Ionosphere

Know what your tax dollars are funding.

I recently learned about this Department of Defense related research facility in Alaska.

High Frequency Active Auroral Research Program

The project is researching the ionosphere.

Photos

"This ionized medium can distort, reflect and absorb radio signals, and thus can affect numerous civilian and military communications, navigation, surveillance and remote sensing systems in many varied ways. For example, the performance of a satellite-to-ground communication link is affected by the ionosphere through which the signals pass. AM broadcast programs, which in the daytime can be heard only within a few tens of miles from the station, at night sometimes can be heard hundreds of miles away, due to the change from poor daytime to good nighttime reflection from the ionosphere."

They want to know how to master the passing of signals through the ionosphere so as to expand their communication and surveillance capabilities and powers.