HR: 0800h
AN: SA31A-16    [Abstracts]
TI: A Campaign to Study Equatorial Ionospheric Phenomena over Guam
AU: * Habash Krause, L
EM: Linda.Krause@usafa.af.mil
AF: United States Air Force Academy, 2354 Fairchild Dr., USAF Academy, CO 80840, United States
AU: Balthazor, R
EM: Richard.Balthazor@usafa.af.mil
AF: United States Air Force Academy, 2354 Fairchild Dr., USAF Academy, CO 80840, United States
AU: Dearborn, M
EM: Michael.Dearborn@usafa.af.mil
AF: United States Air Force Academy, 2354 Fairchild Dr., USAF Academy, CO 80840, United States
AU: Enloe, L
EM: Lon.Enloe@usafa.af.mil
AF: United States Air Force Academy, 2354 Fairchild Dr., USAF Academy, CO 80840, United States
AU: Lawrence, T
EM: Timothy.Lawrence@usafa.af.mil
AF: United States Air Force Academy, 2354 Fairchild Dr., USAF Academy, CO 80840, United States
AU: McHarg, M
EM: Matthew.McHarg@usafa.af.mil
AF: United States Air Force Academy, 2354 Fairchild Dr., USAF Academy, CO 80840, United States
AU: Petrash, D
EM: C07Donald.Petrash@usafa.af.mil
AF: United States Air Force Academy, 2354 Fairchild Dr., USAF Academy, CO 80840, United States
AU: Reinisch, B W
EM: Bodo_Reinisch@uml.edu
AF: University of Massachusetts, Lowell University of Massachusetts Lowell , One University Avenue, Lowell, MA 01854, United States
AU: Stuart, T
EM: C08Thomas.Stuart@usafa.af.mil
AF: United States Air Force Academy, 2354 Fairchild Dr., USAF Academy, CO 80840, United States
AB: With the development of a series of ground-based and space-based experiments, the United States Air Force Academy (USAFA) is in the process of planning a campaign to investigate the relationship between equatorial ionospheric plasma dynamics and a variety of space weather effects, including: 1) ionospheric plasma turbulence in the F region, and 2) scintillation of radio signals at low latitudes. A Digisonde Portable Sounder DPS-4 will operate from the island of Guam (with a magnetic latitude of 5.6° N) and will provide measurements of ionospheric total electron content (TEC), vertical drifts of the bulk ionospheric plasma, and electron density profiles. Additionally, a dual-frequency GPS TEC/scintillation monitor will be located along the Guam magnetic meridian at a magnetic latitude of approximately 15° N. In campaign mode, we will combine these ground-based observations with those collected from space during USAFA's FalconSAT-3 and FalconSAT-5 low-earth orbit satellite missions, the first of which is scheduled to be active over a period of several months beginning in the 2007 calendar year. The satellite experiments are designed to characterize in situ irregularities in plasma density, and include measurements of bulk ion density and temperature, minority-to- majority ion mixing ratios, small scale (10 cm to 1 m) plasma turbulence, and ion distribution spectra in energy with sufficient resolution for observations of non-thermalized distributions that may be associated with velocity- space instabilities. Specific targets of investigation include: a) a comparison of plasma turbulence observed on- orbit with spread F on ionograms as measured with the Digisonde, b) a correlation between the vertical lifting of the ionospheric layer over Guam and the onset of radio scintillation activity along the Guam meridian at 15° N magnetic latitude, and c) a correlation between on-orbit turbulence and ionospheric scintillation at 15° N magnetic latitude. These relationships may provide further clues into understanding the trigger mechanisms responsible for instigating disturbances in the ionospheric plasma, thus resulting in a turbulent radio propagation medium that may cause outages of radio based communication and navigation systems.
DE: 2415 Equatorial ionosphere
DE: 2439 Ionospheric irregularities
DE: 2494 Instruments and techniques
DE: 7894 Instruments and techniques
DE: 7944 Ionospheric effects on radio waves
SC: SPA-Aeronomy [SA]
MN: 2007 Joint Assembly