Collaborative Research: Imaging Auroral Radio Emissions: Multi-technique Investigations Employing Optical, Radar, and Satellite Instruments

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The auroras are characterized not only be a variety of active optical emissions, but by a wide variety of radio emissions as well. The relationship between different optical features and different radio features, however, is poorly understood. Wave phenomena in the auroral regions play an important role in the energy flow between the magnetosphere and the ionosphere. In order to understand the relationships between optical and radio phenomena in the auroral region it is necessary to monitor the region with a variety of instruments. This project will utilize data from optical imaging instruments, radar backscatter from auroral features, and plasma wave, electric field, magnetic field and particle measurements from satellites crossing the auroral regions. Satellites which will be used in the study include the defense department DMSP satellites, NASA's FAST, WIND, POLAR, SAMPEX, and IMAGE satellites, and the European CLUSTER mission. A ground-based radio imaging system will be used to locate the regions producing auroral Medium Frequency (MF) radio emissions. The investigation will also contribute to studies of the timing and location of magnetic substorm onsets. The radio imaging instruments will be deployed at existing facilities in Alaska and Greenland. The data will be made available to all researchers, including those using the Alaska and Greenland facilities. The research project will also be integrated with educational activities being carried out by the three collaborating institutions (Dartmouth College, Siena College, and the Univ. of Alaska). In particular the educational effort at Dartmouth will include a focus toward the Dartmouth Women-in Science-Program (WISP). Students will be involved with both the engineering aspects of the new instrumentation as well as the analysis of the resulting scientific data.