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.

马萨诸塞州理工学院将使用雷达和分布的地面仪器继续进行高层大气研究计划，该仪器构成了马萨诸塞州韦斯特福德的Millstone Hill天文台（MHO）。磨石山不一致的散点雷达设施由两个2.5兆瓦的UHF发射器组成，一个完全可通的46米天线和一个定向68米固定天线的天顶。天文台位于纬度55°，因此其电离层观测的广泛视野涵盖了中纬度，次级和极光特征和过程的全部范围。雷达每年将进行大约1000小时的操作，以支持国际世界日实验和社区导向的研究计划。将进行雷达和系统维护以及较小的升级，并对数据进行大规模科学分析，以支持科学使用。用户支持将重点重点，包括有效访问www，社区交流研讨会以及教育和外展活动的观察和分析参数，信息，时间表和数据库访问。 MHO科学人员进行的研究将涵盖广泛的主题，涉及热层，电离球和磁层的过程和动力学，以及血浆波和磁性暴风雨效应的投资。科学重点将包括等离子体边界层附近的磁层 - 电离层耦合，空间天气效应以及连续t的US，电离层 - 热球耦合以及高层气氛的过程。来自MHO的雷达和辅助数据将存放在NCAR的Cedar数据库中，以供社区使用，并将通过Madrigal数据库在线提供。学生和外部研究人员也参与了这些研究活动，还将支持将磨坊山天文台数据纳入外部研究。 MHO团队成员将通过我们的研究经验来继续教育活动，为教师参与的本科生和研究经验。该计划通过年度雪松和URSI会议的研讨会结合了社区的意见和推广活动，并将鼓励和支持MHO的访问学生和工具。将继续提供供MHO使用的分析和数据分配技术，以供社区使用，并尽一切努力使这些分析产品与广泛的用户社区需求兼容。