by Marvin Ramírez
Marvin Ramírez
FROM THE EDITOR: Given the latest tsunamis, earthquakes and hurricanes that have stricken several nations in the world, leaving many deaths and destruction, there are beliefs – based on scientific analysis – that those events might have been manmade.
El Reportero found the following article, which due to its length, it will be published in six parts.
What is HAARP?
(A series of six parts)
HAARP FACT SHEET “HAARP”, an acronym for “High Frequency Active Auroral Research Program”, is a project having the goal of studying fundamental physical principles which govern the region of the earth’s atmosphere known as the ionosphere. It is through this region that earth-based communications and radar transmissions must travel to reach satellites or to probe solar and planetary bodies; and conversely, for radio signals from outside the immediate environment of the earth to reach its surface. It also is from these ionized layers that radio waves reflect to achieve over-the-horizon communication and radar systems.
The proposed research will be undertaken using high power radio transmitters to probe the overhead ionosphere, combined with a complement of modern scientific diagnostic instruments to investigate the results of the interactions.
HAARP would be constructed at auroral latitudes in Alaska. A unique feature of the research facility would be a high power high- frequency radio transmitter with the capability of rapidly steering a narrow beam of energy toward a designated region of the sky. Similar, though less capable, research facilities exist today at many locations throughout the world and are operated routinely for the purpose of scientific investigation of the ionosphere. In the US such systems are located at Arecibo, Puerto Rico and Fairbanks, Alaska. Other installations are at Tromso, Norway; Moscow, Nizhny Novgorod and Apatity, Russia; Kharkov, Ukraine and Dushanbe, Tadzhikistan. None of these existing systems, however, have the combination of frequency capability and beam steering agility required to perform the experiments planned for HAARP. A congressionally initiated effort, HAARP is being managed cooperatively by the Air Force and Navy.
The Air Force is responsible for oversight of the environmental process, site acquisition, and implementation of scientific instruments associated with the facility. The Navy is responsible for procurement of the primary contract to design and construct the high power, high-frequency radio transmitter. Users of the HAARP research facility would include civilian entities such as universities and the National Science Foundation (NSF) as well as military agencies such as the Air Force, Navy, and Advanced Research Programs Agency (ARPA).
Value of Ionospheric Research
The layer of earth’s atmosphere called the ionosphere begins approximately 35 miles above the surface and extends out beyond 500 miles. In contrast to the atmosphere close to the earth which is composed of neutral atoms and molecules, the ionosphere contains both positively and negatively charged particles known as ions and electrons. These ions and electrons are created naturally as a result of the action of the sun’s radiation.
This ionized gas of the ionosphere behaves much differently from the neutral atmosphere closer to the earth. A major difference is that radio signals passing through the ionosphere may be distorted, totally reflected or absorbed. For example, communication links from the ground to earth-orbiting satellites can experience fading due to ionospheric distortion; an AM radio signal sometimes can reflect, or “skip , from the ionosphere and be heard at locations hundreds of miles distant from the broadcasting radio station; the characteristic fading on the high-frequency (HF) or “shortwave” band is due to ionospheric interference. Because of its strong interaction with radiowaves, the ionosphere can interfere with communications and radar surveillance systems, which depend on sending radiowaves from one location to another.
Investigations to be conducted at the HAARP facility are expected to provide significant scientific advancements in understanding the ionosphere. The research facility would be used to understand, stimulate and control ionospheric processes that might alter the performance of communication and surveillance systems. This research would enhance present civilian capabilities because it would facilitate the development of techniques to mitigate or control ionospheric processes. Ionospheric disturbances at high latitudes also can act to induce large currents in electric power grids: these are thought to cause power outages. Understanding of these and other phenomena is important to maintain reliable communication and power services. Other civilian applications from the program’s research could lead to improved local and world-wide communication such as satellite communication.
Furthermore, and possibly more significant, is the potential for new technology that could be developed from a better understanding of ionospheric processes. IT WILL CONTINUE IN THE NEXT WEEK’S EDITION.
