HR: 0800h
 AN: SM21A-0359    [Abstracts]
 TI: The Remote Equatorial Nighttime Observatory for Equatorial Regions (RENOIR)
 AU: * Makela, J J
 EM: jmakela@uiuc.edu
 AF: Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, 1308 W. Main Street 316 CSL, Urbana, IL 61801 United States
AU: Meriwether, J W
 EM: john.meriwether@ces.clemson.edu
 AF: Department of Physics and Astronomy, Clemson University, 208 Kinard Laboratory, Clemson, SC 29634 United States
AU: Kintner, P M
 EM: pmk1@cornell.edu
 AF: Department of Electrical and Copmuter Engineering, Cornell University, 302 Rhodes Hall, Ithaca, NY 14853 United States
AB: The Remote Equatorial Nighttime Observatory for Ionospheric Regions (RENOIR) station consists of several types of complimentary instruments for studying the equatorial/low-latitude ionosphere/thermosphere system, its response to storms, and the irregularities that can be present on a daily basis. The equipment comprising a complete RENOIR station will consist of:

  1. one wide-field ionospheric imaging system,
  2. two miniaturized Fabry-Perot interferometers (FPI),
  3. a dual-frequency GPS receiver,
  4. an array of five single-frequency GPS scintillation monitors.
These instruments will allow RENOIR to make measurements of thermospheric neutral winds/temperatures, ionospheric scintillations, the two-dimensional structure of scintillation regions, and total electron content. Each individual instrument operates autonomously and requires little upkeep on a day-to-day basis. In addition, the instruments are all capable of providing real-time data to users either locally or connected to the Internet. Although each instrument provides valuable data as a stand-along instrument, having the equipment fielded at a single location as part of a complete station would allow for an unprecedented view of the nighttime thermosphere/ionosphere system and how it reacts to internal structuring and external forcing. We will give an overview of the instruments in a RENOIR station, describe the science that will be enabled by fielding RENOIR, and detail the considerations for fielding and maintaining the equipment.
DE: 2415 Equatorial ionosphere
 DE: 2439 Ionospheric irregularities
 DE: 2494 Instruments and techniques
 DE: 7944 Ionospheric effects on radio waves
 SC: SPA-Magnetospheric Physics [SM]
 MN: Fall Meeting 2005