Expressions of Intent for International Polar Year 2007-2008 Activities

Expression of Interest Details

PROPOSAL INFORMATION

Antarctic Space Weather: Using routine ground-based and relevant, freely available, space-based data sets daily space weather reports will be prepared  (IASWR – International Antarctic Space Weather Reports)

Outline
The proposed activity seeks to produce and coordinate space weather reports for the Antarctic and sub-Antarctic region. These reports would draw on experience in space weather reporting within the lead organisation and extend the use of joint ground-based data sets collected by the (currently) two participating organisations (INGV and IPS). During routine operations, the joint organisations have direct access to ionosondes (8), riometers (5) and magnetometers (5) in the target region, together with a wide range of data sets flowing into the Australian Space Forecast Centre (ASFC). For the IPY period, all these data sets, together with analyses would be archived in the WDC for Solar Terrestrial Science (WDC for STS is situated at IPS) as well as being made available in real-time on server. One aspect of the real-time analysis would be the generation of maps of the high latitude ionosphere based on the incoming ionosonde observations made in real time. It is anticipated that over the duration of the IPY a complete archive of real-time data sets used in the generation of space weather reports for Antarctica would be created. A parallel data set of final data would also be developed so that defects in the reporting process could be investigated and remedial processes developed. The project has minor historical interest for the lead organisation as they were commissioned to produce maps of the Antarctic ionosphere during the IGY period.

What significant advance(s) in relation to the IPY themes and targets can be anticipated from this project?
The principal outcome of this proposal will be increased awareness of the problems inherent in forecasting the high-latitude ionosphere in a region of sparse observations, such as encountered in the Antarctic (theme 2). The data base created during the period will also form a baseline collection against which later forecasting efforts may be compared. To date, no similar data set is readily available, although the task of making space weather forecasts is a well developed, if not a mature enterprise.

What international collaboration is involved in this project?
The lead partners in this research proposal represent Australia (IPS) and Italy (INGV). Data products will be archived in the WDC system as well as elsewhere. q2_1_Location : The necessary ground equipment is already in place in the Antarctic sites of Casey, Mario Zucchelli Station, Mawson, Scott Base and in the sub-auroral region there is Macquarie Island, Christchurch and Hobart.

FIELD ACTIVITY DETAILS

Geographical location(s) for the proposed field activities:
The necessary ground equipment is already in place in the Antarctic sites of Casey, Mario Zucchelli Station, Mawson, Scott Base and in the sub-auroral region there is Macquarie Island, Christchurch and Hobart.

Approximate timeframe(s) for proposed field activities:
Arctic: n/a
Antarctic: All ground equipment is on-site and will be operational for the duration of IPY.            

Significant facilities will be required for this project:
The ground-based data sets will be shared with other IPY projects. The main support required for the project will be the development of data management plans for both a designated real-time server for all observations as well as WDC support for the on-going data archive.

Will the project leave a legacy of infrastructure?
The project will help preserve a legacy infrastructure while building stronger ties between the participating groups. In can be anticipated that once the facility has been developed it will be easily sustained in future years. Meantime, the archive proposed for developing the reports will be maintained as an entity under the auspices of the WDC data archiving system.

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

Has the project been "endorsed" at a national or international level?
The current ground-based equipment is in place and supported Nationally. The planned project is an extension of current activity that has national endorsement.

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?
New

IASWR is a new project capitalising on current resources, seeking a wider return than currently offered.

How will the project be organised and managed?
The management of the project will take place from IPS in close cooperation with the partner organisation.

What are the initial plans of the project for addressing the education, outreach and communication issues outlined in the Framework document?
Data will be made available, in real time, on a web-based interface that is available to the public.

What are the initial plans of the project to address data management issues (as outlined in the Framework document?
The initial plan for data management is to collect high latitude data and make them available to the international community via web-based facilities, such as a server. The data archive will be managed under the WDC system.

How is it proposed to fund the project?
The current data resources are all in place and the additional resources required to develop the facility will be drawn from the respective National programs.

Is there additional information you wish to provide?
The ionosonde and riometer data sets will be available to other IPY project proposals. This presents no conflicts for the present proposal and reinforces these projects by developing relationships between the data sets on a daily basis.

PROPOSER DETAILS

Dr Philip Wilkinson
P O Box 1386
Haymarket
NSW 1240
Australia

Tel: +61 2 9213 8003
Mobile: no
Fax: +61 2 9213 8060
Email:

Other project members and their affiliation