First observations from the new Rankin Inlet SuperDARN radar at high northern latitudes

We present initial results from a new SuperDARN HF radar which became operational on May 11, 2006, at Rankin Inlet. This is the first of a new radar pair called PolarDARN, with radars at Rankin Inlet and Inuvik. The PolarDARN radars are designed to regularly monitor the ionospheric convection over the entire northern polar cap region. The data are obtained and processed with the standard SuperDARN data analysis and retrieval procedures. Located at 73.2 magnetic latitude in the poleward portion of the auroral zone, the Rankin Inlet radar is ideally located to monitor the dynamics of the polar cap and the open-closed field line boundary. Our initial results were obtained during summer conditions, when the polar cap was fully illuminated, and while the solar cycle was near its minimum. For these conditions, we find that the echo occurrence exceeds that of similar radars placed at lower auroral latitudes. In the near-half of the radar field of view, the new Rankin Inlet radar detects large amounts of scatter throughout the day. The new radar clearly captures the anti-sunward convection pattern over the polar cap, and it reveals that the polar cap remains very dynamic even during extremely quiet solar wind/IMF conditions. Another feature to emerge is a narrow spectral width region in the night-side polar cap echoes. This offers a vivid contrast with the large spectral widths on the day-side in the cusp region and in the nightside auroral zone. The radar can also detect echoes simultaneously on both sides of the polar cap, and we present an example of simultaneous data from both the Canadian midnight sector and a region near the European afternoon sector.