GEM: Continued Operation of the Magnetometer Array for Cusp and Cleft Studies, West (MACCS-West)

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It is proposed to continue to operate and analyze data from the recently installed MACCS array of fluxgate magnetometers located at cusp/cleft latitudes (75o to 80o in arctic Canada in a joint effort with Augsburg College. During the summers of 1992 and 1993 8 magnetometers were deployed at small communities in the eastern arctic. These eight observatories span nearly 5 hours in magnetic local time in the latitude region most valuable for ground-based observations of the magnetospheric boundary layer, and serve to connect existing magnetometer sites in Alaska and western Canada to the west and sites on Greenland and Baffin Island to the east. In addition, it is proposed here to add data loggers at three standard Canadian observatories (Resolute, Cambridge Bay and Baker Lake). This would allow to obtain 1 s data from these sites and routinely combine this data with the MACCS data base so effectively extending the MACCS array another hour to the west. The purpose of the MACCS array is to study ionospheric currents, plasma flows, and waves associated with the magnetospheric cusp and neighboring regions. In association with the radar systems beginning to operate in this same area, these magnetometers will provide high resolution, two-dimensional data on the electrodynamics of cusp convection. The MACCS data also contain numerous high latitude substorm signatures. As the GEM program begins its substorm campaign, it is proposed to use MACCS data to study the small, contracted oval substorms associated with northward IMF, and the recovery phase of regular substorms during which the activity moves poleward over the MACCS array.