Collaborative Research: CEDAR--Development and Application of a Multi-site Observing Network to Study Mid-latitude Thermospheric Dynamics

这是一个为期3年的实验项目，将作为大气区域耦合、能量和动力学(Cedar)计划的一部分进行。主要目标是在美国中东部安装和运行一个小型的法布里-珀罗涉仪(FPI)网络。该网络将由四个站组成，站与站之间的距离在350至700公里之间，从而可以对热层中的风和温度进行共同的体积测量，从而提供热层风结构和动力学的区域视图。这包括量化波事件的纬度和经度范围、传播方向和速度、震源区域以及当前可用的仪器部署无法实现的其他动态量。现有地面磁强计和雷达的辅助数据以及对磁场、离子漂移和极光降水的天基测量将与全球热层/电离层大气环流模型一起使用，以提供这些测量的全球背景。通过这种方式，这些观测将有助于对热层动力学的突破性洞察，包括远离极光区的大规模扰动的传播以及中纬度热层对地磁扰动的反应。作为该项目的一部分，将制定战略和算法，以例如根据当地的云条件实时改变观测战略。从该网络获得的业务经验将作为更全面调查热层动力学所需的更大规模网络的概念证明。试点网络将在了解如何将链作为一个单元运行、如何一致地实时处理数据以及如何可视化和解释来自多个站点的结果等问题上取得技术进步。该项目是克莱姆森大学、密歇根大学和伊利诺伊大学教授团队的合作成果。仪器和网络的部署和运行将为每所大学的研究生和本科生提供实际培训机会。

This is a 3-year experimental project to be undertaken as part of the Coupling, Energetics and Dynamics of Atmospheric Regions (CEDAR) program. The main objective is to install and operate a small network of Fabry-Perot interferometers (FPI) in the central eastern United States. The network will consist of four stations with a site-to-site separation between 350 and 700 km allowing common volume measurements of winds and temperatures in the thermosphere that together provide a regional view of the thermospheric wind structure and dynamics. This includes quantifying the latitudinal and longitudinal extents, propagation direction, and speed of wave events, source regions, and other dynamical quantities that are not possible with current available instrument deployments. Supporting data from available ground-based magnetometers and radars as well as space-based measurements of magnetic fields, ion drifts and auroral precipitation will be used together with a global thermosphere/ionosphere general circulation model to provide a global context for the measurements. In this way, the observations will facilitate breakthrough insights about the dynamics of the thermosphere including the propagation of large-scale disturbances away from the auroral zone and the response of the mid-latitude thermosphere to geomagnetic disturbances. Strategies and algorithms will be developed as part of this project to change the observing strategy in real-time based, for example, upon the local cloud conditions. The operational experience gained from this network will serve as a proof of concept for a much larger-scale network required for a more complete investigation of thermospheric dynamics. The pilot network will make technological advances in regard to issues such as understanding how to operate the chain as a unit, how to consistently process data in real time, and how to visualize and interpret results from multiple stations. The project is a collaboration between a team of professors at Clemson University, the University of Michigan, and University of Illinois. Deployment and operation of the instruments and the network will provide hands on training opportunities for graduate and undergraduate students at each of the universities.