Advanced Modular Incoherent Scatter Radar (AMISR) Operations and Maintenance

Sri International, Menlo Park CA

Investigators

Abstract

The Advanced Modular Incoherent Scatter Radar (AMISR) facilities help scientists and students to observe the Earth's upper atmosphere, and its electromagnetically charged layers called the ionosphere. AMISR includes ground-based radar that can be operated remotely as well as optical instruments. These are located in high latitude regions in Poker Flat, Alaska and Resolute Bay, Canada. AMISR observations are crucial to our understanding of processes in Earth's upper atmosphere and ionosphere and their connections to the magnetosphere and solar wind. This science is directly relevant to modeling space weather impacts on technologies we rely on every day, including satellites, electric power systems, radio communications, and aviation. AMISR provides educational opportunities by prioritizing student experiments, including students in the research program and data analysis, and through annual summer schools. AMISR facilities include the Poker Flat Incoherent Scatter Radar (PFISR) and associated optical instrumentation in Alaska, the Resolute Bay Observatory (RBO) and the Resolute Bay Incoherent Scatter Radar North Face in Canada. This award supports the continued operation and maintenance of these facilities at their current locations with no new construction or major repairs. The AMISR facilities offer unique observational capabilities that continue to enable a variety of scientific investigations related to multiple Solar and Space Physics Decadal Survey goals for Solar Wind-Magnetosphere and Atmosphere- Ionosphere-Magnetosphere interactions. RBO is the only incoherent scatter radar site in the world above 80-degree geomagnetic latitude. This location deep in the polar cap permits unique investigations of the polar geospace environment. The combination of the advanced radar capabilities of PFISR, the extensive suite of optical instruments in Alaska, the sounding rocket launch capabilities at the Poker Flat Research Range (PFRR), and the location of PFRR in the main auroral oval make PFRR one of the premiere sites in the world for research in upper atmospheric physics, auroral plasma physics, and magnetosphere- ionosphere coupling. 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.