Collaborative Research: Continued study of ULF waves at cusp latitudes on Svalbard to probe Earth's space environment

University Of New Hampshire, Durham NH

Investigators

Abstract

This proposal requests support for the continued operation of, and analysis of data from, a closely-spaced array of four search coil magnetometers (induction antennas) the installation of which began in September 2006 on Svalbard, Norway, for studies of ULF waves and associated phenomena in Earth?s space environment. In addition to induction coil magnetometers, instruments on Svalbard include numerous auroral imagers and photometers, multiple radars including EISCAT, SPEAR, and SuperDARN, and the northernmost stations in the IMAGE array of fluxgate magnetometers. Such a complete suite of instruments enables the association of various features in the observations with specific magnetospheric regions, such as the plasma sheet, low latitude boundary layer, cusp proper, or plasma mantle, with more confidence and reliability than in earlier studies at other locations. The role of induction coil magnetometers is to detect magnetic fluctuations in the frequency range 0.02 - 5 Hz. This project is part of an international effort by the space science community to better understand the dynamics of Earth?s magnetosphere and of its interaction with the solar wind and IMF.