L'osservatorio ionosferico in Artide e Antartide: osservazioni sperimentali e risultati scientifici

Abstract

The Italian Upper Atmosphere Observatory at polar latitude was firstly established during the Antarctic campaign 1990-1991 to support the telecommunication logistic activity of the National Program for Antarctic Research (PNRA). The Istituto Nazionale di Geofisica e Vulcanologia (INGV), formerly Istituto Nazionale di Geofisica (ING), was involved in this action as the long time experience in HF radar, ionospheric sounding and ionospheric prediction services for radio communication purposes, managing two of the most important and historical ionospheric observatories all over the world: Rome (41.8N, 12.5E) and Gibilmanna (37.9 N, 14.0 E). Since that time, starting from 1993 up to now, several research projects have been carried on focusing on the multi instruments upper atmosphere observations in Arctic and Antarctica with the aim to study the polar ionosphere in different time and space domains, contributing both to the Global Change and to the emerging Space Weather needs. Here we briefly report on the experimental activities as well on the main scientific results obtained highlighting the latest findings in the field of bipolar GNSS (Global Navigation Satellite Systems) ionospheric scintillation measurements and investigation.