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Facilities and Community Support
Support of Integrated Community Programs
Observational Facilities and Data Services
Support of Community Computational Models
TIME-GCM / TIE-GCM / TING | WACCM | GSWM | AMIE | GLOW
TIME-GCM / TIE-GCM / TING
Ben Foster (HAO) completed rewrites of both the Thermosphere-Ionosphere-Electrodynamics General Circulation Model (TIE-GCM) and the Thermosphere-Ionosphere-Mesosphere-Electrodynamics General Circulation Model (TIME-GCM) to use a dynamic 2-D data decomposition with MPI for parallel execution and support for two spatial resolutions in both the horizontal and vertical coordinates. The code can run with either 5° latitude and longitude resolution with 2 grid points per scale height vertical resolution, or 2.5° latitude and longitude with 4 grid points per scale height. The code is flexible and can run with further increases in both horizontal or vertical resolution, as desired.
Ray Roble (HAO) updated and evaluated various aeronomic components in the TIME-GCM by direct comparison of model predictions with satellite and ground-based data. For example, he is comparing measurements of the atomic oxygen green line at 557.7 nm and the OH (8-3) band emission, obtained by the WINDII instrument on board the UARS satellite, with TIME-GCM simulations of the yearly variation of these emissions. The results of the comparison are being used to evaluate the importance of gravity wave transport and mixing in controlling the airglow structure of the MLT region. In addition, tidal measurements from ground-based stations are being used to evaluate the tidal propagation predictions in the TIME-GCM. The gravity-wave parameterization modules were also rewritten and improved.
The TIE-GCM's ability to predict the dynamics of the F-region electron density over the course of a year (2002) is being evaluated by comparing foF2 and hmF2 with ionosonde observations over a global network of stations.
A satellite track processor has been developed to sample model data along any satellite track and analyze data in terms of ascending and descending orbit node differences. Simulations show that a significant aliasing can occur for various tidal components, e.g., migrating and nonmigrating diurnal and semidiurnal components into tidal fields with observed zonal wavenumbers greater or equal to zero. Using this code, the model can also present simulated results over any given ground-station, or process model output in various specialized modes for comparison with data.
Alan Burns, Wenbin Wang, and Michael Wiltberger (all of HAO) coupled the Thermosphere-Ionosphere-Nested-Grid (TING) version of the TIE-GCM with the magnetospheric Lyon-Fedder-Mobarry (LFM) model to form the Coupled Magnetosphere-Ionosphere-Thermosphere (CMIT) model. CMIT has been developed in several ways in the last year, both to enable its accessibility for the community and to continue to improve its representation of the magnetosphere, ionosphere and thermosphere. Users now have better access to its output as a result of the development of a Center for Integrated Space Weather Modeling Data eXplorer (CISM-DX) interface. This interface is an implementation of the open source data explorer language that has been explicitly developed for CISM. It is comprised of a number of three-dimensional graphics and data analysis modules that are accessible to users. An effort is also underway to improve the documentation of the CMIT model and to improve its accessibility for all users. It is anticipated that this action will be completed in the coming year , and that a version of the model, complete with documentation, will be delivered to Boston University for wider dissemination. Parallel efforts to improve the geophysical representations of the model have also been undertaken. The model is continually tested in a variety of different geophysical conditions in order to test and improve its descriptions of geospace. Among the specific improvements made in the last year are: including the feedback of neutral winds from the thermosphere/ionosphere system into the magnetosphere; initiating efforts to include a representation of the plasmasphere in the model; and, consideration of a more generalized potential solver.
Whole Atmosphere Community Climate Model (WACCM)
Within the past year, the dynamics and chemistry components have been fully coupled in WACCM2, allowing self-consistent interactions to be examined throughout the troposphere, stratosphere, mesosphere and lower thermosphere. The dynamical model is based the Climate Systems Model at NCAR, but it has been extended to include molecular diffusion, a gravity wave spectrum parameterization, non-LTE radiation processes, and a finite volume dynamical core. The interactive chemical model also uses a finite volume core in the MOZART framework, but has been updated to include additional processes needed to represent the lower thermosphere, including ion-molecule reactions, auroral NOx production and NO cooling. Other chemical and dynamic components needed for the upper mesosphere and lower thermosphere have been taken from the TIME-GCM. Much of the past year has been devoted to tuning the model by improving the gravity wave parameterization and comparing predictions of dynamics and chemical species, such as ozone, water vapor, methane, nitrogen dioxide and others that are currently being measured by satellites. In addition, a realistic magnetic field model has been included in WACCM2 to better predict the location and motion of auroral processes at high magnetic latitudes, and for a better prescription of ion drag throughout the ionosphere and thermosphere. A new code for handling solar radiation, based on satellite data, has been incorporated into WACCM2 giving detailed solar heating and photodissociation rates for a large number of chemical species. Metastable chemistry is also included. Modules are in development to resolve the major species diffusion in the thermosphere. The WACCM2 model is now being prepared to run over a complete solar cycle to examine the changes in atmospheric structure, dynamics and chemistry in response to realistic solar forcing. The results of these calculations will be compared with available satellite data.
Global-Scale Wave Model (GSWM)
HAO continues to make GSWM results available to the community through the web site: http://www.hao.ucar.edu/public/research/tiso/gswm/gswm.html.
Assimilative Mapping of Ionospheric Electrodynamics (AMIE)
Tomoko Matsuo, Art Richmond, and Gang Lu (all of HAO) demonstrated the feasibility of a new implementation of the AMIE procedure for the objective analysis of high-latitude ionospheric electrodynamic variables that utilizes Empirical Orthogonal Function (EOF) bases and the maximum likelihood method for on-line error covariance parameter estimation. This work is an important step in understanding how scale-dependent properties of electromagnetic energy and momentum transfer processes affect the global thermospheric Joule heating estimation. They tested the new methodology for a magnetic cloud event that occurred on January 10-11, 1997.
Global Airglow Model (GLOW)
Stan Solomon and Liying Qian (both of HAO) used the GLOW model to provide an updated parameterization of solar extreme-ultraviolet and X-ray ionization and thermospheric heating for implementation in the upper-atmospheric TIME-GCM/TIE-GCM/TING and WACCM models.
Support of Integrated Community Programs
Space-Weather Program | CEDAR | GEM | Center for Integrated Space Weather Modeling | Virtual Solar-Terrestrial Observatory (VSTO)
Space-Weather Program
HAO maintains a vigorous, multi-faceted program of research on space weather, one embracing a variety of efforts aimed at attaining an improved understanding of the behavior of the Sun-Earth system. Among the many space weather-related topics receiving attention from HAO researchers are: the physical mechanisms underlying solar activity, particulary expulsions of mass and magnetic fields in the form of CMEs; the propgation of such disturbances through the interplanetary medium, their evolution and effects on the space environment from the Sun to the Earth; the interaction of ejecta from the Sun with the terrestrial magnetosphere, and the transmission of effects from this interaction into the ionosphere and upper atmosphere. HAO is an active participant in the Center for Integrated Space Weather Modeling (CISM), a Science and Technology Center funded by the National Science Foundation. In addition, two ongoing research efforts are currently supported by grants from the NSF Space Weather Program:
"The Quantification and Validation of Variable Electrodynamic Forcing of the Thermosphere," B. Emery (PI), A. Richmond, T. Matsuo, A. Maute, (Co-Is) (2002-2005);
"Inferring the Speeds of Earth-Directed Coronal Mass Ejections Using He I 1083 nm Velocity Observations," G. de Toma (PI), T. Holzer, H. Gilbert, J. Burkepile, T. Gombosi (University of Michigan) (Co-Is) (2002-2005).
CEDAR
-CEDAR Web Site- HAO maintains a web page for the National Science Foundation (NSF) Coupling, Energetics and Dynamics of Atmospheric Regions (CEDAR) community that includes links to the CEDAR Science Steering Committee, contact information for CEDAR participants, Announcements of Opportunity, the CEDAR Post publication, and the annual CEDAR Workshop with an archive of Workshop tutorial lectures. Emery briefs the CEDAR community on topics of interest via a broadcast e-mail message every week or two. These briefings include announcements of job opportunities that are subsequently archived on the CEDAR web page. The CEDAR homepage at HAO can be accessed via the URL http://cedarweb.hao.ucar.edu. A new (linux) server with the new version 3.1 interface (based on ION IDL-On-the-Net) was released in June 2004. The CEDARWEB site supported CEDAR Science Steering Committee activities, including the CEDAR Prize Lecture nominations. The CEDAR POST continued to be made available on-line. The personnel that work with the CEDARWEB site and database at HAO are: Peter Fox (manager), Barbara Emery, Roy Barnes, Jose Garcia, and Patrick West.
-CEDAR Instruments and Database- The NASA TIMED satellite was launched December 7, 2001, with initial acquisition of data from the 4 instruments (GUVI, SABER, SEE, TIDI) in late January, 2002. There are 8 ground-based instrument types in the CEDAR-TIMED program (HF radars, Mesosphere-Lower Thermosphere (MLT) radars (MLTRs), Incoherent Scatter Radars (ISRs), Fabry-Perot Spectrometers (FPSs), lidar, Michelson Interferometers (MIs) or CCD Spectrographs (CCDSs), 4-Channel Photometers, and [OH] or other imagers). The CEDAR Database at HAO is responsible for data access to the last 6 instrument types, and for the final archive of the MLTRs. The science emphasized by TIMED is in the MLT region. Data from 6 of the 8 instrument types were added to the CEDAR Database in FY 2004. Images from imager instrument data are still under construction, adding metadata to FITS files.
Updates to the CEDAR Database were made in 8 of the past 12 months for 22 ground instruments, 1 model (AMIE), 1 satellite, and 5 indices, of which all but 3 (AMIE, Arecibo, EISCAT) included recent (2003-2004) data sets. 4-day CEDAR-TIMED harmonic analyses came from 10 MF radars (Davis, Rothera, Adelaide, Rarotonga, Kauai, Yamagawa, Wakkanai, Saskatoon, Poker Flat, Tromsø) and 2 meteor radars (Ascension Island and Esrange). Additionally, some providers also gave the original 30-minute or hourly wind data (Davis, Adelaide, Yamagawa, Wakkanai, Poker Flat), where Davis, Yamagawa and Wakkanai were new MF radars in the CEDAR Database.
Another new instrument in FY2004 was the Davis spectrophotometer providing [OH] mesosphere temperatures during the night. The Wuppertal spectometer also provided new nightly [OH] temperatures. Other updates came from the Sondrestrom FPS, the South Pole MI, the CSU lidar, the USU imager at Maui, and 4 IS Radars (Jicamarca, Sondrestrom, EISCAT and Arecibo). A final new data set was the electron and ion precipitation data from the NOAA-15 satellite, which also provided part of the index of hemispheric power estimates.
New data sets and data sets in progress are listed on-line . The annual CEDAR Database Catalogue also describes the data in the CEDAR Database. A poster by Peter Fox and talk at the annual workshop was about a Virtual Solar-Terrestrial Observatory using the Virtual Solar Observatory concept (the "small box") as part of the architecture.
Community support continued for the CEDAR-TIMED Ground-Based Investigator data system support (http://cedarweb.hao.ucar.edu/timed/timed.html). The Applied Physics Laboratory (APL) is responsible for the TIMED satellite data support system (http://www.timed.jhuapl.edu/home.htm), and the CEDAR-TIMED data are also available from APL through the mechanism of Data Product Forms (DPFs).
Database use statistics are located at http://cedarweb.hao.ucar.edu/documents/statistics.html. The statistics show a jump in users starting in 2002, with increased interest in indices, empirical models, optical instruments below 150 km, MLT radars, red-line FPSs, lidars, and Jicamarca ISR data. Statistics show that most outside users get data via the web access.
-The 2004 CEDAR Workshop- The CEDAR Workshop for 2004 was held at the Eldorado Hotel in Santa Fe, New Mexico. The workshop webpage is at http://cedarweb.hao.ucar.edu (click on 'Workshop'). Barbara Emery and Louise Beierle of HAO were the local organizers, with support from HAO staff Kathryn Fisher, Barry Gamblin, Roy Barnes, Dan Gablehouse, and Liz Hoswell. A total of 317 persons from 71 institutions, 17 outside the United States and Puerto Rico, attended the 2004 CEDAR Workshop. This year, 121 students and recent grads came from 26 universities and 5 research labs, including Canada (4), Japan (4), the United Kingdom (1), France (1), Korea (1), Brazil (1) and Columbia (1). The total attendance was down from 356 in 2003, with 12 fewer students and 19 fewer Colorado locals.
The Student Workshop, organized by the new CEDAR student representative Stanley Briczinski of the Pennsylvania State University, looked at "Instrumentation - Gear for Your Thesis." There were 6 speakers, including Keynote Speaker Ron Woodman of the Jicamarca Radio Observatory in Peru, who gave a talk on "Incoherent and Coherent Scatter Radars: Jicamarca Examples" which was video-taped and is available on-line in .pdf form at: http://cedarweb.hao.ucar.edu/workshop/tutorials/2004/woodman04.pdf. Stan will continue as student representative for the next year, joined by Carlos Martinis of Boston University.
The CEDAR Prize Lecture was given by Maura Hagan of the National Center for Atmospheric Research. She gave an overview of "Tidal Coupling in the Earth's Atmosphere," available on-line as a .pdf file at: http://cedarweb.hao.ucar.edu/workshop/tutorials/2004/hagan04.pdf. The 4 tutorial speakers were Craig Heinselman of SRI International ("The AMISR/ISR Capabilities"), Chet Gardner of the University of Illinois ("Middle Atmosphere Wind and Temperature Lidars: Current Capabilities and Future Challenges"), Dave Hysell of Cornell University ("AMISR Contributions to Equatorial Aeronomy"), and Paul Bernhardt of the Naval Research Laboratory ("Chemical Release Applications, Observations, and Modeling"). All of these talks are available as .pdf files on the web at http://cedarweb.hao.ucar.edu/workshop/tutorials/2004/; they are also available on video tape and DVDs.
There were 25 workshops, which was the same number as last year, despite
having 2 hours less of workshop time and combining several workshops
together. The final workshop reports are on-line at:
http://cedarweb.hao.ucar.edu/workshop/pmworkshops.html
with links to some of the individual talks, including a power point
presentation by Emery for Fox on the Virtual Solar-Terrestrial
Observatory in the LDS8 Workshop (Towards an Integrated Data Environment).
Hanli Liu of HAO co-chaired the OL5 Workshop (Science Challenges for the CEDAR
(Lidar) Observing Community). Alan Burns and Wenbin Wang of HAO were two of
the chairs of the LDS4 Workshop (Storms and Superstorms: Observations, Analysis
and Modeling of Large Geomagnetic Disturbances).
There were 6 CEDAR and related post-doc reports given by
Rebecca Bishop of Clemson, James Boulter of SRI, Aimee Merkel of ACD/NCAR,
Weilin Pan of SRI, Alok Taori of USU, and Paul Withers of BU.
There were also about 15 programmatic talks during the plenary sessions,
including an update of the CEDAR Database given by Emery.
There were two late afternoon poster/reception sessions, during
which all posters were up for the entire time. 83 posters were presented
on Tuesday and 50 on Wednesday, for a total of 133. This is a record
number of posters, exceeding the 118 presented in 2003.
A total of 64 student posters were under competition, and 14 other student
posters made for a record number of 78 student posters; the previous record
was 64 student posters in 1994.
There were two student winners in the poster competition,
Ningyu Liu of the Pennsylvania State University and Melissa Meyer
of the University of Washington. There were also three honorable mentions:
Xiaohua Fang of the University of Michigan, Patrick Roddy of the University
of Texas at Dallas, and Jing Tang of the University of Illinois. They
all received prizes of books and achievement certificates.
There were many extra-curricular activities for the 2004 CEDAR Workshop.
A 56-passenger bus was taken from Fort Collins, Colorado to Santa Fe with
12 passengers coming down from Colorado. The bus was then used to
take students to the student bowling social at Silva Lanes on Sunday
evening, and as transportation for the tours arranged
by Santa Fe Destinations. Two tours were offered:
one to the Bradbury Science Museum at Los Alamos and to the
ancient Pueblo ruins at Bandelier National Monument, and the
second to La Cieneguilla Petroglyphs.
Santa Fe Destinations also designed a petroglyph CEDAR T-shirt to
commemorate the meeting.
Registration for the workshop and for shared nearby student suites was
via web forms using Reg-on-Line.
Meeting plans, the agenda, the poster booklet, lists of student
and non-student participants, student biographies and other information is
also at the Workshop website.
The joint 2005 CEDAR-GEM Workshop will take place at the Eldorado and the
La Fonda Hotels in Santa Fe, New Mexico June 26 - July 1.
GEM
Gang Lu (HAO) continued as a member of the GEM Science Steering Committee and participated in the annual GEM workshop in Snowmass, CO, June 21-25, 2004, with two oral presentations, "Hemispheric Asymmetry of Ionospheric Convection and Field-aligned Current," and, "Overview of Ionospheric Conditioning During Selected Inner Magnetospheric Storm Events."
Center for Integrated Space Weather Modeling
-CISM Organization and Science Goals- The Center for Integrated Space Weather Modeling (CISM) is a National Science Foundation Science and Technology Center initiated in 2002. The consortium is led by Principal Investigator Professor W. Jeffrey Hughes at Boston University. Its goal is to create an end-to-end model of the space environment from the surface of the Sun to the bottom of the Earth's ionosphere. HAO is responsible for developing and testing the ionosphere/thermosphere models for CISM. Additional contributions to the magnetospheric and solar components are made by other HAO participants.
The ionosphere-thermosphere modeling segment of CISM is primarily housed at the National Center for Atmospheric Research, but includes affiliations with the Space Environment Center at NOAA, the University of Colorado, Southwest Research Institute, Utah State University, and Space Environment Technologies. Primary modeling tools include the NCAR Thermosphere General Circulation Models, auroral particle and photoelectron transport models, middle-atmosphere tidal and planetary wave models, and the Assimilative Mapping of Ionospheric Electrodynamics (AMIE) procedure for analyzing auroral region currents and conductances using a variety of measurement data. The particular model currently being used for CISM studies is a high-resolution version of the NCAR-TGCM known as the Thermosphere-Ionosphere Nested Grid (TING) model.
-Coupled Magnetosphere-Ionosphere Modeling- The ionosphere is created and maintained primarily by solar extreme-ultraviolet radiation. However, its variability on daily and shorter time scales is largely driven by processes controlled by the solar wind and magnetosphere and coupled to the ionosphere through the auroral regions. Many other small-scale forms of ionospheric variability, such as irregularities in the equatorial region and traveling disturbance waves, are also important, but are less accessible at this time to global-scale thermosphere-ionosphere models. Therefore, the initial goal of the CISM project for the geospace regions is to create a coupled model of the magnetosphere and ionosphere that includes upper atmosphere circulation, solar irradiance variation, and forcing by the lower atmosphere.
Two-way coupling between the Lyon-Fedder-Mobary (LFM) and TING models was originally implemented using an ad-hoc method accomplished through exchange of information via a series of interchange files. This method has now been updated to direct parameter exchange between seperate executables using the InterComm software package developed at the University of Maryland. This exchange of boundary conditions occurs once per TING time step of two minutes. During the intervening time the LFM uses the previous TING conductivities to calculate the ionospheric potential. Grid rotation and interpolation is also handled by the magnetosphere-ionosphere coupling module.
During the second year of the project, initial problems in the implementation of the two-way coupling methodology that produced unrealistically low ionospheric conductivities were resolved, and the model now performs well. Results for the CISM end-to-end run were described in a paper published in JASTP by Luhmann et al. Papers by Wiltberger et al. and by Wang et al., also published in JASTP, describe the details of the methodology and initial runs for parametric solar wind conditions. The coupled model has been installed on computers at NCAR and at Boston University, and an operational interface was developed to facilitate test runs. Validation studies to examine the intensity and morphology of auroral precipitation are in progress.
-Coronal Brightness and Polarization Brightness Images- Andrew Stanger (HAO) is currently working on a CISM project to transform the 3-dimensional MHD global model of coronal density developed by SAIC into 2-dimensional total brightness and polarization brightness images that can be used to compare the model output directly to coronal observations. The SAIC MHD model (MAS) density structure is produced from solar magnetograph-derived, averaged synoptic charts to specify the global scale photospheric magnetic field. The corresponding 2-dimensional images can then be directly compared with observational data, such as that provided by the MLSO Mark-IV K-coronameter and the two SOHO space-borne coronagraphs, LASCO C2 and C3. An assortment of software is currently being used to produce these results. Work is in progess to consolidate these capabilities into the OpenDX graphical programming environment. Additional effort will also be needed to develop some basic analysis software to enable comparisons between the model data and coronal observations to be performed.
Virtual Solar-Terrestrial Observatory (VSTO)
The prototype Virtual Solar-Terrestrial Observatory (VSTO http://vsto.hao.ucar.edu) is a distributed, scalable education and research environment for searching, integrating, and analyzing observational, experimental, and model databases in the fields of solar, solar-terrestrial, and space physics. The VSTO project started in late 2004 with a grant from the National Science Foundation under the Shared Cyber infrastructure Initiative. In the coming year, the VSTO project plans to involve users from HAO and the community by establishing web and national meeting presence. This will guide the development of user and provider requirements using a Use-case methodology. Based on the findings, an initial VSTO design will be developed and reviewed with an advisory committee. VSTO will establish relations with other major VO projects for compatibility and long-term viability of VSTO as a community resource, identify initial data holdings (data, models, educational materials) and evaluate, develop and install the initial technology for the first instance of the VSTO.
Observational Facilities and Data Services
PSPT | ECHO | CoMP | STARE | GONG | EPCO | MLSOHAO operates many observational facilities at sites around the world. The scientific results obtained using these facilities are described elsewhere. This section describes rather the operational and organizational aspects of the facilities.
PSPT
The Precision Solar Photometric Telescope
(PSPT) group at HAO has stabilized the telescope hardware and data
processing algorithms. The new flat-field algorithm, with improved
convergence using prime number offsets (see accompanying Figure), has been
implemented as the default, and reprocessing of the full data set using
it has begun. The past year has seen continued support of the SORCE
mission and SFO collaboration with daily observations. Additionally, 117
data files have been delivered in response to specific requests; in one case,
10 GB of data was delivered in response to one user's request for a full
month of observations. A MOU with the Rome observatory has been
finalized, including a collaboration aimed at creating a common PSPT
data base. Work has also begun to include PSPT data in the ACOS/MLSO
data-search web-page.
ECHO
HAO continues to operate a network of two velocity imaging instruments
called the Experiment for Coordinated Helioseismic Observations (ECHO).
One instrument is in the Canary Islands and is supported by the Astrophysics
Institute of Canary Islands (IAC), and the other is located at HAO/NCAR's
Mauna Loa Solar Observatory (MLSO). These instruments employ Magneto-Optical
Filters and have sufficient spatial resolution to observe all globally
coherent solar acoustic modes. The widely separated longitudes of the two
sites allow up to twenty-two hours of continuous observations per day,
resulting in improved measurement of the Sun's acoustic oscillations by
reducing noise and confusion caused by nighttime interruption of the
observations. HAO plans to continue to operate this network in order
to search for changes of the internal solar rotation profile over the time
scale of the 11 year solar cycle. Such changes are likely to occur in a
region of high shear at the base of the convection zone where it is believed
that a dynamo generates solar magnetic fields. Solar acoustic
eigenfrequencies obtained from this dataset are available online at:
http://www.hao.ucar.edu/public/research/mlso/LowL/lowl.html
CoMP
The Coronal Multi-channel Polarimeter (CoMP) is a filter-based polarimeter designed to measure magnetic fields in the solar corona and solar prominences. The instrument consists of an electro-optically tunable birefringent filter capable of observing the coronal emission lines of Fe XIII at 1074.7 and 1079.8 nm, and the prominence line of He I at 1083 nm, coupled with a polarimeter and a large format HgCdTe detector. The instrument creates simultaneous images of the corona in two wavelengths corresponding to the emission line and continuum. The instrument was deployed to the 20-cm "One Shot" coronagraph at Sacramento Peak Observatory in January of 2004, and the first observations with the instrument were obtained during an observing run in March. Data continues to be collected in campaign mode with continuous operation expected to begin in 2005.
STARE
The STellar Astrophysics and Research on Exoplanets (STARE) telescope is a small (10 cm aperture) CCD-based astrograph based in Tenerife, Spain. It is operated in conjunction with the Astrophysical Institute of the Canaries (IAC). Its principal objectives are to obtain extended time series of wide-field stellar photometry for use in studies of stellar oscillations, extrasolar planets, and stellar magnetic activity. In FY 2004, the STARE telescope became a part of the Transatlantic Exoplanet Survey (TrES) network, joining with other groups with telescopes at Lowell Observatory (Flagstaff, AZ) and Mt. Palomar, CA to provide more complete data sets for all of the STARE telescope's goals.
In FY 2004, the STARE telescope obtained observations on 75 nights through June 2004, and then encountered an extended series of technical problems involving the interconnection between its computers, erratic behavior of the telescope's mount, and a major failure of the system's power converter. These problems were resolved near the end of the fiscal year. In spite of the down time, STARE acquired extensive datasets for two fields (in the constellations Andromeda and Lynx), as well as a short observing run in support of the ESA COROT mission. STARE graduate student R. Alonso (IAC) implemented the vastly improved photometric pipeline developed by Lowell astronomer G. Mandushev, and at an organizational meeting at Lowell Observatory in July, much progress was made on coordinating the activities of the three components of the TrES network. Plans for the upcoming fiscal year include a major effort to re-analyze old data with the new photometric pipeline, and to install new hardware (a more robust telescope mount and a more efficient CCD camera) to improve the performance and reliability of the STARE telescope. Information about the STARE telescope and the TrES network may be found at http://www.hao.ucar.edu/public/research/stare/stare.html
GONG
The Global Oscillation Network Group (GONG) is a community-based project, managed by the National Solar Observatory (NSO), to conduct a detailed study of solar internal structure and dynamics using helioseismology. GONG+ produces magnetograms and seismic images of the far side and interior of the Sun. Scientists use this capability to develop better tools to predict solar storms. Routine GONG+ observations are obtained from a network of solar telescopes located around the world. This year the Venus transit on 8 June 2004 (http://gong.nso.edu) was recorded from the Learmonth, Udaipur, and Teide GONG sites. This rare data set will be used to check the coalignment of the merged images. HAO's support at the MLSO GONG site includes preventive maintenance (PM) and first-response emergency maintenance. PM services are performed daily and include monitoring of the status of the instrument and shelter, removal and return of data storage media, and providing notification to the GONG project staff headquarters in Tucson, Arizona in the event of a problem.
EPCO
A new Fabry-Perot interferometer was built and later deployed at the Early Polar Cap Observatory (EPCO) near Resolute, Canada (75 N), the future site of the National Science Foundation Advanced Modular Incoherent Scatter Radar (AMISR). The new instrument is designed to measure mesospheric and lower thermospheric tidal waves and the upper thermosphere polar cap convection pattern using OH, O 5577 Å and 6300 Å emissions. The wind errors for these emissions are 6 m/s (3 minute integration), 1 m/s (3 minute) and 2-6 m/s (5 minute), respectively. The instrument was tested in Boulder, Colorado, and measurement results were compared with nearby LIDAR mesospheric neutral wind measurements. The comparison showed good agreement between the two instruments. Neutral wind data obtained at Resolute also demonstrate that the instrument meets the design goal and is able to provide high quality data for future studies of mesospheric and lower thermospheric dynamics as well as magnetospheric-ionospheric coupling, along with ion-neutral coupling in the upper atmosphere of the polar cap.
MLSO
-Instruments- The Mauna Loa Solar Observatory (MLSO) resides in a lava field on the northwest flank of Mauna Loa (elevation 3353 m) on the island of Hawaii. This site provides some of the best solar observing conditions in the world. MLSO currently provides data for three observing programs: ACOS (Advanced Coronal Observing System), PSPT, and ECHO. ACOS includes the following instruments: Mark-IV (K-coronameter), the Polarimeter for Inner Coronal Studies (PICS) (Hα: 656.3 nm, disc and limb), and the Chromospheric He I Imaging Photometer (CHIP) (Helium-I: 1083 nm, disc).
-Operations- In 2002, MLSO was designated an NCAR facility, making it possible for a 3rd observer to be hired (January 2003), and to add 4 hours to the daily observing schedule. Mauna Loa instruments currently operate between 17:00 - 02:30 UT, weather permitting, and barring observer sick time. The number of coronal mass ejections (CMEs) observed with the Mark-IV white light coronameter has nearly doubled between 2002 and 2003, despite the slight decline in solar activity. Mark-IV white light observations of the low corona are unique, and the increased number of observed CMEs can greatly improve the physical understanding of the initiation of these events and their interaction with the surrounding solar atmosphere. The number of observing days during which MLSO acquired data in the past two years was:
Instrument 2002 [2 observers] 2003 [3 observers] CHIP: 310 days (85%) 347 days (95%) PICS: 284 days (78%) 345 days (95%) Mark-IV: 246 days (67%) 307 days (84%)
A significant increase in daily 'duty cycle' for each instrument is evident since MLSO extended its observing schedule. Furthermore, in 2003, there were 211 days when observations were taken beyond 00:00 GMT. For most of those days, the observations ran to 02:00 UT or beyond. Prior to 2003, MLSO observations typically ended between 22:00 and 23:00 UT. This means that MLSO now provides a significant number of days with observations that overlap Australia, Japan and China for 3-5 hours.
-Datasets- Since acquiring a DVD "juke-box" storage system in 2002, MLSO is now able to provide easy access (via the MLSO web site) to all recent ACOS data (2001 - 2004). Despite a reduction in MLSO data processing support staff this year, and the large increase in observations (due to extended observing hours), HAO is continuing to provide the community with fully-processed data in a timely manner. In addition, HAO is slowly continuing to add older ACOS data (prior to year 2001) to its DVD storage system. On-demand access to the entire ACOS dataset collection via the MLSO web site will eventually be provided. The data archiving scheme has allowed MLSO to become one of the first beta test cases for the Virtual Solar Observatory project, a joint effort (Stanford University, National Solar Observatory, Montana State University, and the Solar Data Analysis Center) initiated via a proposal in November, 2002.
-Additional Coronal Data from the MLSO Website - Solar Maximum Mission- The MLSO image catalog database (MySQL) now provides data searches which are quick and complex. It also makes it relatively easy to add new observational datasets. HAO is currently making preparations to store Mark-III K-coronameter (1980 - 1989) and Solar Maximum Mission Coronagraph (1980, 1984-1989) data on the DVD archive. HAO recently received a NASA grant (LWS03-0161-0051) to provide all Solar Maximum Mission (SMM) coronagraph observations to the community, utilizing the MLSO web site resources. The SMM coronagraph operated during 1980 and from 1984 through 1989, recording over 240,000 images of the white-light corona, and more than 1,300 CMEs over most of a solar cycle. The complete SMM coronagraph dataset will be available to the scientific community by the spring of 2005.
-Instrument Upgrades-
Two instrument upgrades are in progress:
a. A sky brightness monitor from the University of Hawaii is soon to be installed at MLSO as an aid in calibrating the MLSO sky transmission telescope. High quality sky transmission readings are needed to help ensure the quality of the MK4 calibration. MLSO and HAO staffs are currently creating the infrastructure needed to support the new monitor. This effort has been delayed until the completion of the ATST site survey.
b. MK4 01 guider electronics are being completely redesigned by MLSO observer Allen Stueben and the HAO instrumentation group. Fabrication has begun and the new hardware will be installed soon. This should significantly improve the MK4 pointing which is currently the largest source of error in the Mark-IV calibration.
For further information, visit the following web sites:
MLSO: http://mlso.hao.ucar.edu ACOS: http://mlso.hao.ucar.edu/cgi-bin/mlso_acoshome.cgi PSPT: http://rise.hao.ucar.edu/pspt/instrument.html ECHO: http://www.hao.ucar.edu/public/research/mlso/LowL/lowl.html GONG: http://gong.nso.edu http://www.gong.noao.edu/sites/sites.html VSO: http://virtualsolar.org