Ionospheric correction of space radar data

Abstract

Radar is a critical tool for maintaining knowledge of the many ob-jects in low Earth orbit and thus for maintaining confidence that societies around the world are secure against a variety of space-based threats. It is therefore important to raise awareness that LEO objects are embedded in the envelope of relatively dense plasma that co-rotates with the Earth (ionosphere-plasmasphere system) and thus accurate tracking must cor-rect for the group delay and refraction caused by that system. This paper seeks to promote that awareness by reviewing those effects and high-lighting key issues: the need to customise correction to the altitude of the tracked object and prevailing space weather conditions, that ionospheric correction may be particularly important as an object approaches re-entry. The paper outlines research approaches that should lead to better techniques for ionospheric correction and shows how these might be pur-sued in the context of the EURIPOS initiative.