Observations of ionospheric movements by incoherent scattering

The phenomenon of incoherent scattering of electromagnetic waves by the free electrons in the ionosphere, initially hypothesized by Gordon [1958], has been experimentally validated as a possible technique for studying the characteristics of the ionosphere [Bowles, 1958, 1961; Pineo et al., 1960a, b; Pineo and Hynek, 1962; Millman et al., 1961; Greenhow et al., 1962; Evans, 1962]. In this note the detection of apparent ionospheric movements by the incoherent backscatter technique is described. The experimental observations were conducted in January and February 1961 at the U.S. Air Force Trinidad Test Site, West Indies (10.7° N, 61.6° W), with a high-powered pulsed radar operating at a frequency of 425 Mc/s.