Physics Commons^™

Opal Cubesat Data Analysis Model, Kenneth Zia, Ludger Scherliess, Michael J. Taylor

Physics Student Research

Understanding the Earth’s lower thermosphere (altitude range 9 km -140km) is of growing interest for many areas of research within the space weather community. The NSF sponsored OPAL (Optical Profiling of the Atmospheric Limb) mission is designed to measure temperature profile by observing the integrated line of sight of the day-time O2 A-band (~760nm) emissions on the limb. The OPAL instrument has an altitude resolution of 1.03km from 80-160km flown on a 3U CubeSat, and is expected to be launched from the ISS (International Space Station) (~400km altitude). We have developed a model of OPAL’s position and attitude of its …

Effects Of Major Sudden Stratospheric Warmings Identified In Midlatitude Mesospheric Rayleigh-Scatter Lidar Temperatures, Leda Sox, Vincent B. Wickwar, Chad Fish, Josh Herron

Physics Student Research

Mesospheric temperature anomalies associated with Sudden Stratospheric Warmings (SSWs) have been observed extensively in the polar regions. However, observations of these anomalies at midlatitudes are sparse. The very dense 11-year data set, collected between 1993–2004, with the Rayleigh-scatter lidar at the Atmospheric Lidar Observatory (ALO; 41.7°N, 111.8°W) at the Center for Atmospheric and Space Sciences (CASS) on the campus of Utah State University (USU), has been carefully examined for such anomalies. The temperatures derived from these data extend over the mesosphere, from 45 to 90 km. During this period extensive data were acquired during seven major SSW events. In this …

Statistical Characteristics Of Polar Mesospheric Gravity Waves Observed Over Alaska, Michael Negale, Kim Nielsen, Michael J. Taylor, Dominique Pautet, Margit Dyrland

Physics Student Research

Momentum deposition by short-period (<1 hr) gravity waves is known to play a major role in the global circulation in the mesosphere and lower thermosphere (MLT) region ~80-100 km (e.g. Fritts and Alexander, 2003). Observations of these waves over the Arctic Region are few and their impact on the Arctic MLT region is of high interest, but has yet to be determined. The Mesospheric Airglow Imaging and Dynamics (MAID) project was initiated in January 2011 to investigate short-period gravity wave dynamics over central Alaska. MAID is a collaborative project between Utah Valley University (UVU) (Principle Investigator Kim Nielsen), Utah State University (USU), and the University of Alaska, Fairbanks (UAF).

The main goals of this project are to:
-Establish a long-term climatology of short-period gravity waves observed in the Arctic MLT region.
-Determine dominant source regions and potential sources of the observed waves.
-Investigate the impact of large-scale waves (tides and planetary waves) on the short-period wave field.
-Perform quantitative comparison between Arctic and Antarctic winter-time dynamics.

In this poster, we focus on quantifying the climatology of short-period gravity waves during two winter seasons (2011-2012) over central Alaska.

Winter Climatology Of Short-Period Polar Mesospheric Gravity Waves Observed Over Poker Flat Research Range, Alaska (65 O N, 147 O W), Michael Negale, Kim Nielsen, Michael J. Taylor, Dominique Pautet

Physics Student Research

Short-period gravity wave observations over the Arctic region are few and their impact on the Arctic mesosphere lower thermosphere region via momentum deposition is of high interest. The Mesospheric Airglow Imaging and Dynamics project was initiated in January 2011 to investigate the presence and dynamics of these waves over the interior of Alaska. Observations were made from Poker Flat Research Range (PFRR) using an all-sky imager. This site provides an exceptional opportunity to establish a long-term climatology of short-period gravity waves in the Arctic Region. We present summary measurements of prominent gravity waves over two consecutive winters and compare their …

Winter Climatology Of Short-Period Mesospheric Gravity Waves Over Alaska, Michael Negale, Kim Nielsen, Michael J. Taylor, Dominique Pautet

Physics Student Research

Momentum deposition by short-period (<1 h) gravity waves is known to play a major role in the global circulation in the mesosphere and lower thermosphere (MLT) region ~80-100 km (e.g. Fritts and Alexander, 2003). Observations of these waves over the Arctic region are few and their impact on the Arctic MLT region is of high interest, but has yet to be determined. The Mesospheric Airglow Imaging and Dynamics (MAID) project was initiated in January 2011 to investigate short-period gravity wave dynamics over central Alaska.

In this poster, we focus on quantifying the climatology of short-period gravity waves during two winter seasons (2011-2012) over central Alaska

High-Latitude Short-Period Mesospheric Gravity Wave Dynamics And Winter Climatology, Michael Negale, Kim Nielsen, Michael J. Taylor, Dominique Pautet, Margit Dyrland

Physics Student Research

Short-period gravity wave observations over the Arctic region are few and their impact on the Arctic mesosphere lower thermosphere region via momentum deposition is of high interest. The Mesospheric Airglow Imaging and Dynamics project was initiated in January 2011 to investigate the presence and dynamics of these waves over the interior of Alaska. Observations were made from Poker Flat Research Range (PFRR) using an all-sky imager. This site provides an exceptional opportunity to establish a long-term climatology of short-period gravity waves in the Arctic Region. We present summary measurements of prominent gravity waves over two consecutive winters and compare their …

Short Period Gravity Waves In The Arctic Atmosphere Over Alaska, Michael Negale, Kim Nielsen, Michael J. Taylor, Britta Irving, Richard Collins

Physics Student Research

The propagation nature and sources of short-period gravity waves have been studied extensively at low and mid-latitudes, while their extent and nature at the polar regions are less known. During the last decade, observations from select sites on the Antarctic continent have revealed a significant presence of these waves over the southern Polar Region as well as shown unexpected dynamical behavior. In contrast, observations over the Arctic region are few and the dynamical behavior is unknown. A recent project was initiated in January 2011 to investigate the presence and dynamics of these waves over interior Alaska. This site provides an …

Short-Period Gravity Waves Over Alaska, Michael Negale, Kim Nielsen, Michael J. Taylor, Britta Irving, Richard Collins

Physics Student Research

The propagation nature and sources of short-period gravity waves have been studied extensively at low and mid-latitudes, while their extent and nature at the polar regions are less known. During the last decade, observations from select sites on the Antarctic continent have revealed a significant presence of these waves over the southern Polar Region as well as shown unexpected dynamical behavior. In contrast, observations over the Arctic region are few and the dynamical behavior is unknown. A recent project was initiated in January 2011 to investigate the presence and dynamics of these waves over interior Alaska. This site provides an …

In Situ Checks Of Sonic Anemometer Temperature Calibration, David Cook, Michael Negale

Physics Student Research

The temperature calibration of the Gill Instruments WindMaster Pro sonic anemometer used in the ARM SGP ECOR systems is actually a curve, but is approximated with a linear fit for field use. The original calibrations were performed in a temperature-controlled chamber. The linear fit slope is only applied to the calculation of sensible heat flux and not to the reported temperature. The linear fit results in an underestimate of sensible heat flux during cold ambient temperatures and an overestimate during hot ambient temperatures. In situ calibrations performed using five years of ARM SGP data reveal how poorly the temperature is …

Uncertainty Associated With Modeling The Global Ionosphere, Janelle V. Jenniges, Ariel O. Acebal, Larry Gardner, Robert W. Schunk, Lie Zhu

Physics Student Research

A study has been conducted of the effect that different physical assumptions have on global models of the electron density distribution. The study was conducted with the Ionosphere Forecast Model (IFM) and the Ionosphere Plasmasphere Model (IPM) developed by Utah State University. Both physics-based, time-dependent, global models use the same empirical models for the neutral atmosphere (MSIS) and neutral wind (Horizontal Wind Model, HWM), but the altitude range, thermal structure, number of ion species, and magnetic 2ield are different. The IFM covers the altitude range from 90-1400 km, calculates the densities for four ions (NO+, O2+, N2+, O+), has a …