Ground-Based Magnetometer Array Planning Workshop; Greenbelt, Maryland; May 5-6, 2016

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This is a short-term (less than one-year) effort to organize and plan a workshop to bring together U.S. scientists and lead personnel who are operating individual ground-based magnetometer arrays. The purpose is to explore efficiencies in the management of these arrays and optimize resources by designing a shared framework for integrated data storage, archiving, dissemination, and high-level data products. Since these independent arrays observe different portions of Earth's space environment (Earth-space), their further development and integration has potential for providing a powerful tool for synthesizing information about its global dynamics. The planned shared framework will be separate from the scientific research, proposed and performed by individual investigator teams, and thus will provide much needed continuity for funding the instrumentation and data distribution during lapses in individual research funding. The effects of these interruptions are compounded because observations from these magnetometer arrays are used by the broader research community and in international collaborations, in addition to their use in scientific research by the magnetometer teams, themselves. Efficiencies in the operation and maintenance of ground-based magnetometer arrays as well as in the development of new global high-level data products will strengthen and improve a valuable U.S. infrastructure for exploring Earth-space and understanding its long-term evolution. Ground-based magnetometers make use of signatures in the Earth's magnetic field to explore and understand Earth-space. These signatures provide information about ionospheric currents associated with geomagnetic storms and substorms, the magnetosphere's response to interplanetary shocks, the reconfiguration of currents and convection as the solar wind driving changes, and the propagation of energy through Earth-space carried by long-period plasma waves. They provide the longest record of Earth-space observations and thus are key to our understanding of long-term variations in that environment. Magnetometer arrays are supported and maintained by countries all over the world so the US arrays contribute valuable information to synthesizing an understanding of the global dynamics in Earth-space. Efficiencies in operations and maintenance of these arrays are important to enable the continuing support and further development of this valuable national observing capability.