Evaluation of Space Plasma Data: Effects upon Spacecraft Materials and Predictions of Hazardous Conditions; Polar ARCS

• Main Authors: Weiss, L. A., Winningham, J. D., Sharber, J. R.
• Other Authors: SOUTHWEST RESEARCH INST SAN ANTONIO TX
• Format: Text
• Language: English
• Published: 1990
• Subjects: Atmospheric Physics; *PLASMA WAVES; *IONOSPHERIC DISTURBANCES; *AURORAE; IONOSPHERE; IONS; POLAR REGIONS; MEASUREMENT; PROBES; MAGNETIC FIELDS; GLOBAL; HAZARDS; INTERPLANETARY SPACE; PREDICTIONS; NEUTRAL; PLASMAS(PHYSICS); ELECTRON DENSITY; AIRBORNE; MORPHOLOGY; ELECTRIC FIELDS; ELECTRONS; RADAR REFLECTIONS; SPACECRAFT COMPONENTS; SYNCHRONISM; TELEMETERING DATA; INCOHERENT SCATTERING; F REGION; ELECTRON SPECTROSCOPY; BARIUM; SPECTROMETERS; OBSERVATORIES; GREENLAND; GROUND LEVEL; MAGNETOMETERS; LINE OF SIGHT; DATA PROCESSING; BARIUM CLOUDS; POLAR ARCS; DMSP(DEFENSE METEOROLOGICAL SATELLITE PROGRAM); Brant; Greenland
• Online Access: http://www.dtic.mil/docs/citations/ADA219509; http://oai.dtic.mil/oai/oai?&verb=getRecord&metadataPrefix=html&identifier=ADA219509

The Polar ARCS campaign consisted of a highly coordinated set of ground based, airborne, and in situ measurements of a polar cap aurora over Sondrestrom, Greenland, on February 26, 1987. Three charges of barium were injected into the F-region ionosphere immediately prior to the launch of a Black Brant IX rocket instrumented with AC and DC magnetometers, plasma wave and electric field probes, and ion/neutral and electron spectrometers. Simultaneous electron density and line-of-sight measurements were made by the Sondrestrom incoherent scatter radar, and all-sky imaging photography was performed by the AFGL Airborne Ionospheric Observatory (AIO). This report discusses the electron measurements and data analysis, Interplanetary magnetic field (IMF) and DMSP satellite data are presented in an attempt to establish the global morphology of the polar cap during the campaign. The current status of the data from each of the other instruments is also assessed and recommendations for further data analysis are made. (jhd)