MRI: Development of a Tristatic Network of Ground-based Aeronomic Observatories to Operate in Synergy with the EISCAT-3D Facility

这一磁共振成像项目将在斯堪的纳维亚半岛北方建立一组三个小型观测站，以测量海拔约80公里至600公里之间称为热层的中性大气的三维风和温度。 这一区域是高度可变的，受到来自上方的太阳能输入变化和来自下方的大气扰动的影响。 了解和预测这种变化（称为空间天气）对于无线电通信，卫星导航和空间探索非常重要。美国和国际地球空间和空间天气研究团体最近编制的许多规划文件中确定了这一举措的基本科学驱动因素。要处理的具体专题包括：热层和电离层与上方磁层和下方中性大气的耦合;由于这种耦合而产生的强迫的空间和时间结构;由此产生的热层反应的空间和时间结构;热层的长期变化;以及通过同化分散的异质数据集而进行的系统一级研究。 该项目的动机还在于及时有机会与国际社会目前正在斯堪的纳维亚半岛北方同一地区建造的革命性新型EISCAT 3D非相干散射雷达系统协同作用。 这两个系统将共同对大气的中性部分和电离部分进行全面测量，提供极区急需的三维高分辨率数据，在极区，太阳辐射的影响特别强烈，产生诸如北极光（北方光）等现象，仪器阵列将使用三个由20英尺隔热集装箱建造的小型观测台。每个天文台将容纳：1。全天空成像法布里-佩罗干涉仪，将绘制直径约1000公里的圆形视场内的热层风和温度。2.一个窄场天顶指向法布里-珀罗干涉仪，专门用于对天文台正上方的热层垂直风进行高频率测量。3.配备窄带干涉滤光片的多光谱全天空照相机，在多个光学波长上监测极光活动。4.全球导航卫星系统接收器监测观测站与每颗全球导航卫星系统卫星之间电离层电子密度的视距积分，以及空间气象扰动在卫星信号中引起的相位扰动。5.三分量磁通门磁力仪。所有数据将在网上免费发布。数据延迟时间从几分钟到最多1-2天不等。与国际EISCAT-3D项目合作;建设一个开拓者项目，为今后扩大的地面仪器网络的设计提供信息，这些地面仪器可以处理从地方到全球所有尺度的热层过程耦合问题;培训下一代空间物理仪器人员，重点是将代表性不足的群体包括在内;该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的知识价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

This MRI project will establish a group of three mini observatories in northern Scandinavia to measure three-dimensional wind and temperature of the neutral atmosphere in a region between about 80 km to 600 km above sea level called thermosphere. This region is highly variable, influenced by changes in solar energy input from above and atmospheric disturbances from below. Understanding and predicting such variations (called Space Weather) is highly important for radio communication, satellite navigation and space exploration.The underlying science drivers for this initiative are identified in numerous recent planning documents produced by the US and international Geospace and Space Weather research communities. Specific topics to be addressed include: coupling of the thermosphere and ionosphere to the magnetosphere above and to the neutral atmosphere below; the spatial and temporal structure of forcing due to this coupling; the spatial and temporal structure of the resulting thermospheric responses; long-term changes in the thermosphere; and system-level studies enabled by assimilation of distributed heterogeneous data sets. The project is also motivated by a timely opportunity for synergy with the revolutionary new EISCAT 3D incoherent-scatter radar system that is currently being constructed by the international community in the same region of northern Scandinavia. The two systems will together make a comprehensive measurement of both the neutral and ionized part of the atmosphere, providing much needed three-dimensional high-resolution data in the polar region, where the influence of solar radiation is especially strong, creating phenomena such as the aurora borealis (northern lights).The instrument array will employ three small observatory enclosures constructed from insulated 20-foot shipping containers. Each observatory will house: 1. An all-sky imaging Fabry-Perot interferometer, which will map thermospheric winds and temperatures within a circular field-of-view around 1000-km in diameter. 2. A narrow-field zenith-pointed Fabry-Perot interferometer, dedicated to making high cadence measurements of thermospheric vertical winds directly above the observatory. 3. A multispectral all-sky camera equipped with narrow-band interference filters, monitoring auroral activity at multiple optical wavelengths. 4. A Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) receiver monitoring the line-of-sight integral of ionospheric electron density between the observatory and each GNSS satellite, as well as phase scintillations induced into the satellite signals by space weather disturbances. 5. A three-component fluxgate magnetometer. All resulting data will be freely distributed online. Data latency will vary from minutes to at most 1-2 days. The broader impacts of this project will include: Collaboration with the international EISCAT-3D project; construction of a pathfinder project to inform designs of subsequent expanded networks of ground-based instrumentation that can address coupling of thermospheric processes across all scales, from local to global; training of the next generation of space physics instrumentalists, with an emphasis on inclusion of under-represented groups; and strong collaborative support for the international space-weather community through unrestricted free and timely access to all real-time and archival data.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.