NSF Web Site
U.S . An tar ctic P ro gr am , 2 0 04 –
20 0 5
AERONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS
I. Ae ron o m y an d Astro p h ysics
Aur ora a ustr alis abov e the ne w sta tion
co mplex a t Amundse n–Sco tt South P ole
Statio n in J une 2004. (NSF/ USA P photo by
J. Dana H rube s, Ra ytheo n P ola r Serv ices,
Corp.)
II . Bio log y an d Me di cin e
II I. Lo n g -Te rm Eco lo g ical
Rese arch
IV. O cea n an d C lim a te Sy stem s
V. G eo lo gy a nd Ge op h ysics
VI. Gl acio lo gy
VII . Arti sts an d W rite rs
Pr og ra m
PD F Ver sion
On this page:
OP P h om e p ag e
Ant arcti c S cien ce s S ectio n
Po la r Re se ar ch S up p or t S ecti on
U.S . An n ua l An tar ctic T re aty
Ex cha n ge o f In fo rm a tio n
z Ov erv iew
z Backgro und imaging o f cosmic e xtra ga lactic po lar izatio n (BI CEP ): An ex pe rime nta l
pro be of inflatio n
z The ope ratio n o f an e xtre mely -low -fre que ncy /ve ry - low- fre que ncy ( EL F/VLF )
radiom eter a t Arr iva l H eights, Antarctica .
z Conjugate studies of ultra - long-fre que ncy ( ULF) w ave s a nd ma gneto sphe ric
z
z
z
z
z
z
z
z
z
z
z
z
z
z
z
z
z
z
z
z
z
dy na mics using gro und- ba sed inductio n ma gne tome ters at four high-latitude
manned site s.
A se arch fo r e xtra sola r pla nets fro m the So uth Po le.
Da yside auro ral ima ging at South P ole .
A v ery - low- fre que ncy ( VLF) bea con tra nsm itter at South P o le (2001 –2004) .
Austra l high- latitude a tmo spher ic dynam ics.
Studies of the po lar io no sphe re and ma gne tosphe re from m ea sure me nts in
Anta rctica and co njuga te re gio ns.
Po lar Experim ent N etwo rk for Geo spa ce U pper -Atmosphere Inv estigatio ns
(PEN GU IN ) —A new v isi on fo r glo ba l studie s.
All- sk y ima ge r at South P ole .
Spa ceship Earth: P robing the sola r wind with co smic ray s.
RICE: Radio Ice C he renk ov Exper iment.
A v ersa tile ele ctrom agne tic wa ve fo rm re ceiv er fo r South P ol e Statio n.
Effe cts o f enhanced sola r disturbances during the 2000–2002 so lar -max per iod o n
the a nta rctic me sosphere - lowe r- the rmo sphere (MLT) a nd F r egions co mpositio n,
the rmo dy na mics, a nd dy namics.
Anta rctic M uo n a nd Ne utr ino De tector Arr ay ( AMAN DA) 2004.
Mea sur eme nts addressing qua ntitativ e o zone loss, po lar stra tosphe ric cl oud
nuclea tion, a nd lar ge po lar stra tosphe ric pa rticles during a ustr al winter and
spring.
Mea sur eme nt and a naly si s o f e xtre mely -low -fre que ncy ( EL F) wav es at South P o le
Statio n.
Cosmic ra y energe tics and m ass (CREAM ).
Ballo on- bo rne ex pe rime nt with a supe rconducting spectro me ter (BESS) .
Ballo on observ atio ns o f MeV e lectro n precipitatio n.
Long-Dura tion Ballo on Pro gr am.
Infra red mea sur eme nts of atmo sphe ric co mpo sition ov er Antarctica .
Dy na mics of the a nta rctic me sosphere –lowe r–the rmo sphere (MLT) re gio n using
gro und- ba sed ra da r and TIMED instrume nta tion.
Glo bal thunde rstor m activity a nd its e ffects o n the radia tion be lts a nd the lo wer
ionosphere .
z IceCube.
z Ex tending the So uth Ame rican Mer idio nal B- fie ld Arra y (SA MBA) to a ur ora l
latitude s in Anta rctica.
z De ve lopment of an a utonom ous r eal -tim e re mo te observ ato ry (AR RO).
z Ne xt- ge ne ratio n co smic m icrowa ve ba ck ground pola rizatio n m ea sure ments with
the QU EST expe rime nt on the de gre e a ngular scale inte rfe ro mete r ( DASI).
Dual Auro ral Ra da r Ne twork a t South P ole Sta tion.
Anta rctic Submillim eter Tele sco pe and Re mo te Obser va to ry ( AST/ RO).
PAST: The P rime va l Structure Tele sco pe.
Wide -fie ld ima ging spectro scopy in the subm illime te r: Deplo ying SP IFI on the
Anta rctic Submillim eter Tele sco pe and Re mo te Obser va tory ( AST/ RO).
z High-reso lutio n o bse rva tions of the co sm ic m icr owa ve back gr ound (CM B) with the
Arcminute C osmo logy Bo lom eter Ar ray Re ceiv er (AC BAR).
z South P ole o bse rva tions to test co sm olo gi ca l models: A 10 -mete r te lesco pe for
South P ole .
z
z
z
z
Te lescopes and la bora tory fa cilities in the "dar k se ctor"
are a bo ut 1 kilo mete r fro m the m ain Amundsen- Sco tt
South Sta tion fa cilities. The "dark se ctor" is ma inta ined
with minima l inte rfere nce fro m extr aneo us light source s
and o the r e lectro magnetic radia ti on. ( NSF/ USA P photo .)
Overview
The pola r r egions ha ve bee n cal led Ea rth's windo w to outer space . Originally , this te rm
applie d to dynam ic e ve nts like the a ur ora , stage d as inco ming so lar plasma s e nco unte red
the Ear th's ge om agnetic fields. U nique proper tie s cr eate a virtual scree n o f the po lar
upper a tmosphere o n which the re sults of such inte ractio ns can be v iewe d ( and through
which evi de nce o f o the r pro cesses can pa ss). During the mid -1980s, Ea rth's window wa s
exte nde d to re fe r to the " ozo ne ho le" in the pola r atmo sphe re. As scie ntists ha ve v erifie d
an a nnual lo ss o f ozo ne in the po la r stra tosphere , a window prev iously thought clo se d
(stratifie d ozo ne blo cking the Sun's ultrav iole t r ays) is now k no wn to " open," consequent
to che mical cycle s in the a tmosphere .
For a str onom ers and a strophysicists, the South P ol e pre sents unique o ppor tunities.
Thanks to a minim um o f envi ronme nta l po llutio n a nd anthr opogenic no ise, the unique
pa ttern of light a nd da rk ne ss, a nd the pro pe rties of the ge oma gne tic for ce fie ld,
scie ntists staging their instruments he re can pro be the str ucture o f the Sun a nd the
Unive rse with unpre cedented pr ecision. S tudies suppor ted by the Antarctic Aero nomy
and Astro physics Pro gram e xplore thre e ar ea s o f re se ar ch:
z The s tratos phere and the mesos phere: In the se lowe r re gio ns, current
resea rch fo cuses o n strato sphe ric chem istry and a ero sols, pa rticula rly those
impl ica ted in the ozo ne cycle .
z The t hermosph ere, the io nosp here, and th e magnet osp here: The se higher
regions de rive m any chara cteristics fr om the inte rplay betwe en energe ti ca lly
cha rge d particle s ( ionized pla sma s in pa rticula r) a nd geo ma gnetic/ ge oe lectric
fie lds. The upper a tmosphere , particula rly the iono spher e, is the ultim ate sink of
so lar wind e nergy tra nspo rted into the ma gne to sphe re just abov e it. This re gio n is
energetica lly dynamic, with re sonant wav e -pa rticle intera cti ons a nd jo ule he ating
fro m cur rents driv en by e lectric fie lds.
z The g alaxy and the Univers e beyon d, for ast ron omic al and ast rophys ical
stu dies : Ma ny scie ntific que sti ons e xte nd be yo nd the ma gneto sphe re, including a
pa rticula r inte re st in the Sun a nd co sm ic ra ys. Astrophysical studie s a re
co nducted prim arily at Amundse n –Sco tt South P ole Sta tion or o n lo ng -dura ti on
ba lloo n flights launche d from M cM ur do S ta tion. The capability o f such ballo ons is
expa nding dram atically .
All r esea rch pro je cts spo nsore d by this progra m be ne fi t from ( indee d, mo st re quire ) the
unique physica l co nditio ns fo und only in the high latitude s, y et the ir rami fica tions e xte nd
fa r be yond Antar ctica . H igh- latitude a strophysica l re sea rch co ntributes to the
understa nding o f Antarctica's ro le in globa l e nv iro nm ental cha nge , prom ote s
inte rdi sciplinar y study of ge osphe re /biosphe re intera ctions in the m iddle and uppe r
atmo spher e, a nd impro ves under standing o f the critical proce sses o f so lar ene rgy in
the se regions. L ife e xists in a ba lance o n Earth be cause of nume rous che mical and
atmo spher ic phenome na tha t ha ve dev elo pe d in the specific a tmo sphere o f this 4.6billio n- yea r- old spinning pla ne t in orbit 149,637,000 kilo mete rs from a m iddle -size d,
middle - aged sta r. The 20th-ce ntury e xpansio n o f tra ditio nal astro nomy to the scie nce o f
astro physics, co uple d with the em erging discipline of atmo sphe ric scie nce ( see a lso the
Anta rctic Oce an a nd Clima te Studie s P ro gra m) , is no where bette r e xem plifie d than in
Anta rctica.
^ to p
Background imaging of cosmic extragalactic
polarization (BICEP): An experimental probe of
inflation.
An drew E. Lan ge an d James J. Bock, C alifornia In stitu te of Tech nology; William
L. Holz apfel, Univers it y of California – Berkeley; and Brian G. Keating, Univers ity
of C alifornia– San Dieg o.
The cosmi c micro wa ve backgro und (CMB ) pro vide s three stro ng but circumstantia l piece s
of e vidence that the v isibl e Unive rse was cre ate d by the supe rluminal infl atio n of a tiny
volume of space , nam ely :
z
the nea r isotro py (homo geneity ) of the hor izon,
z
the flatne ss of spa ce, a nd
z
the phase -sy nchro nicity of a coustic o scillatio ns in the e arly U niv erse .
To bette r understa nd the o rigins o f the U nive rse, w e must probe this e po ch o f infla tion
dire ctly. The mo st prom ising pr obe is the unique signa ture tha t the gra vity wa ve
ba ckground (GW B) imprints o n the pola rizatio n o f the CMB. The am plitude of this
signature depends o n the ener gy -sca le of infla tion.
De tection will require o nly m odest angula r reso lutio n ( about 1 degre e), but long
inte gra tio n (a bo ut a y ea r) on a restri cte d a nd co ntiguous pa tch of sk y. The 6-month
night, the ex tr eme ly dry and stable we ather , and the precise ro tatio n o f the sky a bo ut
the ze nith ma ke So uth P ole Sta tion the idea l terre strial site for this a mbitious pro je ct. A
CMB po lar imete r (BICEP ) uniquely capa ble o f dete cting the signature of the GW B wi ll be
de plo ye d and co mmissio ned during 2004 –2005. Afte r BICEP is unpack ed a nd pr epare d
fo r i nitia l co oldown, the o ptica l lo ading, bandpa ss, and noise cha racter istics o f the
de tector a rra y and mo dula tion sy stems will be tested under re alistic conditions. The ne xt
ste ps will be ere cti ng the groundshie ld, refining the po inting m odel o f the mount, a nd
mapping the beam s o f the 96 detecto rs be fo re testing o n gala ctic so urce s a nd dark fie lds
be gins.
BICEP oper ate s simultane ously at 100 and 150 giga hertz (GH z) to both minimize and
reco gnize confusio n fro m po larize d a str ophysical fore grounds. At these fre quencie s, a
modest (a nd thus rela tive ly e asy to deploy a nd ma inta in) 20 -ce ntimete r prim ary
aperture will prov ide a reso lution o f 1 de gr ee a t 100 GHz and 0.7 o f a degre e at 150
GH z.
By combining a new po la rizatio n- se nsitiv e bolo metr ic dete cto r te chnolo gy de ve loped fo r
the Europea n Spa ce Age ncy 's P lanck sa te llite (to be la unched in 2007) with fo ur
independent leve ls o f signa l differe ncing a nd a care fully o pti mized o bserv ing str ate gy ,
BICEP will rea ch the cur rent limit o n C MB po lari za tion in the first hour of inte gratio n,
rea ch the se nsitivity o f Pla nck o ve r 1 perce nt o f the sky in the first w eek , a nd pr ecisely
mea sure CMB po la rizatio n o n the critical angul ar scale s o f 1 degre e to 10 degree s.
Obser vatio nal cosmo lo gy is enjoyi ng a renai ssa nce tha t has ca ptured the publ ic
imaginatio n a nd se rve s a s o ne of the m ost e ffectiv e vehicle s for stimula ti ng inte rest in
scie nce i n genera l. Dete cting the signature o f the GW B i n the CMB would represe nt a
tr ium ph of funda menta l physics a nd cosmo logy that wo uld re vo lutio nize our
understa nding o f the o rigins o f the Unive rse. ( A–033–S; NSF /OPP 02–30438)
^ to p
The operation of an extremely-lowfrequency/very-low-frequency (ELF/VLF)
radiometer at Arrival Heights, Antarctica.
An tony C. Fraser -Smit h, S tanfo rd Univers it y.
We ar e continuing o ur m ultiy ea r pro gram o f mo nito ring e xtre mely -low -fre que ncy /ve ry low -fre que ncy ( EL F/VLF ) radio no ise at Arr iva l H eights, Antarctica . The ELF/ VLF
radiom eter wa s first installe d there during the austral summe r of 1984–1985, and it has
be en in continuo us o pe ratio n e ve r since, the re by pro viding a reco rd o f anta rctic ELF/ VLF
no ise tha t i s unpre cedented in its co ntinuity a nd dura tion. An ide nti ca l sy stem that has
be en o pera ting at Sta nfo rd Univ ersity during alm ost the sa me perio d pro vides a nor the rn
mid- latitude co mpariso n data se t. Our principal objective is to improv e kno wledge of the
radio noise sta tistics at frequencies in the ELF/ VLF ra nge, and o ur pro je ct has alr ea dy
adde d substa ntia lly to the kno wledge and unde rstanding o f these sta tisti cs o n a short te rm basis.
Because o f the mea sur eme nts ma de by the Arriv al H eights ra dio me ter, studies of longer
te rm va ria tions ca n be do ne. Sim ulta ne ously , the additio nal da ta ena ble the statistica l
relia bili ty o f shor ter term v aria tions to be i mpr ov ed. Be ca use of the grea t difficulty
inv olv ed in ma king lo ng -te rm obser va tions, particula rly at re mote lo catio ns, the Arriva l
He ights m ea sure me nts a re increa sing in scientific v alue as the radio mete r co ntinues to
opera te. Since the predo minant so urce of ELF /VLF ra di o no ise is thunder sto rms occurring
in the tropics, the Arriv al H eights and Sta nfo rd syste ms pro vide alte rnate v iews of this
thunde rstorm a ctiv ity. If such activ ity de pe nds on the te mpera tur e of the tro pica l
atmo spher e, a s ha s bee n a rgue d, the lo ng-te rm statistica l me asure ments o f ELF/ VLF
radio noise m ade by the Arr iva l H eights a nd Sta nfo rd syste ms ca n prov ide inde pe ndent
infor matio n a bo ut globa l wa rming.
In addition, the ra di ome ter me asurem ents supple ment tho se ma de by the auto matic
ge ophysical obser va to rie s a nd by o ther ELF/VL F me asure ment sy stems in the Antarctic,
including tho se oper ated by the British A nta rctic Surv ey . Beca use of its rem ote lo catio n,
Arriva l He ights ha s such a lo w ba ckground noise le ve l tha t impo rtant new me asurem ents
are being m ade ev en on w eak ELF signals, such a s the Schum ann re sonances, fo r
exa mple. Ther e is a lso the po ssi bility that longer ter m observ atio ns ma y pr ove use ful in
studies of glo ba l change. ( A–100–M; NSF /OP P 01 –38126)
^ to p
Conjugate studies of ultra-long-frequency (ULF)
waves and magnetospheric dynamics using
ground -based induction magnetometers at four
high-latitude manned sites.
Mark J. En gebrets on, Aug sbu rg Co llege, and Marc R. Lessard, Universit y of New
Hampsh ire.
The Earth's m agnetic fie ld ar ises fro m its m ass a nd mo tion aro und the pola r a xis, but it
cr ea te s a po werful pheno meno n at the edge o f space k no wn a s the ma gne to sphe re,
which ha s bee n described as a co met -sha pe d cav ity or bubble ar ound the Ea rth, car ved
in the sola r wind. Whe n that super so nic flow o f plasma e ma na ting fr om the Sun
encounte rs the m agne tosphere , the result is a lo ng cylindrical ca vity, flo wing o n the lee
side o f the Ea rth, fronte d by the blunt nose o f the planet itself. Wi th the so la r wind
co ming a t superso nic spee d, this collisio n pro duces a "bow shock " seve ra l Ear th ra dii in
fro nt o f the magneto spher e pro per.
One re sult o f thi s proce ss is fluctuatio ns in the Earth's ma gne tic field, ca lled
micropulsatio ns, which can be m easure d on time sca les be twee n 0.1 seco nd and 1,000
se conds. It is k no wn that ma gne tic v aria tions ca n significa ntly a ffe ct powe r gri ds and
pipeline s. We plan to use magneto mete rs ( distr ibuted at high la titudes in bo th the
antarctic and a rctic re gions) to lea rn m ore a bo ut how va ria tions in the so la r wi nd ca n
affe ct the Earth and a nthro po genic sy ste ms.
We will study these so lar - wind-driv en va riatio ns and pa tte rns a t a v arie ty of loca ti ons
and o ver peri ods up to a co mplete so lar cycle . Since sate llite system s a re now
co ntinuo usly o bse rving so lar a ctiv ity and a lso mo nitoring the sola r wind, it is be com ing
fe asible to dev elo p mo de ls to pre dict the disr uptions caused by such ma gne tic a no ma lies.
And whil e our work is gea red spe ci fica lly towa rd a bette r unde rstanding of the wo rld a nd
the beha vio r o f its anthropoge nic syste ms, it will also invo lve spa ce wea the r pre dictio n.
(A –102–M/S; N SF/OP P 02–33169)
^ to p
A search for extrasolar planets from the South
Pole.
Douglas A. Caldwell, Lau ran ce R. Doyle, and William Bo ru cki, SET I In stitu te,
an d Zoran N in kov, Pixel Ph ysics, Inc.
We will oper ate a sma ll optical tele sco pe at the South P ole to sea rch fo r a nd cha ra cte rize
extra sola r pla nets by co ntinuously follo wing a so uther n gala cti c star field with a charge co uple d dev ice pho to me ter and se arching for the pe rio dic dimming that occurs a s a
pla ne t tr ansits its pa rent star.
The re ce nt discov ery o f ma ny clo se - in giant e xo pla nets ha s e xpanded o ur k no wle dge of
other planeta ry syste ms a nd has demo nstrate d how differe nt such syste ms ca n be fr om
the so lar syste m. H ow eve r, the ir discov ery po ses impo rta nt que stions a bout the e ffects
of such planets on the pre sence of ha bita ble pla nets. To date o nly one ex traso lar
pla ne t —HD 209458b— ha s bee n o bse rve d to tra nsit a pare nt star . This project ha s the
po tential for a 10- fo ld increa se in the num be r of e xtra sola r pla nets fo r w hich tr ansits a re
observ ed. The S outh P ole is an ex ce llent loca tion fo r de tecting such planets because
randomly phase d tra nsits can m ost efficie ntly be dete cte d during the long winter night.
Also, the co nsta nt altitude o f a stella r fie ld a t the pole a vo ids lar ge dail y atmo sphe ric
extinction va riatio ns a nd allo ws fo r higher pho tome tric pre cision a nd a sea rch for sma ller
pla ne ts.
Spe cifica lly, we will establish a n a uto ma ted plane t- finding photo mete r a t the So uth Po le
fo r tw o austral winter s. The statistics o f planeta ry syste ms o f nea rby so la r- ty pe sta rs
would indicate that a bo ut 10 to 15 e xtra sola r pla nets sho uld be dete cted. The re is also
the possibility o f finding planets tha t ha ve a lo wer ma ss a nd have not prev iously been
de tectable. Co mbining the tra nsit results (which give the size o f the pla ne t) with Do ppler
velo city me asurem ents ( which giv e the mass) will al low the pla ne tar y de nsity to be
de termine d, thus indicating whe the r the plane t is a gas gia nt lik e J upiter , an ice gia nt
like U ranus, or a r ocky pla ne t lik e the Ea rth. The se data will prov ide ba sic o bse rva tional
infor matio n that is v ital to the or etical mo dels of pla ne tary structure and fo rmatio n. ( A–
103 –S; NSF /OPP 01 –26313)
^ to p
Dayside auroral imaging at South Pole.
Steph en B. M en de and Harald Frey, U niversity of California –Berkeley.
We plan to opera te two ground- ba sed im agers at So uth Po le Statio n a nd combine the ir
observ atio ns with sim ulta ne ous glo bal auro ral o bse rva tions by the IMAGE (Ima ger fo r
Magneto pa use to A ur ora Glo ba l Explor atio n) space craft inv estigating te mpo ra l a nd
spa ti al effe cts in the io nosphe re from the re connection pr ocesse s a t the ma gne topause.
The So uth Po le ha s a dvanta ge s for a ur ora l im aging beca use the continuous da rkness
during the winter all ows 24 ho urs o f o ptica l o bse rva tions and beca use the idea l m agnetic
latitude pe rmits o bse rva tion of the day side a urora . The reco nne ctio n ( mer ging) regio n o f
the ma gne tosphere pro vides the m ost significant e ntr y po int for so lar wind plasma . It is
no w w ide ly acce pte d that the day side region co nta ins the fo otprint of field lines tha t
pa rticipa te in re connection pr oce sse s with the i nte rpl aneta ry fie ld.
Altho ugh a bo dy of lite rature a bout the a uro ra l fo otprints o f the day side r econnectio n
region ha s be en der ive d fr om ground- ba sed o bse rva tions, it has no t bee n possible to
rela te tho se results to simulta ne ous glo ba l a uror al ima ge s. Global o bse rva tions o f pro ton
auror as fro m the IMAGE space craft ha ve prov ided dire ct ima ges o f the foo tpr int of the
reco nnectio n re gi on, showing tha t re connectio n o ccurs continuo usly and that the spa tial
distribution of the precipitatio n fol lows the or etically pre di cte d behav ior a s a functio n o f
the inter pla ne tar y fie ld. The a po ge e o f the I MAGE space cr aft o rbi t is slowly drifting
so uth, and during the a ustral winter of 2004, the a po gee will be ov er the Southern
He misphe re. Thus, it w ill be possible to obtain simultaneo us global ima ges of the a uro ra
by IM AGE and o f the high -latitude da yside region by tw o gr ound-ba sed ima gers (e lectro n
and proto n a ur ora s) at South P ole Statio n.
Our ma in goa l is to capita lize on this unique opportunity and use the IMAGE sa tellite a s
the te lescope a nd the gro und -ba sed im agers as the micro scope fo r the se obser vatio ns in
an a ttempt to be tter unde rstand substo rms and re late d phe nome na. U nde rstanding the
Ea rth's e lectro magnetic enviro nment is k ey to pre dicting space we ather a nd to
de termining ho w geo activ e magnetic storm s a re. We will continue to invol ve stude nts in
eve ry pha se of the pro gr am, there by encoura ging so me o f the m to start a car ee r in
upper -atmo spher ic re sea rch. (A –104–S; NSF /OPP 02–30428)
^ to p
A very-low-frequency (VLF) beacon transmitter
at South Pole (2001–2004).
Umran S. Inan, Stan ford Un iversity.
This 3 -yea r pr oject to establish a nd oper ate a v ery -low -fre que ncy ( VLF) bea con
tr ansmitter a t the So uth Po le will mea sur e sola r e ffects on the Ear th's me so sphe re and
lowe r io nosphere . Re lativ istic e lectro ns, mea sur ed a t geo synchrono us or bit to hav e
energies of mo re than 300 k ilo electro nvo lts, appea r to fluctua te in r esponse to substo rm
and sola r activ ity. During such ev ents, these highly e ne rgetic electro ns ca n penetra te as
low as 30 to 40 k ilome ters a bo ve the Earth's surfa ce . At that altitude , they ca n wre ak
ha vo c in the atm osphe re; the y ionize chemica l specie s, crea te x ra ys, a nd ma y e ven
influence the che mistry that pr oduce s o zone.
By compar ing ho w the S outh P ole VLF signal va ries in bo th a mplitude and phase whe n it
arriv es at va rio us antar ctic statio ns, we ca n calcula te the e xte nt of rela tivistic ele ctr on
pre cipita tion. The tr ansmitter will a lso pro duce o ther da ta o n sola r pro ton ev ents,
rela tivistic electro n pre cipita tion fro m the Ea rth's o ute r radiatio n belts, a nd the jo ul e
he ating co mpo nents o f high- latitude /pola r cap ma gne tosphe re /iono spher e coupl ing
pro cesses.
VLF da ta fr om the South P o le be aco n prov ide a va lua ble co mplem ent to two o ther
effo rts: fir st, to othe r a nta rctic upper -atmo spher ic re sea rch, such as the a uto ma tic
ge ophysical obser va to ry pro gra m and the Souther n He misphe re co he rent high -fre que ncy
radar Super4 Dua l Auro ral N etwo rk (SU PERDARN ), and seco nd, to ongoing sate llite ba sed me asure ments o f tra ppe d and pre cipita ting high -energy ele ctrons at both high a nd
low altitudes. The latte r a re co llected by the So lar Anom alo us a nd Magneto spheri c
Par ticle Ex pl ore r ( SAMP EX). ( A –108–S; N SF/OP P 00–93381)
^ to p
Austral high-latitude atmospheric dynamics.
Gonzalo Hernandez , University of W ashingt on.
Obser vatio ns o f atm osphe ric dy na mics in Antarctica he lp us bette r unde rstand the global
be ha vio r of the a tmosphere in high -latitude re gio ns. Co mpare d with lo we r la titude site s,
the So uth Po le is a unique spot fr om which to o bse rve the dynam ic mo tion of the
atmo spher e. I ts positio n o n the Ea rth's a xis of r ota tion stro ngly re stricts the types of
wav e motio ns that can occur.
We will use high- reso lutio n Fa bry -Per ot spe ctrom eter s a t So uth P ole Sta tion and Arr iva l
He ights to mak e simultaneo us a zimutha l o bse rva tions o f the indiv idua l l ine spectra o f
se ve ral uppe r -atmo spher ic tra ce spe cies, specifically the hydro xy l ra dica l a nd ato mic
oxy gen. The o bse rv ed Do ppler shift o f the emissio n lines prov ides a dir ect m ea sure of
line -of- sight wi nd spe ed; wind fie ld structur e can a lso be de rive d fro m the se
mea sure me nts. Sim ulta ne ously o bse rve d line widths prov ide a dire ct m ea sure ment of
kinetic temper ature.
Our goa l is to obser ve, cha ra cte rize, and unde rstand high- latitude m eso spheric and
the rmo spheri c mo tions, a s we ll as the therm al structure o f these re gions. In pa rticul ar,
we are inte rested in the stro ng coupling be twee n the low er and uppe r atmo spher e and
the e xistence o f persistent upper - the rmo spheri c ve rtical winds.
At both South P ole S ta tion and Ar riva l H ei ghts, we m ake o bse rva tions during the austra l
winte r, whe n the instrume nts o pe rate in 24-ho ur data -acquisitio n mo de. At this time ,
sta tion technicia ns perfo rm routine ma inte na nce and mo nitor o pe ratio ns. During the
austral sum mer , project tea m mem be rs deplo y to bo th sta tions to perfo rm calibratio ns,
maintena nce , and upgrades. (A –110–M/S; N SF/ OPP 02–29251)
^ to p
Studies of the polar ionosphere and
magnetosphere from measurements in Antarctica
and conjugate regions.
Allan T. Weath erw ax, Siena College; Theod ore J. Ros enberg, Universit y of
Maryland; and Louis J. Lanzerot ti, New Jersey Ins titu te o f Tec hnology.
We will continue o ur studies of the pol ar iono spher e and ma gne tosphe re from Anta rctica
and nom ina lly conjugate r egions in the Arctic. Magneto mete r observ atio ns, highfre que ncy co smic no ise a bso rpti on m ea sure me nts (rio me try) , and a urora l lum ino sity
mea sure me nts (photo metry ) will fo rm the ba sis o f o ur studie s, which will al so inv olv e
exte nsiv e colla bora tion with inve stiga tors using co mpl eme nta ry data se ts.
We aim to i mpr ov e understa nding o f the mechanisms that co uple so lar proce sse s into
the te rrestri al enviro nment by inv estigating phenome na asso cia ted with short - te rm
enviro nmental e ffects (auro ra s, induce d ele ctrical currents, tra ve ling conve ction vo rtices,
pulsating par ticl e pre cipi ta tion, and the ori gin of a urora l radio e missions), as well as
tho se associa ted with lo nger - te rm effects ( atmo spher ic co mpositio n studie s,
str atospheric winds, spa ce we ather) . The obje ct is to under sta nd these phy sical
pro cesses and how they re late to inte rnal or e xter na l driv ing fo rces. Fro m this ma y
eme rge an e nha nce d capa bility to pre dict ev ents w ith negativ e te chnolo gical or socie tal
impa cts in time to mitiga te the ir e ffects.
Mor eov er , we will com bine ground- ba sed data se ts with IMAGE ( Image r for
Magneto pa use to A ur ora Glo ba l Ex plo ra ti on) sate llite data whe n the spa cecra ft is idea lly
situa ted a t a po gee in the So uthe rn H emisphere ne xt yea r.
We will also co nti nue to ma intain the ma gne tom eter s a t So uth Po le a nd McMurdo
Statio ns, as well as ima ging a nd br oa d-be am rio mete rs a nd two -wav elength zenith
photo me ters at South P ole and McMurdo Sta tions a nd ima ging r iome ters at Iqaluit and
Sondrestro m in the Arctic. In addition, w e will co ntinue to pro vide the sy stems at So uth
Po le and McM ur do Sta tions fo r the co mmo n re cording o f othe r geo phy sica l da ta and their
tr ansmission to colla bo ra ting inve stiga tors. To e nha nce the usefulne ss a nd timeli ne ss o f
the se data , we will ma intain a Web site fro m which anta rctic data se ts ca n be acce sse d in
ne ar re al time. Further, we will pa rticipate in, a nd co ntribute to, seve ra l ma jor science
initia tive s a nd Na tional Space W eathe r pro gr ams.
Our data can enhance ma ny o ther pr ojects. F or ex am ple , a str onom ers have use d our
pa rticle/ optical da ta to help ca librate the "se eing" co nditio ns a t So uth Po le dur ing auro ral
activity . Our re sea rch will also be integra ted with under gra dua te educa tion at all three o f
the inve stiga tor s' institutio ns. (A –111–M; NSF /OP P 03 –38105)
^ to p
Polar Experiment Network for Geospace UpperAtmosphere Investigations (PENGUIN)—A new
vision for global studies.
Allan T. Weath erw ax, Siena College.
Since the a dv ent o f space flight, we ha ve wi tne sse d the impo rtance of understa nding the
Ea rth a nd its space e nv iro nme nt. Such a n unde rstanding r equi res de ep knowle dge o f the
atmo spher e -ionosphere - magneto sphere sy stem —knowle dge base d on uppe r- atmo spher e
physica l pro cesses in the pola r r egions i n both hem ispher es. Only fr om the sur fa ce of
Ea rth ca n ma ny o f the critical co upling proce sses a nd feedback syste ms tha t define thi s
glo ba l syste m be studied with hi gh te mpor al and spatia l r esolutio n.
We will investigate , fro m A nta rctica and nom inally co njuga te re gio ns in the Ar cti c, the
mul ti sca le ele ctrodyna mic sy stem that co mpr ises the space e nv iro nm ent o f Ear th. Our
pla n enta ils:
z the phased de ve lopme nt of a new and co mprehensive uppe r -atmo spher e
ge ophysical me asurem ent pro gr am based on distribute d auto no mo us instr um ents
opera ting in a n ex trem e a nta rctic e nviro nm ent,
z rea l- tim e da ta coll ection via sa tellite s,
z a metho do logy to buil d synergistic da ta sets fro m a global distributio n o f So uther n
and N orther n H emisphere instrument a rray s, a nd
z an a nalysis and da ta distribution/o utrea ch progra m link ed to mo deling a nd
co mputer simulatio n to link me asurem ent a nd theo ry.
Ov er the next 5 y ea rs, we will inve stiga te da yside phe nome na such a s ma gne tic im pulse
eve nts and tr av eling conv ection vo rtices, substo rms at the highest latitude s, a uro ra l zo ne
po lewa rd boundary intensificatio ns, a nd ma gne ti c re connection and io n flows.
We will also study the ca use s o f space we ather proce sses tha t a ffect techno lo gie s o n
Ea rth a nd in nea r -Ea rth space , including charge d pa rticle e ne rgizatio n and lo ss a nd the
effe cts o f sola r particle s o n the pola r ca p io no sphe re. Ha ving the IMAGE (Ima ger fo r
Magneto pa use to A ur ora Glo ba l Ex plo ra ti on) sate llite at apoge e in the Souther n
He misphe re will pr ovi de unpr ecedente d opportunities fo r unrav eling pro ce sses inv olv ed
in internal a nd exte rnal driving force s in the glo ba l sy stem. Fro m such r esea rch wil l
ultim ately e merge a n enhanced capability to predict the lik ely o ccur rence of e vents tha t
might ha ve de leter ious e ffe cts on technolo gy o r peo ple .
We will ma ke o ur data a nd da ta acquisition too ls widely a va ilable, and o ur re sea rch will
be integra ted wi th all le vels of e ducatio n fro m high schoo l thro ugh po stdo ctora l study.
Also, the dev elo pm ent o f new lo w -po wer senso rs a nd inno va tive a ppro aches to e xtre me
enviro nment engine ering will benefit other discipline s. ( A–112–M; NSF /OP P 03 –41470)
^ to p
All-sky imager at South Pole.
Masaki Ejiri, N ational Ins titu te o f P olar Res earch, Japan .
The So uth Po le is a n unpa ralle led pla tfo rm for o bser ving a ur ora during the a ustral winter.
As a point on the Ea rth's ro tatio na l a xis, the pole pro vides a unique va nta ge po int from
which to observ e the air glo w and discern the char acteri stics of acoustic gra vity wa ve s in
the pola r regio n as they v ary in altitude and wa ve length. Observ ing auro ra continuo usly
ove r 24 hours allo ws us to co lle ct data o n:
z the day side po lar cusp/ cle ft a uro ra ( due to the direct entry o f the sola r w ind);
z afternoo n a urora tha t a re close ly asso ciated with the nightside ma gneto sphe ric
sto rm/ substor m a ctivitie s; and
z the pola r cap a uror a, which de pe nds on the pola rity o f the interpla ne tary
magnetic fie ld.
Resea rch ha s shown tha t the se a uror as de ve lop fro m pre cipitating lo w -energy particle s
entering the ma gne tosphe re from the sola r wind.
Though data hav e bee n gathere d at the South P ol e with a film -ba sed, all - sk y came ra
sy stem since 1965, newe r te chno logy now produces digita l im ages and perm its us to
pro cess large a mounts o f inform atio n auto matica lly. C ur rently, we ar e using the a ll- sk yimager , a digita l cha rge -co uple d dev ice imager m onitor ed a nd co ntro lled by the N atio na l
Institute of Po lar Re sea rch in J apan.
These inter na tiona l co llabor atio ns sho uld enhance kno wledge of the ma gneto sphe re, the
ionosphere , a nd upper/ middle a tmo sphere physics. The high-fre que ncy ra dar
insta llatio ns at H alle y Bay , Sa na e, and Sy owa S tatio ns pr ov ide the ve ctor ve lo city o f
ionospheric plasma ov er the South P ole . The se studies should pro vide further insight into
the physics o f the ma gneto sphe re, the co nv ectio n o f plasma in the po lar ca p, and so lar
wind effe cts, spe cifica lly day side a urora l str ucture , nightside substorm e ffects, and pola r
ca p a rcs. (A –117–S; U.S./Ja pan a gree ment)
^ to p
Spaceship Earth: Probing the solar wind with
cosmic rays.
John W. Bieber, William H. Matth aeus, and K. Roger P yle, Bart ol Research
Inst it ute, University of Delaw are, and Evelyn P atterso n, U.S. Air Force Ac ademy.
Cosmic ra ys —pe ne trating a tom ic nucl ei and e lectro ns fr om o ute r space that mo ve a t
ne arly the spee d of light —co ntinuo usly bom ba rd the Earth. Co lliding with the nucle i of
mole cule s fo und in the uppe r a tmosphere , they cre ate a ca sca de of se condary par ticles
tha t showe r down on Ea rth. N eutron mo nito rs, which a re deploy ed in Antarctica a nd are
pa rt o f a glo ba l netw ork o f nine sta tiona ry mo nito rs and two tra nspo rtable ship- bo rne
monito rs, prov ide a vita l three -dime nsional perspectiv e on this sho we r a nd how it v ar ies
alo ng all thr ee a xes. Accumulate d neutron -monito r r ecor ds (begun in 1960 at McM urdo
Statio n and in 1964 a t A mundsen –Sco tt South P ole Sta tion) prov ide a lo ng -te rm
histo rical re co rd tha t suppo rts e ffor ts to unde rstand the nature a nd causes of
so lar /ter restria l a nd cosm ic ra y va riatio ns a s they a re discerned ov er the 11 -yea r
sunspo t cy cle, the 22 -yea r Ha le cycle , a nd ev en lo nge r tim e scale s. Data from the
ne utr on m onitor s in this ne twor k will be co mbine d with da ta fr om o the r gro und -ba sed
and spacecra ft instruments in va rio us investigatio ns o f cosm ic ra ys in rela tion to the Sun
and sola r wind. Spe cific objective s include the study o f acce lera tion and tra nspo rt o f
so lar e ne rgetic particle s, the scatter ing of co smic ray s in the so lar wind, and the use of
co smic -ray o bse rva tions fo r spa ce wea the r fo reca sti ng.
This pro je ct a t M cM ur do a nd Amundse n–Sco tt South P ole Sta tions co ntinues a serie s o f
yea r -round obser va ti ons re cor ding co smic r ays with energie s in e xce ss o f 1 billio n
electro n v olts. These data w ill a dv ance our under sta nding o f a number of funda me nta l
pla sma proce sses occurring o n the Sun and in inte rplaneta ry space. At the o the r
extre me , we will study high time -reso lutio n ( 10 -se cond) cosmic ra y da ta to dete rmine
the thre e -dime nsional structure of turbulence in spa ce and to e lucidate the me cha nism
by which e ne rgetic cha rged particle s sca tte r in this turbulence. ( A–120–M/S; N SF/ ATM
00 –00315)
^ to p
RICE: Radio Ice Cherenkov Experiment.
David Bes son , Univers it y of Kans as –Law ren ce.
The goa ls o f the RICE exper iment are sim ilar to those for the la rge r Antarctic Muon a nd
Ne utrino De te ctor Arr ay (A MAN DA; se e A –130 –S). N eutrino s a re ele menta ry pa rticles
with no ele ctrical charge a nd ver y little ma ss. They a re the only par ticles tha t ca n e lude
the co smic m icrowa ve ba ck gr ound and pene trate , unde fle cte d by ma gne tic fields, to
Ea rth. Bo th RICE and AM ANDA see k to mea sur e high-energy neutrinos by de tecting
Che re nk ov ra diatio n, whi ch is v isi ble a s a blue glow and r esults from co llisions of highenergy neutrinos with ice o r rock . W hile AM ANDA aim s to discov er the so urce s, both
inside and o utside the gala xy , of the sho wer of v ery -high- energy neutrinos de scending
on ( and usually passing thro ugh) the Ea rth, RICE is designed to de te ct the co mpa ct
electro ma gne ti c casca de s that produce Chere nk ov r adiatio n. Ra dio dete ctio n is mo re
efficie nt than o ptica l -ba sed te chnique s.
This se aso n, the initia tion of ice -ho le drilling for the IceCube proje ct (se e A–333–S)
pre sents a singula r scientific oppor tunity. We will deploy r adio re ce ive rs i n these sam e
ho les, the reby increa sing RIC E's sensitivity to ne utri no s by at le ast tw o order s o f
magnitude. Deplo ying three r adio re ce ive r cl uste rs ( two dua l- po lariza tion, highba ndwidth a nte nna s per cluster pe r ho le) w ill a lso all ow us to co nduct ra dio glacio logy
exper iments. W e will de sign the r adio ar ray for co incident (RIC E plus IceC ube)
electro ma gne ti c casca de dete ctio n, a nd spe cia l ha rdware will a llo w m icr ose co nd time sca le e liminatio n o f the surface a nthro pogenic ba ckgrounds that ha ve prov ed a pr oblem
in the pa st.
RICE da ta fro m the pa st 4 yea rs ha ve a llowe d the mo st deta iled study o f in situ ra dio
de tection system atics so fa r. Thi s sea son, w e will pe rfo rm ma inte nance on the e xisting
exper iment. W e will al so ca librate the ra dio antenna and inve stiga te ra dio - fre que ncy ice
response, using e xisting re sources and infrastructur e and witho ut drilling additional
ho les.
Our data a nd results wil l co ntri bute grea tly to the knowle dge o f a str ophysics a nd ultr a high- energy astr onom y. ( A–123–S; NSF /OPP 03–38219)
^ to p
A versatile electromagnetic waveform receiver
for South Pole Station.
James W . LaBelle, Dartmout h Colleg e, and Allan T. Weat herwax, Siena Colleg e.
The Earth's a uror a na turally e mits a va riety o f lo w -fre que ncy ( LF), medium -fre que ncy
(MF) , a nd high -fre que ncy ( HF ) radio wa ve s that ar e si gnature s o f the inte ra ctio n
be twee n the auro ral ele ctron bea m and the iono spher ic plasma . Yet som e of the
mechanisms tha t gener ate plasma wav es a re not we ll unde rstoo d. This pr oject fo cuse s
on se ve ral types of signal s dete cta bl e at gro und lev el, i ncluding a ur ora l hiss, which
occurs prima rily a t v ery lo w fre que ncie s but o fte n ex tends into the LF/ MF range, and
auror al roa r, a rela tive ly nar rowband e missio n genera ted ne ar o r a t the seco nd and third
ha rmo nics of the e lectro n cy clo tro n frequency.
We will use a ver satile e lectro magnetic wav efor m r eceiv er deploy ed at South P ole
Statio n. Only re cently has it bee n possible to co nce ive o f a n inexpe nsiv e, v ersa tile
recei ver o f this ty pe for the South Po le. An antar cti c lo catio n is e ssential for groundba sed o bse rva tions o f LF a urora l hiss be cause the br oa dca st bands usua lly found in the
No rthe rn H e misphe re are ty pica lly a bse nt in Anta rctica . Also , the absence of br oa dca st
ba nds impr ov es the e ffectiv eness of a uto ma ti c wa ve -de tection algor ithm s.
We can use the re ceiv er to address many issues. F or e xam ple , it wa s re cently disco ve red
tha t a ur ora l r oa r is som etime s m odulated at frequencies be twee n 7 and 11 her tz, a
pheno meno n calle d flicke ring a ur ora l r oa r. This re ceive r will allo w us to find o ut ho w
co mmo n flicke ring auro ral ro ar is, the co nditions under which it occurs, what the
fre que ncie s a re, and how the am plitude and frequency va ry o ve r tim e.
Betwe en 15 pe rcent a nd 30 perce nt of auro ral hiss e vents are no t o bse rva ble at ver y low
fre que ncie s. The re ceiv er will deter mine whethe r LF a uror al hiss consists e xclusive ly of
rela tive ly unstr ucture d br oa dband im pulses o r whe the r it so metim es display s a fine
str ucture simila r to tha t o f a ur ora l kilo metric ra dia tion and whistler - mode wa ves in the
sa me frequency ra nge dete cte d in the lo wer io no sphe re. We will also de fine a nd te st
auror al roa r and a ur ora l hiss mechanisms. De spite its ex tensive a pplicatio n fo r
co mmunicatio ns, the LF/M F/H F band has be en rela tive ly little inve stiga ted a s a so urce of
na tur al radio e missions de tectable a t ground le ve l.
A co mplete kno wledge of o ur ge ophysical env ironme nt re quire s unde rstanding the
physics of the se e missio ns. Furthe r, e lectro n bea m -pla sma intera ctions a nalo go us to
te rre strial auro ra o ccur in ma ny spa ce physics and a strophysics a pplica tions. Often, the
electro ma gne ti c ra dia tion emi tte d by these system s is our only so urce o f k no wledge
about the m. The loca l a ur ora l pla sma prov ide s a n o ppor tunity to v iew som e pla sma
radiatio n pro ce sses at close ra nge . ( A–128–S; NSF /OPP 00 –90545)
^ to p
Effects of enhanced solar disturbances during the
2000 –2002 solar-max period on the antarctic
mesosphere-lower-thermosphere (MLT) and F
regions composition, thermodynamics, and
dynamics.
Gulamab as G . Sivjee and Syed Azeem, Embry Riddle Aeronau tical Universit y.
While va riatio ns in the Sun's e nergy affect pe ople in o bv ious wa ys by driv ing the w eathe r
and the sea so ns, there a re a ctua lly many cycle s a nd va riatio ns o f dee pe r inte rest to
scie nce , o n scale s fro m seco nds to centuries to eo ns. One o f the mo st basic is the 11­
yea r cycle w he n the Sun's ma gnetic pole s re ve rse dir ectio n (since re liable o bse rva tions
be ga n, 23 of the se ha ve o ccur red and the last just re ce ntly pe ak ed) and sunspo ts a nd
other sola r activ ity wax to pea k lev els. The Na tiona l Ae ro na utics and Spa ce
Adm inistra tion is using this o ppor tunity to co nduct its TIM ED ( the rmo spher e- ionosphere meso spher e -energetics and dyna mics) sa te llite study , which will focus o n the re gio n
be twee n 60 and 180 k ilome ters abo ve the Earth's surface .
Ta king a dv antage of the tim ing of bo th o f the se ev ents, we will use obser vatio ns in the
visible and nea r -infra red r anges o f uppe r -atmo spher ic e missions abov e South P ole
Statio n to study the hea ting effe cts o f a uro ra l e lectrica l curre nts in the io no sphe re, as
well as pla neta ry wav es and a tmospheric tides.
As it pa sses ov erhea d, TI MED will pr ov ide da ta on the te mpe ra ture , winds, and tide s o f
the Ear th's upper a tmosphere , e spe cia lly a bo ve the pole s. But tra cking sa tellite s o fte n
ha ve difficulty differe nti ating betwe en v ari atio ns in lo catio n or tim e. So uth Po le groundba sed o bse rva tions will be v aluable in so rting o ut the time - locatio n questio n. (A–129–S;
NSF/ OPP 03 –37618)
^ to p
Antarctic Muon and Neutrino Detector Array
(AMANDA) 2004.
Rob ert J. Morse, Francis Halzen , and Albrech t Karle, Universit y of W is cons in –
Madis on.
Ne utrino s a re ele me nta ry particle s that hav e no e lectrica l charge , can take o ne of thre e
fo rms, a nd are be liev ed to ha ve v ery little o r no m ass. C oursing through the univ erse ,
the y inte ract only ra rely with othe r pa rticles. The pr imar y obje ctive o f the Anta rctic Muo n
and N eutrino Detecto r Arra y (AMAN DA) is to disco ver the so urce s, both i nside and
outside o ur ga lax y, o f the sho wer o f v ery - high-energy neutrinos de scending on ( and
usually pa ssing thro ugh) the Ea rth. As o ne of the first large neutrino tele scopes,
AMAN DA prom ises to mak e sem ina l co ntributio ns to astr onom y.
AMAN DA uses an a rra y of pho to multiplie r tubes imbedded betw een 1 a nd 2 kilo me ters
into the ice nea r the So uth Po le to cre ate a Che renko v detecto r out o f the natural ice.
(Chere nko v radiatio n, v isi ble a s a blue glow, results fro m co llisio ns of high -energy
ne utr ino s with ice or ro ck.) This system will dete ct high -energy neutrinos that ha ve
pa sse d thro ugh the Earth. They co uld be m ade up o f contributions fro m many a ctiv e
ga lactic nuclei, or they co uld be point sources com ing fro m supe rno va r emna nts, r apidl y
rota ting pulsa rs, ne utro n sta rs, indiv idua l bla zars, o r other e xtra ga lactic point sources.
Recently , new source s o f high -energy gamm a ray s, such a s Mr k 421, hav e been
disco ver ed. AMAN DA is designed to study just such o bjects, which a re belie ve d to em it
co pious numbers of high-energy neutrinos. To date , neutrino a str onom y ha s be en lim ited
to the dete ction of so lar neutrinos, plus one brief spe cta cula r burst from the supe rnov a
tha t a ppea re d in the La rge Magella nic Cl oud in February 1987.
The AMAN DA de te ctor has oper ate d fo r mo re tha n 3 ye ars in its final configura ti on o f 677
optical mo dules on 19 strings. In stea dy o pe ratio n, the de tecto r co llects roughly 4
ne utr ino s per day using fast analy sis so ftwa re . This ye ar, we pla n a number o f upgra de s
to e xisting ex pe rime nts, ne w sta ff training, ve ry -low -fre que ncy noi se inve stiga tions, a nd
co mputer upgrade s in the for m o f filter ing and mo nitoring so ftwa re .
Also, w e pio neer ed m any of the pro gr ams that are no w par t o f the Ice Cube e ducatio n
and o utre ach pro gram ( se e A –333–S), including the Scie nce in the I ce co urse tha t
inv olv es high schoo l tea che rs a nd their stude nts, as well as participants i n the Te acher
Ex pe rience in Antar ctica P ro gr am. (A–130–S; NSF /OPP 03–37726)
^ to p
Measurements addressing quantitative ozone
loss, polar stratospheric cloud nucleation, and
large polar stratospheric particles during austral
winter and spring.
Terry D eshler, Univers it y of Wyoming, an d Marc el Snels, Ins titu to di Fis ic a
dell'Atm os fera, Rom e, It aly.
The strato sphe ric o zone la ye r pro vides life on Ea rth with an e sse nti al shie ld from so lar
ultra vio let ra dia tion. The disco ve ry in 1985 of large ozo ne losse s a bo ve Antar cti ca each
spring to ok the wo rld a nd the scie ntific comm unity by sur prise . Since that time, the
ca use of this unprece de nte d o zone loss has be en de termine d to be chlor ine co mpounds
inte racting o n the sur fa ces of clo uds tha t fo rmed when temper atures dropped bel ow 78°
C the prev ious winte r [pola r stra tosphe ric cl ouds (P SCs)] . Thi s intera ction he lps ex plain
why o zone depletio n is so seve re in the pola r regio ns. Ho wev er, many deta ils m ust still
be cla rified befo re we can compre he nsiv ely m odel the strato sphe ric o zone bala nce .
Obser vatio ns o f ve rtical o zone profiles from McM ur do Sta tion will a dd to our da tabase o f
annua l m ea sure ments and will be comple te d a s stra tosphe ric chlo rine lev els are pe aking
to pro vide a base line to dete ct the fir st signs of ozo ne reco ver y. I n addition, we w ill
exte nd our obser vatio ns o f PS Cs. We use ballo on -bo rne in situ instruments and an
optical light de tectio n and r anging radar ( lida r) to study P SCs, str atospheric ae ro so l, a nd
the ther mal behav ior a nd dynam ics o f the atmo sphe re abov e McMurdo Sta tion.
Continuo us lidar o bse rva tions a nd com pa rison of lida r and in situ me asure ments prov ide
insight into the na ture of the se PSC s. Specifica lly, me asure ments o f the size,
co ncentratio n, and o ptica l pro pertie s o f the particle s that fo rm in the se clo uds pr ov ide
estima tes o f the surfaces av aila ble fo r he tero geneo us chemistry ( the a ctiva tion of
chlo rine so it ca n destro y ozo ne), the r ates o f de nitrifica tion and dehydra tion, a nd
pa rticle com po sition.
Mea sur eme nts of ve rtical ozo ne pro fi les and lidar a ero sol profile s a re ar chiv ed in the
da tabase o f the Ne twork fo r the Dete ction o f Stra tospheric Change, a glo ba l set of highquality re mo te -so unding re sea rch statio ns for o bse rving a nd understa nding the phy sica l
and chemica l sta te of the a tmosphere ( see www.ndsc.w s). This proje ct re pre sents a
co lla bo ratio n betwe en Italia n re sea rche rs and the Unive rsity of W yom ing. ( A–131–M;
NSF/ OPP 02 –30424 and U .S./ Italia n a gre em ent)
^ to p
Measurement and analysis of extremely-lowfrequency (ELF) waves at South Pole Station.
Marc R. Less ard, Univers it y of New Hamp shire, and James W. LaBelle,
Dart mout h C ollege.
We aim to de tect a nd re co rd m agnetic fie ld fluctuatio ns in the e xtre mely -low -fre que ncy
(ELF) ra nge , spe cifi ca lly auro ra l io n cyclo tro n wa ves, which ha ve be en we ll co rre late d
with flicker ing a ur ora , a t So uth Po le Statio n. The or y pre di cts that the se wav es mo dula te
pre cipita ting ele ctron fluxe s, there by ca using the flicke ring in lumino sity e missio ns.
Substantial e vidence now suppo rts this the ory , a ltho ugh the e xcitatio n m echanism
responsible for the ion cyclo tr on wav es is som ewha t unce rtai n. The mo st we ll dev elo pe d
the ory sugge sts that the wav es result fro m an e lectro n- be am instability. In a ny ca se, the
fre que ncy o f the flicke ring or , equiva lently, the fre quency o f the gro und -ba sed
observ atio ns of ion cy clotro n wa ve s ca n be use d to infer the a ltitude o f the excita tion
mechanism, si nce the wa ve frequency depends o n the strength of the ba ck ground
magnetic fie ld, which is a k no wn quantity. As such, the infor matio n that will be a cquire d
ca n be use d to te st mo dels of a urora l accele ra tio n m echanisms, a s we ll a s study
dispersiv e ELF wav es, a ty pe o f wa ve that has be en repor ted in the lite rature o nly a fe w
tim es, but o ne tha t m ay pro vide impo rtant infor matio n o n substo rm onset o r, perha ps,
the boundarie s o f ope n and clo sed m agnetic fie lds.
A first ste p is to ide ntify the wa ve mo de and to dete rmine the lo catio n and ge oma gne tic
co nditio ns unde r w hich the se wav es can be o bse rve d. The e quipment use d to ma ke
the se observ atio ns consists o f a n inductio n coil ma gne tome ter and da ta acquisitio n
sy stem. The inductio n coil is a com mercia lly av aila ble de vice , one that wa s o rigina lly
de si gned fo r ge ophysical ex plora tion. Da ta will be re tur ne d to Dar tmouth C olle ge for
analy sis. (A –136–S; NSF /OPP 01–32576)
^ to p
Cosmic ray energetics and mass (CREAM).
Eun -Suk Seo, Un iversity of Maryland; Simo n S wordy, Un iversity of Ch ic ago;
James Beatt y an d S teph ane C out u, P enns ylvania S tate Universit y; Mich ael
DuVern ois , Univers it y of Minnes ota; Il Park, Ewh a W oman's University; and Pier
Simon e Marrocc hesi, University of Siena.
The cosmi c ra y ener ge tics a nd mass (CREAM ) pro ject is a joint N atio na l Science
Founda tion/ Na tional Ae ronautics and Space Administratio n ( NAS A) ende av or that will use
a serie s o f ballo on flights to study the ori gin of co smic r ay s. The CR EAM instrume nt is
co nfigured with state -of- the -art pa rticle dete cto rs to mea sure co sm ic ra y com po sition
fro m pr oto ns to iro n nucle i ove r the e nergy ra nge o f 1 to 10 3 te ra ele ctron vo lts. The
go al is to o bse rve co smic r ay spectra l fea tures and a bunda nce cha nge s that might signify
a limit to super no va a ccele ratio n.
Par ticle cha rge mea sur eme nts will be made with a timing- ba sed dete cto r and a pixe late d
sili co n m atrix to m inim ize the e ffe ct o f back sca tter from the calo rime ter. Pa rticle ene rgy
mea sure me nts will be ma de with a transitio n ra dia tion de tecto r a nd a sam pling
tungste n/scintil lato r ca lori mete r. In -flight cro ss ca libra tion of the two dete cto rs allo ws
be tte r de term ina tion of pa rticle ene rgy . Me asure ments o f the re lativ e abundance o f
se condary co mic ray s ( e.g., B /C), as well a s prima ry spectra, will allo w us to deter mine
co smic ray so ur ce spe ctr a at thi s high ener gy , where mea sur eme nts a re cur rently not
ava ilable .
The instr um ent ha s bee n teste d and ca librate d with a se ries o f bea m tests. It will be
inte gra ted with a flight com mand data m odule suppo rt sy ste m tha t was de ve loped fo r
the N ASA Wa llops F light Fa cility and is atta che d to the botto m o f the instrum ent to
pro vide CR EAM with po wer a nd comm unica tions. The po wer syste m co nsi sts of 10 so lar
pa ne ls a nd 4 batte ries that will pro vide 28 v olts of po wer to the instr um ent a nd 5, 12,
and 28 v olts of ( regulate d and unregulated) powe r to the suppo rt system
instrume nta tion. The co mmunica tion interface betwe en the scie nce instrume nt and the
co mma nd data mo dule is through flight computers via a n Ethernet co nnectio n. Re al -tim e
da ta will be dow n- link ed co ntinuo usly . All data wil l a lso be r eco rde d to two ha rd drive s,
so anything that is not down -link ed during re al time ca n be retrie ve d. Othe r
co mmunicatio n platfor ms se rve a s ba ck ups. ( A –137–M; NSF /N ASA a gre em ent)
^ to p
Balloon -borne experiment with a
superconducting spectrometer (BESS).
John W. Mit chell, National Aeronau tics and Sp ace Adminis tration, and Akira
Yamamoto, Hig h Energy Acc elerometer Research O rgan iz ation (KEK), Japan.
The ballo on -bo rne ex pe rime nt with a superco nducting spe ctrom eter ( BESS ) inv estigate s
elem entary pa rticle phe no me na i n the ea rly U niv erse . Fo r further studie s o f lo w- energy
antipr oto ns and e xtensive se ar che s for a ntinuclei in co sm ic ra diatio n, BESS w as prepa red
fo r a long- dura ti on ba lloo n flight in Antar ctica . During a 10-da y flight, a n ene rgy
spectr um o f cosmi c ra y antiproto ns can be precise ly mea sured w ith 10 time s highe r
sta tistics, and co smic a ntim atter ca n be sear che d for with gre ate r se nsitiv ity.
The BESS ba lloo n pay loa d, sola r -ce ll arra y structure , a nd gr ound suppo rt e quipme nt will
be tra nspo rted fro m the U nited Sta tes to W illiam Fie ld. Eight to ten scie ntists will work
the re fr om the beginning o f N ov embe r until the pay loa d is reco ve red, a fte r a lo ng­
dura ti on flight, by a sm all plane or heli co pter aro und the e nd o f Ja nua ry. (A –140–M;
NSF/ NA SA a gree ment)
^ to p
Balloon observations of MeV electron
precipitation.
Georg e P arks an d David Smit h, Un iversity of California –Berkeley.
We propo se to pre pare a nd fly a se rie s o f ballo on pa ylo ads to study e nergetic ele ctrons
pre cipita ted fro m the o uter zone o f the Ear th's radia ti on be lts into the atmo sphe re and
the n ana lyze the re sulting da ta . These el ectro ns are rela tivistic (kine ti c ene rgy grea ter
tha n the ele ctron rest mass) a nd can be re spo nsible for dam aging satel lites in
ge osynchrono us o rbit. They a re tra ppe d in the Ear th's magneto spher e be twee n 4 a nd 6
Ea rth ra dii a t the equato r, which m eans tha t they hit nea r the Arctic and Antar ctic Cir cle s
whe n they co me down. W e will address the physics o f the va rio us re lativ istic e lectro n
pre cipita tion pr ocesse s, their patter ns in space a nd time, and the ener gy a nd num be r o f
electro ns precipitate d.
When r ela tivistic e lectro ns hit the a tmosphere , they ca n produce e no ugh ionizatio n to
cr ea te che mically im po rta nt am ounts o f "o dd nitro ge n" ( nitrogen dio xide a nd other
co mpounds) . The se com po unds ca n either destro y strato sphe ric o zone o r else bind up
and dea ctivate chlo rine ato ms tha t destro y ozo ne, thus per ha ps partia lly prote cting the
ozone la ye r. Altho ugh their ro le in e ither case is unde rstoo d to be smal l, it ha s no t bee n
well studied and ma y re pr esent an impo rta nt perturbatio n o n the main che mistry .
Instrume nts o n the ba lloo ns do not study the ele ctrons themse lve s, but ra the r the x ra ys
the y emit when the y hi t the a tmosphere . Ba lloo n-bo rne instrume nts can the re fo re
observ e all the precipitatio n ta king place wi thin 100 k ilom ete rs o f its loca ti on o r mo re
and tra ck the v aria bility of the e mission ov er time . A large ballo on will fly fro m McMurdo
Statio n, circum na vigating the co ntinent in 2 to 3 we eks. It wil l ca rry sev era l x -ray
de tector s, as we ll a s instrume nts to detect ele ctrom agne tic fie lds and wa ve s. Thr ee sma ll
pa ylo ads will a lso be l aunched in a re gion o f the coa st belo w the So uth Atlantic, w he re
the tra ppe d particle s bounce lowe st into the atmo sphe re because o f the sha pe o f the
Ea rth's ma gne tic field.
Improv ing our under sta nding o f the phy si cs of rela tivistic e lectro n behav ior is no t o nly
inte resting in its o wn right, but ma y a lso he lp us be tte r pr edict o zone depletio n and
pro tect satel lites from r adiatio n dama ge. M ore ov er, ba llo on pro je cts hav e prov en to be
ide al training gro unds for gra duate students in spa ce scie nce s. ( A–144–E; N SF/ OP P 02–
30441)
^ to p
Long-Duration Balloon Program.
David W. Sullivan, N at io nal Sc ient if ic Balloon Facility.
The Na tiona l Scie ntific Ballo o n Fa cility will launch two stra tosphe ric ba lloo ns betwe en
De cember 10 a nd Ja nua ry 10. They ha ve a v olume o f 40 mil lion cubic fee t a nd will
ascend a t a r ate o f a ppro xima tely 900 fee t per minute to a floa t a ltitude o f 125.000 fee t.
All the ballo ons will be la unched fro m the lo ng- dura ti on-ba lloo n site nea r Willia ms F ield,
rea ch fl oa t a ltitude, and circumnav igate the continent betw een 70 degree s a nd 80
de gre es south la titude . The y will be te rminate d a nd reco ver ed o n the Ro ss Ice She lf or
the P ola r Pla tea u.
When a flight is term ina ted, a n a ircraft will fly within line o f sight and se nd a com mand
to the pay loa d fro m a n o nbo ard co mmunica tion system . At the po int of rele ase , the
pa ylo ad w ill descend by para chute to a pre dicte d impact site. Reco ve ry oper atio ns a nd
da ta analy sis wil l then fo llow . (A –145–M; NSF /N ASA a gre em ent)
^ to p
Infrared measurements of atmospheric
composition over Antarctica.
Frank J. Mu rc ray, Ro nald D. Blath erw ic k, and Pierre Fogal, Universit y of Den ver.
Using passive infrar ed instrume nts, w e will mea sure yea r -round a tmospheric che mistry
to acquir e be tter data for the pho tochemi ca l tra nspo rt m odels use d to predict ozo ne
de ple tion and clima te cha nge . The ozo ne ho le ha s sho wn how sensitive the so uther n
po lar stra tosphe re is to chlo rine, and a ltho ugh gra dua l he aling o f the hole i s e xpected,
model predictions indica te a po ssible de lay in re cov ery beca use o f the impact of glo bal
warm ing on the ca talytic o zone destruction pro cess.
Since m ost sa tellite i nstrume nts do no t sa mple the po lar re gi ons in the winte r, groundba sed instruments can m ak e importa nt co ntributions, a nd the da ta fr om our instruments
will a lso va lidate new sate llite sensor s. We a re in the se co nd ye ar o f this project. During
yea r 1, we succe ssfully installe d and o pera ted e mission instruments at Arriv al He ights
and So uth Po le. W e will insta ll two spectro mete rs, o ne at South P ole Sta tion and a no ther
at McMurdo Sta tion fo r y ea r- round ope ratio n, and a so lar spectro mete r at South P ole
Statio n for sum mer o pe ra tion. Also , we will co llabora te with a nd rece ive data fro m the
Ne w Ze ala nd Na tiona l Institute fo r Wa ter a nd Air Rese arch, which o pe ra tes a si milar
so lar spectro me te r at Arr iva l H eights.
During the pola r night, two instruments will pro vide impor tant inform atio n on ni tr ic a cid
and denitrificatio n, as well as dehydra tion, a nd hi gh -reso lutio n spectra fro m which we
will der ive v ertica l pro file s, ve rtical col um n am ounts o f ma ny m ole cule s impo rtant in the
ozone destructio n proce ss, and a tmospheric trace rs. Specifically , we wil l der ive ye ar ­
round column abundance me asure ments o f nitric acid, me tha ne, o zone , wa te r, nitro us
oxide , the chl oro fluo roca rbons ( CFC s) , a nd nitr ogen dio xide. The sola r spectro mete rs w ill
be prima rily study ing the bre ak up of the pol ar v orte x and photo che mical re co ve ry.
The sola r instrume nts will prov ide so me a ltitude pro file inform atio n abo ut tho se
mole cule s a nd othe rs. The data se t w e obtain will be use d to dete rmine the curr ent sta te
of nitro ge n o xide partitio ning; to me asure denitrificatio n, va por profiles in the
str atosphere , a nd de hy dratio n; to de termi ne curre nt CF C a nd stra tosphe ric chlo rine
leve ls; and to ga in mo re insight into v orte x- rela ted chem ical and dyna mic e ffects.
In addition, the data wil l a llow pho tochem ical transport mo de ler s to co mpare o utputs
with actual me asure ments, e spe cially a t interm ediate sta ge s. As the r ecov ery fro m ozo ne
de str uctio n begins, it is im po rtant to have a da ta set tha t co mprehe nsiv ely co ver s the
major co nstituents o f both the ca taly tic o zone destruction se que nce a nd glo ba l warm ing
in or de r to pla ce the rela tive influe nce o f the two m echanisms in perspectiv e. ( A–255–
M/S; N SF/ OPP 02–30370)
^ to p
Dynamics of the antarctic mesosphere–lower–
thermosphere (MLT) region using ground -based
radar and TIMED instrumentation.
Scot t E. Palo, J ames P . Avery, an d Sus an K. Avery, Univers it y of Colorado –
Bou lder.
The me so sphe re –lowe r the rmo sphere , which is found be twee n 80 a nd 120 kil ome ters
abov e the surface o f the Ea rth, is a highly dynam ic re gio n that couples the lowe r
atmo spher e (tro po sphe re/ str ato spher e) with the uppe r atmo sphe re
(thermo sphe re/ iono sphere ). Of pa rticular impo rtance in this region are bo th the upwa rd
pro pagating, therma lly force d a tmospheric tide s a nd global planeta ry wav es. Both of
the se phenome na transport hea t a nd mom entum fro m the lo wer a tmo sphere i nto the
upper atmo sphe re.
Studies in r ecent yea rs ha ve indicate d tha t the high- latitude me sosphere –lowe r
the rmo sphere ha s a r ich spe ctrum o f pre vio usly undisco ver ed pla ne tary wa ve s that can
inte ract with the sun- sy nchro nous m igr ating sem idiurnal tide, the reby mo dify ing its
spa ti al and te mpo ra l structure while giving rise to the nonmigra ting sem idiurna l tide.
Unde rstanding the structure and v ar iability of the sem idiurna l tide is an im po rtant step
to wa rd unde rstandi ng the global hea t a nd ener gy ba lance of the me sosphere –lowe r
the rmo sphere .
We will obser ve a nd model the spa tial - te mpor al structure a nd v aria bili ty of the
se midiurna l tide , with a fo cus on the ho rizonta l wind a nd tempe rature fields in the arctic
and anta rctic me sosphere –lowe r the rmo sphere . P rev ious observ atio ns hav e indicate d
tha t plane tary wa ve s play a significa nt ro le in the v aria bi lity of the semi diurnal tide. W e
will ther efore estima te the structure of the semi diurnal tide and the planeta ry wa ves
sim ulta neo usly . The se e stim ate s will be analy zed i n conjunction with both linear
mechanistic a nd global circulatio n mo dels to he lp inter pre t the o bse rva tions. The da ta fo r
this pr oject will a lso include hor izontal wind m easure ments fro m a global netwo rk of 30
gro und -ba sed m eteo r a nd medium- fre que ncy ra dars. ( The ra dar data a re colle cted by
co llea gue s in Austr alia , Ca na da , J apan, R ussia , the United Kingdom , a nd the U nited
States.) Mo reo ve r, w ind and tem pe rature m ea sure me nts from the N atio na l Aero nautics
and Space Administra ti on's TIMED ( the rmo spher e-ionosphere -meso spher e- energetics
and dynam ics) sa te llite will be combined w ith the radar data a nd incorpo rate d into
existing data bases.
Te aching, tr aining, and le arning will be adva nce d by the inclusio n in this re sear ch of
gra dua te students, e spe cially unde rrepre sented m inoritie s. All the students inv olv ed in
this proje ct will be encoura ge d to prese nt their re sults and participa te in pro fessiona l
mee tings. ( A –284 –S; NSF /OPP 03 –36946)
^ to p
Global thunderstorm activity and its effects on
the radiation belts and the lower ionosphere.
Umran S. Inan, Stan ford Un iversity.
Tra cking dynam ic sto rms is a challe nge , but lightning a sso ciate d with thunde rstor ms ca n
pro vide scientists w ith an indire ct wa y of mo nitoring glo ba l w eathe r. This project
employ s v ery -low -fre que ncy ( VLF) ra dio rece iver s lo cate d at Pa lme r S ta tion and
opera ted i n co llabora tio n with the British and Bra zilian Antarctic Pro gr ams, both of which
ha ve simila r rece ive rs. All ar e contributo rs to the Globa l C ha nge Initia ti ve.
The VLF re ceiv ers mea sur e cha nge s in the a mplitude a nd phase o f signa ls r ecei ved fro m
se ve ral distant VL F tr ansmitter s. The se changes fo llow lightning stro ke s beca use r adio
(whistler) wa ve s fro m the lightning can cause ve ry ene rge tic e lectro ns from the Va n
Allen ra dia tio n belts to pre cipita te into the upper atmo sphe re. This particle pre cipita tion
the n increa ses ionizatio n in the io nosphe re , thro ugh which the propa ga ting VLF ra dio
wav es m ust tra vel. Beca use the or ientatio ns to the VLF tra nsmi tte rs are k no wn, it is
po ssi ble to tria ngula te the lightning so urces tha t ca use d the cha nge s. Once the directio n
of the lightning so ur ce i s kno wn, it ca n be subjecte d to wa ve fo rm ana lysis and used to
tr ack — remo tely —the path of the thunder sto rms.
The data will also be co rre lated with data fro m the a nta rctic a uto ma ti c geo physica l
observ ato ry netwo rk and will be use d by scientists studying the ma gneto sphe re and the
ionosphere . (A –306–P; N SF/OP P 02–33955)
^ to p
IceCube.
Franc is H alz en , Univers it y of W is cons in – Madis on.
We ar e building the IceCube Obse rva tory , which will be insta lled a t the So uth Po le.
IceCube, a ne utri no te lesco pe that will be burie d 1.4 to 2.4 kilo me ters be low the sur fa ce
of the ice, will be co nstructed during the austra l summe rs ov er the ne xt 5 ye ar s. The
de tector will consist of 4,800 optical mo dule s deploy ed on 80 v ertica l strings. AMAN DA
(see the Antarctic Muon and N eutrino Dete ctor Arra y project, A –130–S) serv es as a
pro toty pe fo r this interna tional col labora tive e ffo rt. This sea son we will to ship the
rema ining compo ne nts, be gin dr illing in the ice sheet, and begin a sse mbling and te sting
sy stems.
Using neutrinos as cosmic me sse nge rs, Ice Cube will o pe n a n unexplo red windo w o n the
Unive rse and will a nswe r such funda mental questions as wha t the physical conditions in
ga mma ra y bur sts ar e a nd whe ther the photo ns o rigina ting in the Cra b supe rnov a
remna nt a nd ne ar the supe rmassiv e bla ck hole s o f activ e ga lax ies ar e of hadro nic
(deriv ed fro m subato mic pa rticles com po sed o f qua rk s) o r e lectro magnetic origin. The
te lesco pe w ill a lso ex ami ne the nature o f dark m atter , aid in the que st to o bse rve
supersy mme tric particle s, a nd se ar ch fo r compa ctifie d di mensions.
Since m any pa rts of the U niv erse ca nno t be ex plore d using other type s o f ra dia tion
(proto ns do not ca rry dire ctional info rma tion beca use they a re deflecte d by magnetic
fie lds, ne utr ons deca y before they re ach the Ea rth, and high- energy pho tons may be
absorbed), Ice Cube will fill a ga p in o ur knowle dge a nd occupy a unique pla ce in
astro no mical re sea rch. (A –333–S; NSF /OPP 03–31873)
^ to p
Extending the South American Meridional B-field
Array (SAMBA) to auroral latitudes in Antarctica.
Eftyhia Z esta, University of California –Los Ang eles .
The So uth Amer ica n M eridio na l B - fie ld Arra y (SA MBA) is a lo ngitudina l m agne tom ete r
cha in ex tending fro m the low to mid -latitude s. The instal latio n of a ma gneto me ter at
Pal mer Sta tion will ex tend the SAMB A chain fr om 10 to 12 sta tions a nd all ow us to study
ultra -low -fre que ncy wa ve s a nd the r emo te sensing of mass density in the inne r
magneto sphere during geo magnetica lly activ e perio ds.
Two m agne tom ete r sta tions wi ll be deploy ed, o ne a t Pa lmer Sta tion a nd the o ther at
Patr iot Hill s, a Chilea n base that ope rate s o nly in the sum mer . The C hile an Anta rctic
Institute will be responsible fo r that insta lla tio n. In Septembe r 2004, we will insta ll a
sy stem at P alme r Statio n that comprise s:
z
a magneto mete r se nsor,
z
a magneto mete r ca rd a nd ele ctronics,
z
a computer to run the syste m,
z
a 60 -yar d cable connecting the sensor to the e lectro nics, a nd
z a glo ba l po sitioning syste m (GPS) r eceiv er car d (installe d inside the co mpute r)
with an antenna and ca ble .
The sensor itse lf is m ounted a t o ne end o f a 1.1 -mete r ( m) plastic tube with a cross se ctional diam eter o f ro ughly 15 centime ters. The senso r include s a 60 -m a ttached ca ble
with condui t that allo ws the se nso r to be buried in the bedrock 1 m be low the surface in
a magnetica lly quie t e nv ironme nt that also m inimizes te mpe ra ture v ar iatio ns. A GP S
antenna will be installe d a s we ll.
Our spe cifi c goa ls a re as follo ws:
z to exte nd the SAMBA chain to auror al latitudes and to increa se the spa tial
reso lutio n o f the effe ctive cusp-to -cusp chain,
z to exte nd the number o f conjuga te pa irs o f sta ti ons betwe en the No rthern and
Southern He misphe res, thus incre asing the size of the inne r magneto spher ic
region tha t ca n be re mote ly mo nitore d,
z to establish a n a ur ora l la titude sta tion co njugate to the Ca nadian Po ste de la
Bale ine a nd to study the differ ences in substo rms and gener al auro ral a ctiv ity,
and
z to pro vide the scientific com muni ty w ith nea r- rea l-tim e da ta that can be used to
valida te mode ls a nd index es tha t up to no w hav e be en tune d pr imar ily with data
only fr om the No rthern H emisphere . ( A–357–P; N SF/OP P 03–41861)
^ to p
Development of an autonomous real-time remote
observatory (ARRO).
Marc R. Less ard, Univers it y of New Hamp shire, and James W. LaBelle,
Dart mout h C ollege.
We will de ve lop an a utonom ous r ea l- tim e rem ote o bse rva tor y ( ARRO), which will be
de si gned to acco mmo da te at lea st a do ze n instruments, with the go al of enabling re liable
observ atio ns fr om sev er al sites on the a nta rctic pla te au. W e will build tw o pr oto types o f
this observ ato ry a nd te st them fo r e xte nded pe rio ds in co ld chambe rs o n Mo unt
Washingto n a nd at the S outh P ole .
Significant o utsta nding issues in dive rse fields driv e the ne ed for a netwo rk o f re liable
autonom ous o bserv ato ries capable o f o pe rating in the po lar re gio ns. ARRO will contribute
to the pursuit o f a broa d scientific a ge nda by a la rge gro up o f institutio ns and
inv estigato rs in fie lds ra nging from so lar - te rre strial phy sics to sei sm olo gy . In sola rte rre strial phy sics, the ge oma gne tic pola r ca p—the re gion o f geo ma gnetic field line s
co nne cted to interpla ne tary spa ce —fo rms a ke y windo w o n the intera ction be twee n the
so lar wind a nd the Ea rth's ma gne tosphere . Co ntinued pro gress in unde rstanding the
Sun's influence on the structure a nd dy na mics of the Earth's uppe r atmo sphe re depends
on incre asing k no wledge of the ro le that the po lar cap pla ys in co upling the sola r w ind
with the ma gne tosphe re , iono spher e, a nd thermo sphe re. Furthe rmo re , a netwo rk o f
observ ato ries at high latitude s w ill co ntr ibute significantly to studie s o f e ne rgy input into
the ma gne tosphere , re co nne ction, nightside ener giza tion of pa rticles and a ur ora l
substorm s, suba uror al and inner ma gneto sphe ric physics, a nd de ve lopme nt of a new
po lar cap inde x of so lar - te rre strial activ ity.
Also, be ca use the se ismic char acter o f Antarctica is not well k no wn, a centra l go al is to
de termine crustal a nd mantle structur e from se ismic signals. This r equir es a ne twor k of
recei ving statio ns. In atmo sphe ric scie nce , one v ital object of study is nitric acid
tr ihy dr ate pola r strato spher ic clo uds, which a re implicate d in the a nnual spr ingtime
de str uctio n o f strato sphe ric o zone o ver Antar ctica .
In addition, A RRO dev elo pment includes seve ral diffe rent l aye rs o f re se ar ch and tra ining.
Students will be directly inv olv ed, from the initial de sign stages to deploy ment. F ina lly,
ARRO i ncludes significa nt connectio ns to industry a nd Go ve rnment units outside the
academ ic co mmunity, a nd participatio n will sharpen the ca pabilities o f these units to
se rve the N atio n in apply ing technolo gy to challe nging e nv iro nm ents o f cold wea the r and
high a ltitude s. ( A–362–S; NSF /OPP 02–16279)
^ to p
Next-generation cosmic microwave background
polarization measurements with the QUEST
experiment on the degree angular scale
interferometer (DASI).
Sarah E. Chu rc h, S tanf ord Un iversity; C lement L. P ryke, Universit y of C hic ago;
an d An drew E . Lange and James J. Bock, California Ins titut e of Tec hnology.
We intend to deplo y QU EST, a 2.6 -mete r C assegra in tele scope e quippe d with a ne xt ge ne ratio n pol ariza tion -se nsitiv e bolo mete r a rray , to So uth Po le Sta tion and o pe rate it
ove r two austra l winter s. We will mo unt the tele sco pe on the e xisting degree a ngula r
sca le interfero me ter (DASI) pla tfo rm and re use large parts of the DASI infra structure
and contro l sy stem. We will use the co mbined QUEST/DASI (o r QUa D) sy ste m to ma ke
maps o f the pola rizatio n o f the co sm ic m icr owa ve back gr ound (CM B) with unpr ecedente d
se nsitiv ity and a ngular re solution.
The CMB — the faint, r elic he at fr om the Big Ba ng—offe rs a sna pshot o f the Unive rse at
the point where it tra nsitio ne d from ho t plasm a to neutra l ga s. The statistics of the
expecte d sky pa tte rn fo r a give n cosm olo gica l the ory ca n be accurate ly calculate d, and a
ho st o f ex pe rime nts hav e no w mea sur ed the v aria tion of the to tal intensity, or
te mpera ture, of the CM B. Tak en to ge ther, the se me asure ments ha ve begun to re ve al the
origin, com po sition, e vo lutio n, and ultima te fa te o f the Unive rse.
The pola rizatio n o f the CMB re sults fro m bulk m otio ns of mate ria l a t the time o f the
pla sma –ne utr al ga s tra nsition. Se ve ral e xperim ents a re eithe r r unning or unde r
co nstr uctio n to im pro ve me asure ments o f CM B po lariza tion. QU aD ha s r aw sensitivity
sim ilar to that of the Euro pe an Spa ce Age ncy's pla nne d Pla nck sa tellite ( to be launche d
in 2007) and in fa ct shar es much of the sa me technolo gy. H owe ve r, while P lanck plans to
surv ey the whole sk y, QU aD will go e xtre mely dee p o n sma ll pa tche s sele cted fo r
extre me ly low fore ground conta minatio n. QUa D's ma ps will ha ve dra matica lly higher
signal - to -no ise pe r pix el and w ill pro ve crucial to disentangling the cosmic signa l fro m
instrume nta l and fore gr ound effects.
The enter pri se o f m odern cosmo logy is one with w hich almo st e ver ybody can ide ntify .
QU aD pr oject mem be rs co mmunicate with the public in both fo rma l a nd info rma l
se ttings. Outre ach a nd educa tion re late d to the pr oject will be dissemina ted thro ugh
established structur es and me cha nisms, which re ach o ut to lo cal a nd dista nt K–12
scho olte achers and stude nts to inform a nd to he lp a ttract wom en a nd mino rities to
scie nce . Also , graduate a nd undergra dua te educa tion a nd rese arch w ill be integra ted into
QU aD constructio n a nd da ta a na lysis. ( A –366 –S; NSF /OPP 03 –38138, NSF /OPP 03–
38238, and N SF/OP P 03–38335)
^ to p
Dual Auroral Radar Network at South Pole
Station.
William Bristow an d J ohn Hug hes, University of Alas ka– Fairbanks .
The Supe r Dua l Auro ral Ra da r Ne twor k, o r Supe rDARN, is a n interna tional col labora tive
exper iment fo r observ atio ns o f pl asma mo tions in Earth's upper atm osphe re. By
observ ing iono spheric plasma mo tions, m any geo physica l pro cesses ranging fr om Eregion pla sma instabilities, to the rela tionships be twee n a ur ora l lumino sity and e lectric
fie lds, to the glo ba l -sca le conve ctive re spo nse to cha nge s in the so lar wind a nd the
inte rpl aneta ry ma gnetic field ca n be studie d. Each o f these co ntributes to the ove ra ll
go als of spa ce physics: de ve loping an understa nding o f the coupling of e nergy from the
so lar wind into Ear th's upper a tmosphere a nd its e ffects on peo ple or the sy stems they
ha ve cre ate d.
Super DAR N cov ers nea rly 15 hours of lo cal time in the N o rthe rn H emisphere a nd close to
12 ho urs in the S outhe rn H em isphe re. The co ntinuous m onito ring of co nve ctiv e flows
requires rada r o bse rva tions tha t circumscribe the magnetic po les.
We will construct a ra dar instrum ent a t A mundsen –Sco tt South P ole Sta tion. The da ta we
de rive wil l be used to study a va riety o f to pics, including the re spo nses of glo ba l
co nve ctio n to so lar wind a nd inte rplaneta ry ma gne ti c field cha nges; plasm a entry into,
and e xit fro m, the pol ar cap a nd the accom pa nying re spo nse o f the ma gne tota il;
magneto spheric cusp response to changes in the sola r wind; meso sphe ric winds; and
the rmo spheri c grav ity wav es. In a ddition, by e stablishing glo ba l -sca le cov era ge in the
Southern H emisphere , we ca n a ddress que stions a bout co njuga cy and the diffe rences
ca use d by the asym metr y of so lar illumina tio n.
The Supe rDARN netwo rk has prov en to be a mo ng the m ost po wer ful to ols av aila ble fo r
spa ce physics rese arch. The ability to o bser ve global - sca le conve ction with goo d
te mpor al and spatia l r esolutio n a llows us to a ddre ss som e of the m ost inte resting a nd
impo rta nt o utsta nding que stions of space physics.
In addition, a s a radar netwo rk, Supe rDARN foste rs inter na tiona l co llabora tio n, especiall y
with the Italia n Instituto de F isica de llo Spazio I nte rplanera rio a nd the French L abora toir e
de P hy sique e t Chimie de l'Enviro nne ment. The coo pe ra tive scientific e ffor t foste red
under this progra m will ha ve bro ad so cieta l im pa cts a nd will al so co ntribute to the
educa tion of futur e scie ntists.(A –369–S; N SF/OP P 03–37635)
^ to p
Antarctic Submillimeter Telescope and Remote
Observatory (AST/RO).
An tony A. St ark and Adair P. Lan e, Smit hs onian I nst it ution Ast ro physical
Observato ry; Christo pher K. W alker, Un iversity o f Ariz ona; and Jacob Kooi and
Rich ard Ch amberlin, C alifornia Ins titu te of Tech nology.
Astr onom y is unde rgoing a r evo lutionar y transforma tion, whe re for the fi rst time w e can
observ e the full r ange of e lectro ma gnetic ra dia tio n em itte d by astro nomi ca l so urces. One
of the newly dev elo pe d a nd lea st ex pl ore d bands is the submillime ter, at frequencies
fro m about 300 gigahe rtz up into the tera hertz range. Submillime ter -wav e radiatio n is
emitte d by de nse gas and dust betwe en the sta rs, and submillime ter- wav e observ atio ns
allo w us to study the gala ctic for ce s a cting on tha t gas and the sta r for matio n proce sses
within it in unprece de nted deta il.
The Antarctic Submi llimete r Te lescope a nd Rem ote Obse rv ator y ( AST/ RO) is a 1.7mete r, single -dish instrume nt that ha s bee n o pe rating since 1995 in sev era l
submillime ter bands. It ha s m ade positio n-po sition -velo city ma ps of submillim eter - wav e
spectr al line s with arcminute re so lution ov er regio ns of sky that are se ve ral squa re
de gre es in size . AST/RO pr ov ide s a v aluable co mpleme nt to the planned a rra ys, w hich
are inefficient w he n o bse rving la rge are as beca use o f their sma ll fie ld of vie w. AST/RO
ca n o bse rve m ole cula r clo uds thro ughout the fo ur th qua dr ant o f the Milk y Wa y and the
Magella nic Clo uds to lo ca te star - fo rming co res and study i n detail the dynamics of de nse
ga s in our own ga lax y. A ST/ RO studies are showing ho w m ole cula r clouds a re structure d,
ho w ne wly fo rme d sta rs re act ba ck on the clo ud, and how gala ctic force s a ffect cloud
str ucture. Also, the se studies:
z ha ve shown tha t the structure of mole cul ar clouds is affe cted by the ir heav y
elem ent co ntent a nd the ir pr oxi mity to spi ral a rms,
z ha ve e xa mined the gradie nt of he av y ele ments in the ga lax y, a nd
z ha ve re cently produced e xte nsiv e, high-se nsitiv ity ma ps of sev er al ato mic a nd
mole cula r transitio ns towa rd the Gala ctic Ce nte r and a n unbia sed surve y o f
mole cula r and a tomic gas in the fourth quadra nt of the Ga lax y.
Essentia l to A ST/ RO's ca pa bilitie s is its locatio n a t Amundse n–Sco tt South P ole Sta tion.
Most submillim ete r r adiatio n is a bso rbed by irre gula r co ncentratio ns o f atm osphe ric
water v apor befor e it re aches the Ea rth's surface. The desicca te d a ir ove r South P ole
Statio n allo ws an a ccur ate interco mpari so n o f subm illime te r -wav e po wer le vel s from
locatio ns o n the sky se pa rate d by sev era l degre es. This is esse ntia l to the study o f
submillime ter - wav e radiatio n o n the scale o f the Milk y Wa y and its co mpa nion ga lax ies.
This se aso n we will use rece ntly insta lled r eceiv ers in the te raher tz frequency ba nd
[SPI FI (the South P ol e Imaging Fa bry -Per ot Inter fe rom eter ), TREND] to m ap highl y
excite d lines of ca rbon mo nox ide a nd other m ole cule s to ward star -fo rming re gio ns in the
Milky W ay a nd ne ar by gala xie s, a s we ll a s e mission fr om io nize d nitro ge n (the seco nd
str onge st line e mitted fro m the inte rstella r me di um ) to wa rd the Gala ctic Ce nte r. W e will
be gin a sur vey o f a tomi c a nd mole cular lines fro m the Lupus a nd Cham eleo n clo uds,
which are being intensiv ely studie d a t infr are d wa ve lengths with the Spi tze r Space
Te lescope. The data wi ll be ma de fre ely a va ilable. (A –371–S; N SF/OP P 01–26090)
^ to p
PAST: The Primeval Structure Telescope.
Jeffrey B. Pet ers on, Carnegie-Mellon Univers ity.
We propo se to build the P rimev al Structure Te lesco pe ( PAST) a nd use it to locate a nd
study the e ra o f form atio n of the e ar liest luminous obje cts. The prim eva l str ucture we
will dete ct co nta ined the fi rst star s, supe rnova explo sions, a nd/o r bla ck hole s. All the se
obje cts we re strong so urces of ultra vio let (U V) radia tion, so they io nize d the ma teria l
surro unding them . It is this io nizatio n that we will sense a nd study.
For deca de s, the study of the first colla pse d o bjects was largel y a theo re tica l exe rcise,
since a lmost no da ta from re d shift highe r than 5 we re av aila ble . The high r ed shift
Unive rse, w he re the fir st io nizing o bje cts re side d, was inaccessible to obser va ti on. Tha t
cha nged suddenly in F ebruary 2003, whe n sa tellite data pro vided e vidence tha t the
Unive rse was ionize d ve ry ea rly , before a ge 200 mill ion y ea rs. To io nize the U niv erse a t
the then -pre va iling de nsity o f hydroge n wo uld ha ve re quire d a v ery stro ng UV flux, which
mea ns that the first UV -effusive o bje cts wer e like ly fo rme d much e arli er than many
co smo logists had tho ught. Ear ly ioniza ti on m ea ns tha t the U niv erse wa s m ore vio lent,
str uctured, a nd intere sting in its y outh than ha d bee n belie ved.
The PAS T will be a spa rse arr ay o f 1,000 a nte nna s that will spa n sev er al squar e
kilo mete rs o f ice surface adjace nt to So uth Po le Sta tion. The regions of sk y that we will
observ e are a va ilable 24 hours a day, so fo r ve ry deep inte gratio ns, this me ans a bo ut
thre e time s the e ffectiv e mapping spe ed o f a m id-latitude te lesco pe .
The PAS T arr ay will ima ge and spectra lly reso lve hype rfine e mission of ne utra l hy dr ogen
at red shifts fro m 6 to 35. As the prime va l e ne rgy rele ase dev elo ped, bubbles of
ionizatio n te mpo ra rily e liminate d this e mission. These bubbles were e ssentially the
aggre gate Stro mgren spher es of pro togala xy gro ups and clusters. W e will ima ge the se
bubble s in thre e dimensio ns, allo wing us to study their e vol utio n a nd mer ging a nd pin
do wn when the first br ight o bjects were fo rme d. Cur rently, it is not clea r ho w m any
pe riods of io niza tion the U nive rse ha s pa sse d through. At ea ch transitio n betwe en ionized
and neutral , in e ithe r dir ection, P AST ca n cre ate snapsho ts o f the structure of the
Unive rse.
During the first y ea r, we wil l design the tele scope, pro duce proto types, and te st them at
the So uth Po le. During y ea r 2, we will fabricate the te lescope a nd insta ll it. In y ea r 3, the
te lesco pe will be oper ated ov er the winte r. Yea r 4 is de dica ted to continue d o bse rva tions
and data a na lysis (we wi ll re lea se all data within 1 y ear o f col lection) . (A –375–S;
NSF/ OPP 03 –42448)
^ to p
Wide-field imaging spectroscopy in the
submillimeter: Deploying SPIFI on the Antarctic
Submillimeter Telescope and Remote
Observatory (AST/RO).
Gord on J. St acey, C orn ell Un iversity.
SPIF I ( South P ole I maging Fa br y -Per ot Interfero me ter) , the fir st direct detectio n imaging
spectr ome ter for use in the submillim ete r band, wa s designe d for use on the 1.7-mete r
Anta rctic Submillim eter Tele sco pe and Re mo te Obser va tory ( AST/ RO) at the South P ole
in the far -infra red a nd submi llimete r windo ws. After hav ing de ve loped a nd e xtensive ly
fie ld- te sted S PIFI , our prima ry scientifi c goa ls a re to :
z image the inne r regions of the gala xy , in par ticula r subm illime te r lines tha t
cha racte rize ex citatio n conditions i n the Ce ntr al Mo lecular Zo ne (CMZ ), a nd trace
the dyna mics o f the ga s. Questio ns to be answere d a re, amo ng othe rs, Ca n we
tr ace neutra l gas flo wing thro ugh the CMZ ? Ar e the re shocks from clo ud -clo ud
co llisio ns in this flo w? W hat is the connectio n betwe en the CM Z mo lecula r clo uds
and the circum nucle ar ring?
z map the La rge Ma ge llanic Cloud a nd Sma ll M agella nic Clo ud in these lines. The
low me ta licity env ironme nt in the se dwa rf gala xie s ma y mim ic that of
pro togal axie s, so that inve stiga ting the intera ction be tw een star form atio n and
the inter ste llar m atter in the se ga lax ies is k ey to unde rstanding the sta r fo rma tion
pro cess in the ea rly Univ erse .
z cha racte rize and m ap the phy sical conditions o f the interste llar ma tter in ne arby
ga lax ies. These data a re unique and will be essentia l to unde rstanding the
rela tionships be twee n density wav es, ba r po tentials, and gala xy -wide sta r
fo rma tion.
These pro je cts can be underta ken only with the high sensitivi ty a nd mapping capabilities
of the SP IFI AST/RO combinatio n. SPI FI is much m ore se nsitiv e than the best he tero dyne
recei ver s, which do no t hav e the se nsiti vity o r ( often) the ba ndwidth, to dete ct the
bro ad, we ak lines from gala xie s o r the spatia l multiple xing ca pa bility nece ssa ry for wide fie ld ma pping projects. W e plan to gra dua lly upgra de SPIF I by a facto r o f 10. We will a lso
mak e mo de st o ptica l a nd cryo ge ni c mo di fica tions to im pr ov e it in way s impo rtant to
successful pola r opera tions. The result will be bette r spa tial re solution, with a wider field
of v iew, and a la rge improv eme nt in syste m se nsitivity. Mo reo ve r, the new cryo ge nic
sy stem will require ser vicing o nly e ve ry 5 day s instea d o f the cur rent 40 ho urs. This is
he lpful fo r o utdo or pola r opera tions. This new syste m also re duce s helium consumption
(by a fa ctor o f 2) and there fo re re duce s cost. ( A–377–S; NSF /OPP 00–94605)
^ to p
High -resolution observations of the cosmic
microwave background (CMB) with the
Arcminute Cosmology Bolometer Array Receiver
(ACBAR).
William L. Holz apfel, Universit y of California – Berkeley.
We will continue o ur observ atio ns with the Arcm inute Co smol ogy Bo lom eter Ar ray
Recei ver ( ACBAR) , a 16- elem ent 230-micro - Kelv in bolo me ter rece ive r de si gned to
pro duce high- reso lutio n im ages of the co sm ic m icr owa ve back gr ound (CM B) in 3­
millime ter wav ele ngth ba nds. Mo unte d o n the 2.1 -mete r V ipe r te lesco pe a t the So uth
Po le, AC BAR has sensitivity that riv als ba lloo n- bo rne ex pe rime nts and a ngular re solution
tha t they ca nno t ho pe to a chi eve . Ma king full use o f the e xcelle nt a tmospheric conditions
during the austra l winter a t the So uth Po le, ACBAR is pro ducing im ages of C MB radia ti on
with sensitiv ity and re solution tha t e xce ed the capa bilitie s o f e ven the Europea n Space
Age ncy 's pro po sed P lanck sate llite (to be la unched in 2007) .
Obser vatio ns o f the CMB prov ide a unique windo w o n the ea rly U niv erse ; mo reo ve r,
the se da ta pla y a k ey ro le in tra nsfo rming co sm olo gy into a pre cise scie nce. In pa rticular,
sm all angula r -sca le o bse rva tions o f the CM B a re a new frontie r a bo ut which
co mpar ative ly little is know n. On these angular scale s, contributi ons fro m seco nda ry
anisotro pi es i ntro duce d by inte rve ning str ucture s a re e xpected to be com e do minant. F or
exa mple, the sca tte ring o f pho tons by hot ga s bound to clusters of ga lax ies results in a
spectr al distortio n o f the CMB kno wn a s the Suny ae v -Zel'dov ich Effect (SZE) .
Obser vatio ns o f the SZE ca n prov ide importa nt new constra ints on theo ries of ho w the
Unive rse gr ew.
The unique capabilitie s o f ACBAR , which wa s deploy ed to the S outh P ole in De cembe r
2000, allo w it to a ddre ss a bro ad r ange of scie nce focused on m ea suring prim ary a nd
se condary C MB anisotro pies. Our o bse rva tions a nd ana lysis will he lp re alize the full
po tential of this po werful instrume nt fo r the study of co smo logy. Four institutio ns will
co ntinue to co llabor ate in the m aintenance a nd o pe ratio n o f ACB AR a nd Viper and
pa rticipa te in the data a na lysis.
The re sults will se rve as a vita l co mpleme nt to the lar ge -sca le Micr owa ve Anistro py P robe
(MAP ) spa cecra ft data set and pro vide a n e sse nti al che ck of the fine -sca le ex cess po wer
repor te d by othe r single -fre que ncy e xperim ents. The no ve l instrumenta tion, o bse rva tion
te chniques, a nd anal ysis de velo ped for AC BAR are gene rally a pplicable to future gro undba sed m illimete r astro no my e xperim ents. In additio n, this pro je ct has pr ov ide d hands- on
resea rch e xper ience to se ver al undergra dua te and gra duate students. (A –378–S;
NSF/ OPP 02–32009)
^ to p
South Pole observations to test cosmological
models: A 10 -meter telescope for South Pole.
John E. C arlst ro m, Univers it y of Ch icag o; Ant ony A. Stark, Smith sonian
Inst it ution Ast rop hysical O bservatory; J ohn Ruhl, C ase Wes tern Reserve
University; Josep h J . Mohr, Un iversity of Illinois– Urban a-Champaign; and
William L. Holz apfel, Universit y of California – Berkeley.
One o f the most impor tant discov erie s in cosmo logy is tha t a ppar ently much, if not mo st,
of the ma ss in the U ni ver se is ma de up not of stars and glow ing ga s, but of da rk ma tter,
which emits little o r no light o r other e lectro magnetic radia tion a nd ma ke s its prese nce
known only through the gr av itatio na l fo rce it e xe rts o n luminous matte r. There is som e
indicatio n that dark m atter ma y in fact no t eve n be bary onic ( ba ry ons a re suba tom ic
pa rticles tha t a re built fro m quark s a nd intera ct v ia strong nuclea r fo rce). Just wha t
fra ction of the ma ss is in the form o f nonintera cting no nba ryo nic particle s is of gr eat
inte rest to cosmo lo gists and phy sicists.
The Univ ersity o f Chicago will lea d a co nso rtium of six institutio ns to design a nd use a
10 -mete r o ff-axis tele scope at Amundse n- Sco tt South P ole Sta tion to sur vey ga lax y
cluster s. One of the me mbe rs of the te am will de ploy for 2 w eek s in Ja nua ry 2005 to
exa mine wo rk do ne on fo undatio ns for the tele scope and shield. A surve y of ga lax y
cluster s will a llow us to study inte gra ted cl uste r a bunda nce and its red shift e vo lutio n a nd
will give us pr ecise co sm olo gi ca l co nstraints tha t a re com ple tely independent o f those
fro m super no va distance a nd co smic micro wav e ba ckgro und ( CMB) a niso tropy
mea sure me nts.
Mea sur ing the m ass i n bary ons a long w ith the tota l ma ss in a re gio n o f the Univ erse that
co uld be conside re d a fair sample wo uld prov ide a cruci al dir ect de termina tion of the
da rk ma tte r content. In rece nt ye ars, just such a te st -be d has be en fo und in ma ssiv e
cluster s o f gala xie s, which contain lar ge a mo unts o f gas (bar yo ns) in the for m o f a highly
ionized ga s a tmosphere that em its x ra ys. N ea rly all o f the ba ryo ns in the clusters ar e
be liev ed to be in the hot pha se (mil lions o f degre es), and so it is lik ely tha t we a re truly
mea suri ng the bar yo nic ma ss in the cluster.
In addition to emi tting x ray s, the ho t cluster gas also sca tters CM B r adiatio n. This
sca ttering, call ed the Sunyae v - Zel'dov ich Effect ( SZE) , is mea surable using radio
te lesco pe s. The S ZE is impo rta nt to the study o f cosmo lo gy a nd the C MB fo r two ma in
rea sons:
z The obser ved ho tspo ts cr eate d by the kinetic effe ct wil l distort the po wer
spectr um o f CMB a niso tropie s. The se ne ed to be sepa rate d from prima ry anisotro pi es i n or de r to pro be infla tion prope rties.
z The therma l SZE ca n be mea sur ed a nd combined with x -ray o bse rva tions to
de termine the va lues of co smo logical para mete rs, in pa rticula r the Hubble
co nsta nt. (A –379–S; NSF /OPP 01–30612)
^ to p
Webs ite Polic ies and L in ks
|
Privac y
|
FO IA
|
Help
|
Con tac t NSF
The Nat ional S cienc e Foundat ion, 42 01 Wilson B oulevard, Arlingt on, V irginia 222 30, U SA
Tel: (703 ) 29 2-5111 , FIR S: (800 ) 877 -8339 | TD D: (8 00) 281 -8749
|
Con tac t Web M ast er
|
Las t U pdat ed:
Jan 27 , 2005
Text Only
Sit eMap