Solar Maximum Studies at the Millstone Hill Observatory

磨石山天文台的太阳活动极大期研究

• 批准号: 0733510
• 负责人: Philip Erickson
• 金额: $ 994万
• 依托单位: Massachusetts Institute of Technology
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Cooperative Agreement
• 财政年份: 2008
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2008-01-15 至 2012-12-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=0733510&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: Solar; Maximum; Studies; Millstone; Hill

The Massachusetts Institute of Technology will continue a program of upper atmosphere research using the radar and distributed ground-based instruments that comprise the Millstone Hill Observatory (MHO) in Westford, Massachusetts. The Millstone Hill incoherent scatter radar facility consists of two 2.5-MW UHF transmitters, a fully steerable 46-meter antenna, and a zenith directed 68-meter fixed antenna. The Observatory is situated at 55° latitude, such that its extensive field of view for ionospheric observations encompasses the full extent of mid-latitude, sub-auroral, and auroral features and processes. The radar will be operated for about 1000 hours per year in support of international World Day experiments and community-directed research programs. Radar and system maintenance and minor upgrades will be carried out, along with wide-ranging scientific analysis of the data to support scientific usage. User support will receive major emphasis including efficient access to the observed and analyzed parameters, information, scheduling, and database access on the WWW, community-interaction workshops, and education and outreach activities. The research conducted by the scientific staff of MHO will encompass a broad range of topics involving processes and dynamics of the thermosphere, ionosphere and magnetosphere, as well as investigations of plasma waves and magnetic storm effects. Scientific emphasis will include magnetosphere-ionosphere coupling in the vicinity of the plasmasphere boundary layer, space weather effects and processes over the continental US, ionosphere-thermosphere coupling, and upper atmosphere climatology. Radar and ancillary data from MHO will be deposited in the CEDAR data base at NCAR for community use and will be made available online via the MADRIGAL database. Student and external investigator participation in these research activities, and the inclusion of Millstone Hill Observatory data in external studies will also be supported. MHO team members will continue educational activities through our Research Experiences for Undergraduates and Research Experiences for Teachers participation. The program incorporates community input and outreach activities through workshops at the annual CEDAR and URSI meetings and will encourage and support visiting students and instruments at MHO. Analysis and data distribution techniques developed for use at MHO will continue to be made available for community use and every effort will be made to make these analysis products compatible with the broad user community needs.

马萨诸塞州技术研究所将继续利用雷达和分布在马萨诸塞州韦斯特福德的Millstone Hill天文台（MHO）的地面仪器开展高层大气研究方案。Millstone Hill非相干散射雷达设施包括两个2.5兆瓦UHF发射机，一个完全可操纵的46米天线和一个天顶定向的68米固定天线。该观测台位于北纬55度，因此其电离层观测的广阔视野涵盖了中纬度、亚极光和极光特征和过程的全部范围。该雷达每年将运行约1000小时，以支持国际世界日实验和社区指导的研究计划。雷达和系统的维护和小的升级将进行，沿着广泛的数据科学分析，以支持科学使用。用户支持将得到主要强调，包括有效地访问观察和分析的参数，信息，调度，并在万维网上，社区互动讲习班，教育和推广活动的数据库访问。气象组织科学工作人员进行的研究将涵盖一系列广泛的专题，涉及热层、电离层和磁层的过程和动态，以及对等离子体波和磁暴效应的调查。科学重点将包括等离子体边界层附近的磁层-电离层耦合、美国大陆上空的空间天气效应和过程、电离层-热层耦合和高层大气气候学。MHO的雷达和辅助数据将存入NCAR的CEDAR数据库供社区使用，并将通过MADRIGAL数据库在线提供。学生和外部研究人员参与这些研究活动，并将Millstone Hill天文台数据纳入外部研究也将得到支持。MHO团队成员将通过我们的本科生研究经验和教师参与研究经验继续教育活动。该计划通过CEDAR和URSI年度会议上的研讨会纳入社区投入和外联活动，并将鼓励和支持访问MHO的学生和仪器。为在气象组织使用而开发的分析和数据分发技术将继续提供给社区使用，并将尽一切努力使这些分析产品符合广大用户社区的需要。