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2003-2004 USAP
Field Season
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Aeronomy & Astrophysics
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Dr. Vladimir Papitashvili
Program Manager
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A-102-M/S
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NSF/OPP
02-33169
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Station:
McMurdo Station, South Pole Station
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RPSC POC:
Charles Kaminski
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Research Site(s):
Arrival Heights, CUSP Laboratory
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Dates in Antarctica:
Instruments operate year-round, early to mid January (project team deploys)
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Conjugate studies of ultra-low-frequency (ULF) waves and magnetospheric dynamics using ground-based induction magnetometers at four high-latitude manned sites
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Photo not available.
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Research Objectives:
The Earth's magnetic field arises from its mass and motion around the polar axis, but it creates a powerful phenomenon at the edge of space known as the magnetosphere, which has been described as a comet-shaped cavity or bubble around the Earth, carved in the solar wind. When that supersonic flow of plasma emanating from the Sun encounters the magnetosphere, the result is a long cylindrical cavity, flowing on the lee side of the Earth, fronted by the blunt nose of the planet itself. With the solar wind coming at supersonic speed, this collision produces a “bow shock” several Earth radii in front of the magnetosphere proper.
One result of this process is fluctuations in the Earth's magnetic field, called micropulsations, which can be measured on time scales between 0.1 second and 1,000 seconds. It is known that magnetic variations can significantly affect power grids and pipelines. We plan to use magnetometers (distributed at high latitudes in both the antarctic and arctic regions) to learn more about how variations in the solar wind can affect the Earth and manmade systems.
We will study these solar-wind-driven variations and patterns at a variety of locations and over periods up to a complete solar cycle. Since satellite systems are now continuously observing solar activity and also monitoring the solar wind, it is becoming feasible to develop models to predict the disruptions caused by such magnetic anomalies. And while our work is geared specifically toward a better understanding of the world and the behavior of its manmade systems, it will also involve space weather prediction.
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