Collaborative Research: DASI Track 2: An Optical Network to Study the Vertical Propagation Resulting in Spatio-temporal Variability in the Thermosphere

这一小型仪器分布式阵列(DASI)项目将支持对中层大气的观测。学术机构和一家私人公司之间的合作将在美国西南部部署仪器。这些仪器将用于测量热层和电离层相互耦合的复杂中层区域以及中性大气层的动态。这些数据最终将有助于我们了解大气层中的空间天气事件，并为全球全大气模式的改进提供信息。该项目利用了之前由NSF支持的一项努力，该计划成功地在全国各地的高中放置了仪器。该项目包括计划中的公开研讨会并支持本科生。该项目的目的是通过在美国西南部部署一组法布里-珀罗涉仪(FPI)和全天相机来调查热层-电离层耦合，以便能够在中纬度地区的一系列空间和时间尺度上调查由低大气和磁层强迫引起的等离子体中性动力学。十个Oi 557.7 nm气辉成像仪将形成一个纬度/经度15-20度的连续视野，以及三个具有Oi 630.0 nm和557.7 nm能力的FPI。这将扩大现有的630 nm成像仪网络，覆盖美国和墨西哥的部分地区。数据将通过几个网站和NSF资助的Madrigal数据库公开。软件产品将通过GitHub提供。该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的智力优势和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

This Distributed Arrays of Small Instruments (DASI) project will support observations of the middle atmosphere. This collaboration between academic institutions and a private company will deploy instruments across the Southwestern US. These instruments will be used to measure the dynamics of a complex region of the middle atmosphere where the thermosphere and ionosphere are coupled to each other and to the neutral atmosphere. The data will ultimately help inform our understanding of the space weather events in the atmosphere and inform improvements to global whole atmosphere models. The project leverages a previous NSF-supported effort which successfully placed instruments at high schools across the nation. This project includes planned public seminars and supports undergraduate students.The purpose of this project is to investigate thermosphere-ionosphere coupling by deploying an array of Fabry-Perot interferometers (FPIs) and all-sky cameras across the Southwestern U.S to enable investigations of plasma-neutral dynamics caused both by lower atmospheric and magnetospheric forcing across a range of spatial and temporal scales in the mid-latitude region. Ten OI 557.7nm airglow imagers will form a contiguous field of view spanning 15-20 degrees in latitude/longitude and three FPIs with OI 630.0nm and 557.7nm capabilities. This augments an existing network of 630.0nm imagers that covers some portion of the US and Mexico. Data will be made publicly available through several websites and the NSF funded Madrigal database. Software products will be made available through GitHub.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.