The Wuhan Ionospheric Sounding Systems

The ionospheric laboratory of Wuhan University, Wuhan, China, has developed a new ionospheric sounding system for about seven years. The first system is used for ionospheric oblique backscattering detection and is called the Wuhan ionospheric oblique backscattering sounding system (WIOBSS). The WIOBSS is a portable monostatic backscatter ionosonde for ionospheric research and high-frequency (HF) channel management, adopting alternate transmitting and receiving patterns to transmit long coded pulse trains for high pulse-compression gain. However, it is difficult to recognize the echo path and mode only with the backscatter ionogram. Therefore, a separate remote digital receiver has been developed for auxiliary detection. The receiver is a compact radio system used to receive the transmitting signal of the WIOBSS, and it includes a Global Positioning System receiver for clock and frequency standard synchronization. Combined with the WIOBSS, the receiver has been used for ionospheric bistatic backscatter sounding and oblique incident sounding. The WIOBSS and several remote digital receivers can compose a detection network for ionospheric research and HF channel management.