High Frequency Active Auroral Research Program

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HAARP, looking towards Mount Sanford , Alaska
HAARP receiving systems for ionospheric observation
HAARP antenna field

The HAARP ( English H igh Frequency A ctive A uroral R eSearch P rogram ) is an American Civil (originally military) research program in which radio waves for examination of the upper atmosphere (especially ionosphere ) were used.

After final attempts in June 2014, the originally planned shutdown was postponed and the plant was handed over to the University of Alaska in Fairbanks in August 2015 . The university rents them to researchers.

Another aim was to research radio wave propagation, communication and navigation . The remote facility northeast of Gakona in Alaska is operated by the University of Alaska , the US Air Force and the US Navy . A total of 14 universities were involved in the planning of the facility. There were also radar astronomical experiments, such as the Lunar Echo experiment carried out with HAARP.

HAARP has a transmission power of 3.6  MW , which can be delivered permanently ( CW ). The calculated effective radiation power , a calculation variable based on the axis of the main radiation direction of the antennas, was up to 3.16 GW in 2006  . This corresponds to a power level of 95  dBW .

Physical background

The ionosphere contains many unbound, free electrons that can move helically around the earth's magnetic field lines. If the frequency and direction of rotation of a parallel, circularly polarized electromagnetic wave coincide with this helical movement of the electrons, i.e. if cyclotron resonance is present, energy is withdrawn from the wave in favor of the kinetic energy of the electrons. Ultimately, this faster electron movement leads to a warming of the ionosphere.

This cyclotron resonance occurs in the northern hemisphere for left-circular polarized electromagnetic waves in the lower shortwave range between 1 MHz and 9 MHz.

History and technology

HAARP emerged from (also patented) research results by Bernard Eastlund and Nicholas Christofilos in the 1980s. The concrete decision to realize the project is attributed to the US Senator Ted Stevens , who wanted to use it to direct military research funds to his constituency of Alaska . The total cost of building HAARP was $ 300 million.

HAARP has a high-performance phased array - shortwave transmitter with a transmission power ( CW ) of 3600 kW. In 1993 it started with 18 interconnected elements, in 1998 the number was increased to 48. In 2010, 180 transmitters were operational. The effective radiated power (ERP) was 84 dBW (250 MW) in 1996 and approx. 96 dBW (4000 MW) in 2006. The individual transmitters of the type Continental Electronics D616G , each with a maximum transmission power of 10 kW, were specially developed for this project. The usable frequency range is 2.8 to 10  MHz (short wave); two frequencies used are 3.39 MHz and 6.99 MHz. An ion probe and a riometer are used to observe the ionosphere .

It was also hoped that the knowledge gained (especially the amplification effect) for influencing the electric jet in the earth's magnetosphere would provide a means of breaking down an accumulation of charged particles above the facility that formed after the explosion of a nuclear device in near-Earth space and could prevent the function of satellites.

Similar research facilities

Similar research facilities are located in several other countries:

A smaller facility was located in Lindau (Lower Saxony) at the Max Planck Institute for Solar System Research (formerly Aeronomy ).

conspiracy theories

HAARP is referred to as a "secret project" in conspiracy theories and is associated with natural disasters such as earthquakes , floods and volcanic eruptions that occur worldwide . The BBC also circulated such reports in the 1990s. No causal relationship could be proven.

On February 5, 1998, the Subcommittee on Security and Disarmament of the European Parliament held a hearing that dealt with HAARP, among other things, and the result was incorporated into a motion for a resolution to Parliament, regretting the US information policy on HAARP and the need for more Independent research on the effects of HAARP is expressed. Parliament passed the decision on January 28, 1999.

The HAARP website informed that the operation, research and research results are not secret: “The HAARP program is completely unclassified. There are no classified documents pertaining to HAARP. “Civilian employees of the facility come from several universities or private companies, such as UCLA , MIT , University of Alaska , Stanford University , University of Massachusetts , Clemson University , Penn State University , Dartmouth College , University of Tulsa , University of Maryland and Cornell University . Pictures of the system are not subject to confidentiality and there are two webcams of the HAARP system and a possibility to view and save the current measurement results online. There are also regular “open days” and students can work for internships in the HAARP station.

Trivia

  • In 2011, German director Thorsten Klein made a horror film called Lost Place , which is set in a fictional HAARP-like facility in the Palatinate Forest . The film was released in German cinemas on September 19, 2013.
  • The band Muse released a live DVD in 2008 called HAARP.

literature

Web links

Commons : HAARP  - collection of images

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ cf. for example MB Cohen, US Inan, MA Golkowski: Geometric modulation: A more effective method of steerable ELF / VLF wave generation with continuous HF heating of the lower ionosphere. In: Geophysical Research Letters, 2008 (35), L12101, doi: 10.1029 / 2008GL034061
  2. ↑ HAARP again open for business
  3. ^ Robert McCoy: Future Operations of HAARP with the UAF's Geophysical Institute . Retrieved September 10, 2015.
  4. ^ Paul Rodriguez: Amateurs as an outreach of HAARP's lunar-echo study. Nature 454, 27, July 3, 2008, doi: 10.1038 / 454027a abstract
  5. ^ Paul Rodriguez, et al .: High Frequency Radar Astronomy With HAARP , dtic.mil, accessed November 4, 2011
  6. ^ Lowest Frequency Radar Echo From The Moon Ever Detected sciencedaily.com, accessed November 4, 2011
  7. ↑ a b c The High Frequency Active Auroral Research Program; "Table 1 - HF Phased Array Antenna Performance Parameters." ( Memento from May 22, 2010 in the Internet Archive ) US Naval Research Lab. (Accessed January 31, 2018)
  8. ^ Bernard Eastlund: Method and apparatus for altering a region in the earth's atmosphere, ionosphere, and / or magnetospherere. August 11, 1987, accessed on February 20, 2020 (click on "Load complete document" after calling up).
  9. ↑ On the early history of Haarp on a website on Eastlund ( Memento from August 6, 2011 in the Internet Archive )
  10. ^ Anchorage Daily News: Air Force prepares to dismantle HAARP ahead of summer shutdown ( Memento June 25, 2014 in the Internet Archive ), May 14, 2014
  11. ↑ Haarp opens for business , University of Alaska, September 3, 2015
  12. ↑ Military Scientists Study Ionoshpere News, American Forces Press Service, Feb. 26, 2010 ".. 180 transmitters distributed over 35 to 40 acres of land, with a frequency range of 2.65 to 10 megahertz." (Accessed May 8, 2010)
  13. ↑ Data sheet Continental Electronics D616G ( Memento from July 10, 2007 in the Internet Archive ) (PDF; 125 kB)
  14. ^ HAARP - The High Frequency Active Auroral Research Program: The HAARP 30 MHz Riometer
  15. ^ Daniel G. Dupont: Nuclear explosions in space . In: Spectrum of Science . December 2006, ISSN  0170-2971 , p. 52-59 .
  16. ↑ Kate Tuckett (Ed.): Conspiracy Theories. New York 2004. p. 64.
  17. ↑ http://www.europarl.europa.eu/sides/getDoc.do?pubRef=-//EP//TEXT+REPORT+A4-1999-0005+0+DOC+XML+V0//DE
  18. ↑ http://www.europarl.europa.eu/pv2/pv2?PRG=DOCPV&APP=PV2&DATE=280199&DATEF=990128&TPV=DEF&TYPEF=A4&POS=1&SDOCTA=8&TXTLST=1&Type_Doc=F7vA4&P%P%PEVReC =RESOL& P % 7CFILE @ BIBLIO99% 7CNUMERO @ 5% 7CYEAR @ 99% 7CPLAGE @ 1 & LANGUE = EN
  19. ↑ Christopher Hodapp, Alice von Kannon: Conspiracy Theories & Secret Societies For Dummies . Hoboken 2008. p. 53

Coordinates: 62 ° 23 ′ 30 ″  N , 145 ° 9 ′ 0 ″  W.