The Tasman international geospace environment radar (TIGER) - current development and future plans

The Tasman international geospace environment radar is a dual HF radar system with overlapping footprints designed to map ionospheric motions by detecting ionospheric scatter. The first radar was set up on Bruny Island, Tasmania at the end of 1999 and development of the second radar to be placed near Invercargill, NZ, has begun. TIGER is part of the super dual auroral radar network (SuperDARN) which currently consists of 15 radars deployed in the northern and southern hemispheres. TIGER is located more equatorward than other SuperDARN radars, enabling it to observe new phenomena, such as auroral westward flow channels (AWFCs). This paper describes TIGER's capabilities and presents examples of observations, including an AWFC. Plans to develop digital transmitters and receivers are discussed as is a proposal to extend the network to even lower latitudes by deploying two additional radars.