DOPE: cost effective scientific research

摘要

DOPE, the Doppler Pulsation Experiment, is used as a diagnostic tool by physicists of the Radio and Space Plasma Physics (RSPP) group based at the University of Leicester. The group is engaged in many areas of near earth research, including radio propagation, space plasma physics and geophysics. Diagnostic systems used in such research range from earth orbiting satellites to ground-based radars and ionosondes (vertically sounding radar). Such systems are usually expensive; typically costing from hundreds of thousands to millions of pounds. This normally requires joint funding from within the UK scientific community, or partnership with other countries. The DOPE system, however, is an example that science can also be done with limited funding, using innovative system design and construction. The first DOPE system consisted of a transmitter with a twin channel receiver and data logging equipment. Funded with a £9,000 grant from the Royal Society, it was constructed and deployed in Norway in 1995. In 1998 it was considerably upgraded with a grant of £10,000 from the Particle Physics and Astronomy Research Council (PPARC). This article is based on the present upgraded system and its main design features.