Chilean Observation Network De MeteOr Radars

CONDOR - A multi-static meteor radar system in northern Chile

A new meteor radar system, including a main station at ALO and two remote stations at Southern Cross Observatory (SCO) and Las Campanas Observatory (LCO), are being installed beginning June 2019. This project is supported by the National Sciencd Foundation (NSF) through a grant in the Major Research Instrumentation (MRI) program. The radar system is an Enhanced Meteor Detection Radar (EMDR) made by ATRAD. The multi-static configuration enables detection of significantly more meteor echoes from both backward and forward scattering signals, and extends the north-coverage of radar measurements compared with a traditional mono-static meteor radar. Sample plots of measured horizontal wind are available here.

The installation of the radar system was completed in Feb 2020, when the receive system at LCO was completed and became operational.

ALOMRsys — Illustration of multi-static meteor radar detection at ALO, SCO and LCO.

Main Station at ALO

The main station was installed in June 2019 and became operational on 6/25/2019.

ALOMR — EMDR transmitting and receiving antennas and instrument shelter at ALO.

Remote Station at SCO

A remote receive system was installed at Southern Cross Observatory (SCO) near Cambarbala, Chile and became operational on 7/15/2019.

SCOMR — EMDR receiving antennas and instrument shelter at SCO.

Remote Station at LCO

A second remote receive system was installed at Las Campanas Observatory (LCO) in February 2020 and became operational on 2/20/2020.