dipoles, copper wire ground-planes and resonant triaxial baluns.

The LIDAR facility consists of a 2.7 meter LMT (Liquid Mirror Telescope) with a 4.5 meter focal length as well as 6 state-of-the-art lasers. 

Hipas Observatory Mission Statement:

 History:

The University of California at Los Angeles (UCLA), Plasma Physics Laboratory (PPL), has, over the last twenty years, established an ionospheric research observatory near Fairbanks, Alaska (at 64o 52' 19" N latitude and 146o 50' 33" W longitude. 

Known as HIPAS (for HIgh Power Auroral Stimulation), the main feature of the observatory is a one million Watt (1MW), 8 antenna array of 70 MW effective radiated power (ERP), broadcasting essentially vertically at either 2.85 MHz (second harmonic of the electron gyro frequency in the earth's field at 150 km altitude) or at 4.53 MHz.1. This Radio Frequency (RF) ionospheric heater has been shown to modify the conductivity of the ionosphere for the purposes of generating Extra Low Frequency (ELF) electromagnetic waves (for underwater and underground communication purposes), Stimulated Electromagnetic Emissions (SEE), plasma density cavities, etc. 

Successes with HIPAS resulted in the construction of a second Ionospheric research facility, 288 km to the south east (called HAARP, for High-frequency Active Auroral Research Project), with the same total radiated power as HIPAS, but slightly higher ERP due to its more closely packed 48 element antenna array. HAARP can be continuously tuned between 3.1 -9 MHz, for the purpose of matching the transmitter's frequency to the ionosphere's plasma frequency (wpe2= 4pnee2/me) at some altitude. Such matching by either HAARP or HIPAS sets up standing electro magnetic (E&M) waves that couple RF power into the ionosphere, heating it, and changing the local conductivity generating ELF, SEE, and plasma glow.

Both sites have radio frequency and optical diagnostics that include Ionosondes, radio frequency receivers, imaging photometers, etc. HIPAS is the only one with a LIDAR.  The HIPAS LIDAR is unique due to the size of its optical collector, a 2.7 m diameter Liquid Mirror Telescope (LMT). 

SOURCE: HIPAS Home Page
Link invalid... Internet Archive Page

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+64° 52' 19.00", -146° 50' 33.00"
HIPAS Observatory

The HIPAS (HIgh Power Auroral Stimulation) Observatory is an ionospheric heater, which can radiate 70 MW ERP at either 2.85 MHz or 4.53 MHz. located 30 miles Northeast of Fairbanks, Alaska, in the small community of Two Rivers. It is located at: 64° 52’ 19" N latitude and 146° 50’ 33" W longitude and operates year-round. The HIPAS Observatory is operated by the UCLA plasma physics laboratory.

The HIPAS facility is engaged in the study of the ionosphere through the use of high power radio transmission as well as a LIDAR (LIght Detection And Ranging ) instrument. The facility is home to several projects with some interesting equipment, including:

  • A plasma torch, used for experiments in hazardous waste disposal
  • A 2.8 meter liquid mirror telescope, which uses a spinning bowl of mercury to form the mirror, used for laser experiments
  • An array of antennae which are used for heating the ionosphere, and which can create artificial Aurora.
Some of the research conducted at HIPAS is similar to the controversial HAARP project, and so the staff of the facility sometimes have to answer the same questions from the public.

SOURCE: Wikipedia HIPAS Observatory

Related Links:

Papers:

HIPAS Observatory
UCLA Physics Plasma Lab

The nearly vertical magnetic field lines connect the location to both the magnetosphere and the open field lines

HIPAS Observatory is on a 120 acre site located about 25 miles east of Fairbanks on the Chena-Hot Springs road. there are 6 buildings (~10,000 sq ft), and remotely operated diagnostic at off-site locations.One of the buildings is a "bunkhouse," available to provide housing for visiting experimenters. The site operates year-round. Professor Alfred Y. Wong is the director and Dr. Ralph Wuerker is the associate director. There are four permanent staff members. Mr. William Huhn is the site manager. The site is owned by the University of Alaska, Fairbanks, which cooperates with UCLA.

HIPAS is one of the best locations for the observation of the Auroral Borealis

HIPAS has several diverse experimental facilities: a 1-megawatt rf transmitter to produce ELF/VLF (Extremely Low and Very Low Frequency) electromagnetic (EM) generation by the absorption of radio Frequency (rf) power in the artic ionospher including ion cyclotron excitation; a 100 kW rf plasma torch used in research on the destruction of hazardous waste; a 2.7 m liquid mirror telescope used with one of several lasers for ionospheric stimulation and measurement; an Incoherent Scatter Radar (a new project using 88 ft. diameter antenna at NOAA Gilmore Creek site 34 km SW of HIPAS as the receiving antenna with the transmitter at HIPAS). We are in the process of adding a very high power (terawatt) laser (recently obtained from LLNL) to perform laser breakdown experiments in the ionosphere. Two Diesel electric generators (1500 HP 4160 V, 3-phase, _1.2 MVA each) are used to power the experiments. there are a number of computers (PC's ) on site, and a high-speed data line to UAF is available.

Over the last 20 years HIPAS Observatory has built up a spectrum of communication frequencies from very low to very high ELF (Extremely Low Frequncies) to laser frequencies.

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SOURCE: UCLA Physics Plasma Lab

.HIPAS Photo Gallery
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Crossed Dipole Array
Credit: HIPAS Contact:  Webmaster@hipas.alaska.edu
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Crossed Dipole Array
Credit: HIPAS Contact:  Webmaster@hipas.alaska.edu
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Generator Building
Credit: HIPAS Contact:  Webmaster@hipas.alaska.edu
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Ionosonde Antenna
Credit: HIPAS Contact:  Webmaster@hipas
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Ionosonde Antenna
Credit: HIPAS Contact:  Webmaster@hipas.alaska.edu
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Ionosonde Antenna
Credit: HIPAS Contact:  Webmaster@hipas.alaska.edu
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Bunk House
Credit: HIPAS Contact:  Webmaster@hipas.alaska.edu
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HIPAS Photo Gallery
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Transmitter Building
Credit: HIPAS Contact:  Webmaster@hipas.alaska.edu
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Transmitter Building
Credit: HIPAS Contact:  Webmaster@hipas.alaska.edu
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Transmitter Building
Credit: HIPAS Contact:  Webmaster@hipas.alaska.edu
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Transmitter Building
Credit: HIPAS Contact:  Webmaster@hipas
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Transmitter Building
Credit: HIPAS Contact:  Webmaster@hipas.alaska.edu
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Pulsed Dipole
Credit: HIPAS Contact:  Webmaster@hipas.alaska.edu
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Pulsed Dipole
Credit: HIPAS Contact:  Webmaster@hipas.alaska.edu
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HIPAS Photo Gallery
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Lidar Building
Credit: HIPAS Contact:  Webmaster@hipas.alaska.edu
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Lidar Building
Credit: HIPAS Contact:  Webmaster@hipas.alaska.edu
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Lidar Building
Credit: HIPAS Contact:  Webmaster@hipas.alaska.edu
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Light Age Laser, Spectron Laser 
Credit: HIPAS Contact:  Webmaster@hipas
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2.7m diameter LMT 
Credit: HIPAS Contact:  Webmaster@hipas.alaska.edu
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Light Age Laser
Credit: HIPAS Contact:  Webmaster@hipas.alaska.edu
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 Spectron Laser
Credit: HIPAS Contact:  Webmaster@hipas.alaska.edu
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Sodium Laser Beam
Credit: HIPAS Contact:  Webmaster@hipas.alaska.edu
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Rayleigh Calibration
Credit: HIPAS Contact:  Webmaster@hipas.alaska.edu
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