Development of an Autonomous Real-time Remote Observatory (ARRO)

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This work will develop an Autonomous Real-time Remote Observatory (ARRO), which will be designed to accommodate an integrated suite of at least a dozen instruments, with the goal of enabling reliable multi-instrument observations from extremely cold polar sites, such as the Antarctic plateau and the interior of Greenland. It will include a power system and heated space sufficient for the experiments, as well as the capability for data acquisition, data storage, and real time data transmission via satellite. As part of the proposed work, two prototypes of this observatory will be built and tested for extended periods of time in cold chambers, on Mt. Washington, and at the South Pole. Significant outstanding science issues in several diverse fields drive the need for a network of reliable autonomous observatories capable of operation in polar regions. In solar-terrestrial physics, the geomagnetic polar cap forms a key window on the interaction between the solar wind and the Earth's magnetosphere. In the field of atmospheric science one vital object of study for this new technology is the Type 1a (nitric acid trihydrate) polar stratospheric cloud, implicated in the annual austral springtime destruction of stratospheric ozone over Antarctica. For terrestrial seismic studies, a central goal is determining the crustal and mantle structure from analysis of seismic signals received following earthquakes, a methodology which requires a network of receiving stations over the area of study. The seismic character of Antarctica is not well-known, and furthermore, the lack of seismic stations at very high latitudes translates into ignorance of the polar regions of the Earth's core, since acoustic ray paths penetrating this region can only be received at extremely high latitudes. While one of the immediate applications of the proposed ARRO development is to replace the current generation of Automatic Geophysical Observatories (AGO's) in the Antarctic interior, the ARRO design is sufficiently agile to incorporate additional instrumentation and enable pursuit of a broad science agenda by a large and growing group of institutions and individual investigators. Finally, ARRO development includes several different layers of research and research training. Students will be directly involved in the development, from the initial design stages to deployment of the units to Mt. Washington and the South Pole. The eventual establishment of a network of observatories over the polar cap will involve a much larger number of students in a broad scientific agenda. ARRO also includes significant connections to industry and government units outside of the academic science community, and their participation will sharpen the capabilities of these companies to serve the nation in applications of technology to challenging environments of cold weather and high altitudes.