Demonstration of solar echoes using the Air Force OTH-B radar

From the late 50s to early 70s, attempts were made by at least two different groups to obtain information on physical conditions in the corona by means of active radar soundings. While echoes from the Sun were unquestionably detected. difficulties in their interpretation led to inconclusive results. A major hindrance to these efforts was the limited understanding of the day-to-day structure of the corona then available (e.g., pioneering work in solar wind studies were just underway. and coronal holes had not yet been discovered). With the end of the Cold War, the very large over-the-horizon (OTH) radars operated by the Air Force have been opened up to basic science research through the end of the fiscal year. In light of advances made in coronal physics and in signal processing technology since these early experiments were undertaken. access to the state-of-the art OTH-B radar offers a rare opportunity to gauge anew the scientific potential for radar sounding of the Sun. In principle, it should be possible to obtain useful data on plasma densities and motions over a range of heights in the corona near 0.5R(solar mass) above the solar surface We report here the preliminary findings from a sequence of observations taken over the course of a solar rotation.