Invitation to Conduct High-Resolution Optical Observations in Conjunction with the Global Network of State-of-the-Art Radar Facilities, 15-R8206
Principal Investigators
Marilia Samara
Robert Michell
Michael Muller
Inclusive Dates: 01/01/11 – 06/30/12
Background — This project comprises several observing campaigns at different incoherent scatter radar (ISR) facilities throughout the world, using recently acquired, high-tech imagers. The scientific focus was two-fold: a) the physics of meteor interactions with Earth's atmosphere and b) auroral structure and dynamics. The meteor data especially held many surprises, providing solid bases for further research.
Approach — Individual coordinated campaigns were successfully completed alongside the Jicamarca Radio Observatory (JRO) in Peru, the Southern Argentine Agile MEteor Radar (SAAMER) and the Arecibo Observatory in Puerto Rico, all targeting meteor physics. Observations also took place alongside the Sondrestrom ISR in Greenland and the Poker Flat Incoherent Scatter Radar (PFISR) in Alaska, targeting auroral structure and dynamics. The data collected during these campaigns and the collaborations with the researchers at the respective radar sites have been invaluable in constructing a unique meteor analysis approach as well as new insights to auroral signatures in radar data.
Accomplishments — There were two main accomplishments expected during this project and both were achieved. SwRI researchers established new collaborations with colleagues among far-reaching research areas beyond those they are currently engaged in. Equally importantly, unique, groundbreaking data sets were collected that are valuable, not only scientifically, but in demonstrating SwRI technological capabilities in future external proposals for further science and for acquiring additional imagers. Highlights include: a) Observations of Polar Cap Boundary Aurora (Sondrestrom): The types of auroral structures observed contained much more variation than expected. Such tall colorful auroral rays are not often observed at lower latitude locations within the auroral oval. b) Meteors (SAAMER): It was expected that the radar would see every meteor that would have been see given the large beam size and high power of the radar. However, a more complex relationship emerged, where researchers sometimes observed bright meteors optically that the radar did not see and sometimes the radar would observe strong returns that they did not see optically. These observations are the first of their kind with this type of radar. c) Meteors (Arecibo): This campaign also yielded unexpected results. SwRI researchers were able to detect far more common events than originally thought. In addition, both radars were operating (430 MHz and 46.8 MHz) and detected common events. These observations show that meteors with magnitudes down to about +10 can be detected that correspond to very low mass meteors (~100 μg).
