The low latitude long-range ionospheric radar (LARID) of China, built in 2023, has a detection range of 9,600km.
China’s LARID radar detects plasma bubble over Giza. LARID can detect plasma bubbles in Earth’s upper atmosphere upto 9600km away. low latitude long range ionospheric radar, built last year, China has become 1st country in the world able to detect these plasma bubbles on radar pic.twitter.com/ZRITQIvmFa
— Varun Karthikeyan (@Varun55484761) September 7, 2024
The giant radar, which is located in the southernmost point of China, the Hainan Island, helped scientists in the country to detect equatorial plasma bubbles (EPBs) that appear over the Egyptian pyramids and the Midway Islands. EPBs are a major area of study in space weather research because of their impact on communication and navigation systems. China reportedly is the first country to detect this on a radar, thanks to LARID.
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Developed by the Institute of Geology and Geophysics under the Chinese Academy of Sciences, LARID is part of China's larger Meridian Project, which intends to establish a comprehensive ground-based monitoring system for space weather. LARID consists of two high frequency (HF) radars looking toward the east and west of Hainan Island, according to the abstract of a study published on agupubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.
Using LARID radar in #Hainan, #China, #Chinese #scientists have detected plasma bubbles appearing over both #Egyptian pyramids & Midway Islands.
— GreatWall_Whisperer (@GW_Whisperer) September 7, 2024
Equatorial #plasma bubbles are anomalous #weather phenomena in low-latitude regions which can effect #GPS positioning. pic.twitter.com/o46MmOBYLB
Nonetheless, according to a South China Morning Post article, as of now, this radar cannot be used for detecting military targets such as warships or aircraft owing to its low resolution. However, the success of LARID underscores the ability of China to expand the technology for military purposes.
It is to be noted that the radar's detection range has reportedly expanded from 3,000 km to over 9,000 km.
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Reports also suggest that the Chinese military uses radars that similar technologies as LARID for detecting targets.
