The
Canadian High Arctic Ionospheric Network (CHAIN) is an array of ground-based radio instruments deployed in the
Canadian Arctic and operated by the
University of New Brunswick. The CHAIN instruments include high data-rate
GPS receivers and digital ionosondes. After passing through the Earth's
ionosphere,
microwave GPS signals carry information about the
total electron content (TEC). This information is commonly used to improve the precision of
GPS and to study ionospheric morphology. Ionosondes transmit pulses of radio signals in the
Medium Frequency (MF) and
High Frequency (HF) ranges, whose echos are analyzed to measure height and density of the ionosphere. Advanced digital ionosondes used in the CHAIN network are also able to measure the bulk motion of ionospheric plasma.