Upper atmosphere emulator for research on the response of the thermosphereionosphere system due to geomagnetic disturbances, winds, tides, and atmospheric waves
Abstract
This project develops instrumentation capable of emulating the conditions experienced by spacecraft flying in the Earth’s thermosphere, which is an element of the space weather system that is of high interest to the DoD and its research community. This emulator will be used to test and calibrate instrumentation designed to fly in this space realm under realistic conditions. It will also be used to test new space measurement paradigms, and will serve as a training and educati resource for space scientists. The thermosphere is a tenuous portion of the Earth’s atmosphere that spans the altitude range of about 90 km to 1000 km. All space missions must traverse this region at least once, and low- Earth orbiting satellites spend their entire missions within it. Although the gas is much more tenuous than that near the Earth’s surface, it still provides enough drag that spacecraft trajectories are influenced profoundly. For example, the conditions in the lower thermosphere are a major factor in determining when and where de-orbiting bodies will reenter the lower atmosphere. As part of the space weather system, the thermosphere exhibits strong variability, which then causes variations in trajectories. Another feature of the thermosphere that affects space missions is that it is composed primarily of a reactive species, atomic oxygen, that can negatively affect the materials used to construct spacecraft. A third important aspect of the thermosphere is that it is the source for the plasma that comprises the ionosphere, which is co-resident in this altitude range. The ionosphere has strong influences on navigation and communication systems. As the thermospheric n
Document Details
- Document Type
- DoD Grant Award
- Publication Date
- Aug 12, 2021
- Source ID
- FA95502010229
Entities
People
- James Clemmons
Organizations
- Air Force Office of Scientific Research
- United States Air Force
- University System of New Hampshire