A Versatile Electromagnetic Waveform Receiver for South Pole Station

Dartmouth College, Hanover NH

Investigators

Abstract

The Earth's aurora emits a wide range and variety of radio waves at low, medium, and high frequencies, which are signatures of the interaction between the auroral electron beam and the ionospheric plasma. Such interactions and their results, for example plasma wave generation mechanisms, are currently not well understood. This project will deploy a versatile electromagnetic wave form receiver at South Pole station, and focus on several types of signals detectable at ground level. An Antarctic location is essential for this study because in the Northern Hemisphere the low and medium frequency spectrum is obscured by broadcast bands. The clean Antarctic spectrum improves the effectiveness of automatic wave detection algorithms which are a necessary part of the data management protocol. This receiver will form part of a network of receivers located in the Automatic Geophysical Observatories operated by the US. Antarctic program and by the British Antarctic Survey, thus providing coverage at a wide range of geomagnetic latitudes.