US-Egypt Cooperative Research: Monitoring the Ionospheric Weather Over Egypt Using a Chain of Coherent Ionosphere Doppler Receivers

该项目将开发、部署和运行一个无源无线电仪器网络，以监测埃及上空的电离层天气。 三个相干电离层多普勒接收器将沿着大致为南北走向的一条线安装在埃及，观测几何形状从磁纬5度延伸到32度。 每个CIDR将在15度地理纬度的视场内每秒测量一次总电子含量。 CIDR将在亚历山大由亚历山大大学、在开罗由赫勒万大学、在阿斯旺由国家天文学和地球物理学研究所运行。 科学重点是由于地球磁场和电场的相互作用而在低纬度电离层中形成的赤道电离异常的形态。 异常由位于地磁赤道两侧10至20度的两个电子密度峰值组成，那里有一个波谷。 在非洲，山峰通常出现在埃及南部和中部。 异常的移动和密度变化对无线电环境造成重大扰动，这可能会中断高频无线电通信，并将误差引入跨电离层导航系统。 在埃及安装和运行电离层干扰数据接收器将能够在一个长期缺乏数据的区域对电离层空间环境进行实时监测。 通过分析CIDR数据集作为时间和电离层驱动因素的函数，该项目将获得对赤道喷泉天气和埃及上空无线电环境的宝贵新见解，从而了解电离层天气如何与埃及上空赤道喷泉相关联。 将在美国和埃及大学之间建立空间科学方面的国际合作，并将为非洲和中东的科学、技术和教育基础设施作出贡献，支持联合国国际太阳物理年的努力。 赫勒万大学将建立一个空间天气预报中心，利用从三个CIDR站收集的数据提供电离层天气的实时监测和预报。 该中心还将开展日地物理学研究，并开发预测太阳和地球物理扰动的技术。 通过这一项目获得的数据集将用于埃及东道地点研究生的教育和培训。 该项目由NSF国际科学与工程办公室共同资助。

This project will develop, deploy, and operate a network of passive radio instruments to monitor ionospheric weather over Egypt. Three Coherent Ionospheric Doppler Receivers (CIDRs) will be situated along a roughly north-south line in Egypt, with the viewing geometry extending from 5 degrees to 32 degrees magnetic latitude. Each CIDR will measure the total electron content once per second over a 15 degree geographic latitude field-of-view. The CIDRs will be run in Alexandria by Alexandria University, in Cairo by Helwan University, and in Aswan by the National Research Institute of Astronomy and Geophysics. The scientific focus is the morphology of the equatorial ionization anomaly that develops in the low latitude ionosphere due to the interaction of the Earth's magnetic and electric fields. The anomaly consists of two peaks of electron density located at 10 to 20 degrees on either side of the geomagnetic equator, where there is a trough. In Africa, the peaks typically occur over southern and central Egypt. The movement of and density variations in the anomaly cause significant perturbations to the radio environment, which can disrupt high frequency radio communications and introduce errors into transionospheric navigation systems. The installation and operation of the CIDRs in Egypt will enable real-time monitoring of the ionospheric space environment in a region that has long been data poor. By analyzing the CIDR data set as a function of time and ionospheric drivers, this project will gain valuable new insights into the weather of the equatorial fountain and the radio environment over Egypt, enabling an understanding of how ionospheric weather is associated with the equatorial fountain over Egypt. An international collaboration in space science between US and Egyptian universities will be established and will contribute to the science, technical, and educational infrastructure in Africa and the middle East, supporting the efforts of the United Nations International Heliophysical Year. Helwan University will establish a space weather forecast center which will provide real-time monitoring and forecasting of ionospheric weather using the data collected from the three CIDR stations. The center will also conduct research in solar-terrestrial physics and develop techniques for forecasting solar and geophysical disturbances. The data sets obtained through this project will be used in the education and training of graduate students at the Egyptian host sites. The project is co-funded by NSF's Office of International Science and Engineering.