Expressions of Intent for IPY 2007-2008 Activities

Expression of Interest Details

PROPOSAL INFORMATION

Conjugate observations and modeling of arcs and patches  (COMAP)

Outline
The intent is to improve the geographical coverage of various instruments in the Arctic and Antarctic regions in order to better investigate the origin, evolution, and mapping topology of polar ionospheric plasma structures. The polar ionosphere is among the most hostile and unpredictable region of the Earth upper atmosphere. The weather and climate in the northern polar ionosphere have been studied by the scientists of this group using a chain of coherent radars (SuperDARN), two incoherent radars (Sondrestrom, and Svalbard), and several ground stations. Nevertheless, there are two desirable locations, Daneborg in Greenland and Heiss Island in Franz Josef Land, that are crucial for large and small-scale ionospheric plasma structure study, but lack instruments at this time. It is planned to install imagers, GPS, and scintillation receivers at these two locations to complete the network of sites that are presently covering the boundary of the auroral oval and the polar cap in the northern hemisphere. In Antarctica, we intend to deploy imagers and receivers at the magnetically conjugate locations of three key observatories in the northern polar cap: Sondrestrom, Svalbard, and Qaanaaq. Two specific topics of investigation will be pursued. (1) The polar patches that have long been considered to be the bed frame of intense km-scale structures that perturb satellite signals and impair navigation systems. The proposed measurements at conjugate locations and the statistics of these measurements will help to elucidate their formation mechanism. Knowing how the patches form will help to formulate a plan to forecast their initiation and follow the development of the unwanted structures. (2) Transpolar, Sun-aligned polar auroras have puzzled scientists for decades. Models of transpolar arcs have suggested the general characteristics of their origin, evolution, and mapping characteristics, along with the relationship between the aurora and convection patterns. The expanded ground-based observatories, complemented with the images taken from existing satellites and those launched before 2007 will provide a more complete perspective and a conjugate picture of these auroras in both hemispheres. It is also the intention to use a global ionosphere model together with a high-latitude M-I electrodynamics model to test the conceptual models derived from the experimental observations. The modeling efforts, in which the tomography data of the ionosphere and the AMIE patterns will be used as references, will provide closure to the theories emanating from the previous studies and will certainly imply new observation schemes in the future.

What significant advance(s) in relation to the IPY themes and targets can be anticipated from this project?
This project will yield systematic information on the origin and evolution of auroral arcs and plasma patches as well as their conjugate features and significantly improve our quantitative understanding of the variability of the polar ionosphere (theme 2). Also, the project will strategically expand observation networks and greatly improve the infrastructure of multiple and conjugate observational capability for the polar ionosphere (theme 5), thus benefiting natural science research during the IPY period and many years beyond.

What international collaboration is involved in this project?
Dr. Troshichev has a profound interest in the science of transpolar and polar cap arcs. He will provide logistic support for the installation and operation of instruments at the Russian stations of Heiss Island and Vostok.

FIELD ACTIVITY DETAILS

Geographical location(s) for the proposed field activities:
Vize Island in the Kara sea Heiss Island, in Franz Josef Land Vostok station, Antarctica Daneborg in Greenland

Approximate timeframe(s) for proposed field activities:
Arctic: 03/2007 - 03/2009            
Antarctic: 03/2007 - 03/2009            

Significant facilities will be required for this project:
This project will require installation of imagers, GPS receivers, and scintillation receivers. These instruments will need to be transported, deployed and man-operated. All sites consist of small existing field stations. Additional instruments could be likely operated at these sites.

Will the project leave a legacy of infrastructure?
The project will leave state-of-the-art imagers and receivers at three locations (Vostok, Vize Island and Daneborg). It is the intention to continue operating all these instruments for several years after.

How is it envisaged that the required logistic support will be secured?
Another national polar operator

Boston College maintains a contract with the Arctic and Antarctic Institute to carry out measurements at the Vize Island site in the Kara sea. Russian engineers will travel to the Heiss Island and Vostok stations to deploy and operate the instruments during the length of the IPY.

Has the project been "endorsed" at a national or international level?
This is a new initiative that is presented to the IPY community. It is also planned to present this project to US funding agencies for financial support.

PROJECT MANAGEMENT AND STRUCTURE

Is the project a short-term expansion (over the IPY 2007-2008 timeframe) of an existing plan, programme or initiative or is it a new autonomous proposal?
Exp
Several of the investigators of this team are presently involved in measurements in the Arctic and Antarctic. The new aspect of the program is to use new imaging capabilities and GPS and scintillation receivers at nearly conjugate places.

How will the project be organised and managed?
Observations at Qaanaaq and Svalbard will continue to be managed by AFRL as has been during the last 10 years. BC will continue to mange the station at Vize Island. New imagers and receivers will be obtained, developed and tested by BC. Scientists and engineers of AARI will install and operate the instruments in the remote sites.

What are the initial plans of the project for addressing the education, outreach and communication issues outlined in the Framework document?
A post-doc student will be actively involved in the testing and installation phases of the project and will participate in the science derived from the new observations. BC currently conducts a strong program of community outreach to entice graduate and undergraduate students to pursue physics studies.

What are the initial plans of the project to address data management issues (as outlined in the Framework document)?
Several members of the team currently do data dissemination through Web pages on the Internet. This is expected to continue during the IPY years. A new Web page, dedicated to the IPY activities conducted by each member of team, will start soon.

How is it proposed to fund the project?
The primary source of funding is expected to be OPP-NSF. Other US funding agencies may support IPY activities in the near future.

Is there additional information you wish to provide?
It is expected that new conjugate observations will foster a program to forecast the onset, intensity and duration of the plasma structures associated with patches that produce communication outages. Learning about the physics of transpolar, polar cap, and cusp auroras will lead us to relate the observations conducted with imagers and radars on the ground to the driving processes that occur far away in the magnetotail and magnetosphere.

PROPOSER DETAILS

Dr Cesar Valladares
Institute for Scientific Research
140 Commonwealth Avenue
Chestnut Hill, MA
02467
USA

Tel: 781-863-5928
Mobile:
Fax: 781-863-5949
Email:

Other project members and their affiliation

Other Information