Sura Ionospheric Heating Facility

The Sura research facility ( Ionospheric Heating Facility) is a Russian research facility for ionospheric research in the vicinity of the settlement Wasilsursk which lies about 100 km east of Nizhny Novgorod.

The plant is operated by radio physics research institute NIRFI in Nizhny Novgorod. The name of the plant is derived from the river Sura.

A local powerful shortwave system is designed to research the ionosphere and corresponds to the purpose of the U.S. HAARP facility in Alaska, another American plant in Arecibo or a European plant of the EISCAT research community in the research station Ramfjordheide at Tromsø, Norway.

More Russian facilities are available in Dushanbe (1 GW power), Monchegorsk (10 MW ) and Gorky (20 MW).

Data transmission equipment

Uses three interconnected radio transmitters that provide a common antenna field. The output power of each transmitter in each case is 250 per kW. As antennas 12 × 12 crossed dipole antennas are used, which connected in the middle of the usable frequency range ( 4.5 to 9.3 MHz) have a maximum zenith gain of 260 (~ 24 dB). The maximum ERP is 190 MW ( ~ 83 dBW ). In order for this system is comparable with both the current stage of development of the American HAARP project and with the EISCAT facility.