Abstract

This paper proposes the building of a new type of versatile, multi-purpose, world-class radio facility space, environmental, and communications research facility Located in northern Kenya, on the geomagnetic equator, the Kenya International Radio Observatory, KIRO, will be a world-class, multi-purpose radio facility designed foremost for the study of the terrestrial magnetosphere, ionosphere and neutral atmosphere using traditional as well as newly developed diagnostic techniques. With its flexible modular design, KIRO will be ideally suited for studies of the fundamental physical and chemical processes in the upper atmosphere, the ionosphere and the magnetosphere which have a decisive influence on life on Earth. With KIRO it will also b e possible to make unprecedented studies of the Sun, Moon, the planets, the interplanetary plasma and galactic and extragalactic radio sources. Finally, KIRO will be an excellent facility for application of modern electronics and communications technologies.

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