The Role of Magnetospheric Plasma Waves in Driving Space Weather

Funding for this project covered calibration, maintenance, and pre-processing of induction magnetometer data at Davis and Zhong Shan (visited over 2012-13 season), Macquarie Island (planned 2013-14 2014-15, 2015-16 and visited 2016-2017 and Mar 2018), Mawson (visited 2016-2017), Casey (visited 2015-16). The data are used by the Centre for Space Physics at the University of Newcastle in several research projects. AAP funding supports the operational and not the core science tasks (e.g. employment of research fellows) and so progress on science topics is contingent upon support from elsewhere. These data are also provided to the Australian Bureau of Meteorology for Space Weather studies and forecasting and the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory (USA) SuperMAG project.

Macquarie Island is the only land between Australia and Antarctica, providing the only ground data from beneath the field of view of three over-the-horizon research HF radars operated by a La Trobe/Newcastle/Adelaide University consortium. The induction magnetometer located on Macquarie Island has not functioned for some years so its repair was urgent. The magnetometer data from Macquarie Island are used in concert with the HF radar data to distinguish between various types of ionosphere disturbances that give rise to HF radar clutter. After a number of delays, the instrument was replaced late 2016.

Ongoing research involves contemporary and historical datasets, including data from the Macquarie, Davis and Zhong Shan magnetometers, the Davis imaging riometer, the HF radars, and the GOES, Cluster, THEMIS and RBSP spacecraft. There has been significant progress on a number of research topics, including using sophisticated mathematical modelling tools. This work has been published or submitted for publication in international journals, and presented at international conferences.

Funding for this project covers calibration, maintenance, and pre-processing of induction magnetometer data at Davis and Zhong Shan (visited over 2012-13 season), Macquarie Island (planned 2013-14 2014-15, 2015-16 and visited 2016-2017 and Mar 2018), Mawson (visited 2016-2017), Casey (visited 2015-16). The data are used by the Centre for Space Physics at the University of Newcastle in several research projects. AAP funding supports the operational and not the core science tasks (e.g. employment of research fellows) and so progress on science topics is contingent upon support from elsewhere. These data are also provided to the Australian Bureau of Meteorology for Space Weather studies and forecasting and the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory (USA) SuperMAG project.

Macquarie Island is the only land between Australia and Antarctica, providing the only ground data from beneath the field of view of three over-the-horizon research HF radars operated by a La Trobe/Newcastle/Adelaide University consortium. The induction magnetometer located on Macquarie Island has not functioned for some years so its repair was urgent. The magnetometer data from Macquarie Island are used in concert with the HF radar data to distinguish between various types of ionosphere disturbances that give rise to HF radar clutter. After a number of delays, the instrument was replaced late 2016.

Ongoing research involves contemporary and historical datasets, including data from the Macquarie, Davis and Zhong Shan magnetometers, the Davis imaging riometer, the HF radars, and the GOES, Cluster, THEMIS and RBSP spacecraft. There has been significant progress on a number of research topics, including using sophisticated mathematical modelling tools. This work has been published or submitted for publication in international journals, and presented at international conferences.

Funding for this project covers calibration, maintenance, and pre-processing of induction magnetometer data at Davis and Zhong Shan (visited over 2012-13 season), Macquarie Island (planned 2013-14 2014-15, 2015-16 and visited 2016-2017), Mawson (visited 2016-2017), Casey (visited 2015-16). The data are used by the Centre for Space Physics at the University of Newcastle in several research projects. AAP funding supports the operational and not the core science tasks (e.g. employment of research fellows) and so progress on science topics is contingent upon support from elsewhere. These data are also provided to the Australian Bureau of Meteorology for Space Weather studies and forecasting.

Macquarie Island is the only land between Australia and Antarctica, providing the only ground data from beneath the field of view of three over-the-horizon research HF radars operated by a La Trobe/Newcastle/Adelaide University consortium. The induction magnetometer located on Macquarie has not functioned for some years so its repair was urgent. The magnetometer data from Macquarie Island are used in concert with the HF radar data to distinguish between various types of ionosphere disturbances that give rise to HF radar clutter. After a number of delays, the instrument was successfully replaced over Oct-Nov of 2016 and has been returning high quality data since then.

Ongoing research involves contemporary and historical datasets, including data from the Macquarie, Davis and Zhong Shan magnetometers, the Davis imaging riometer, the HF radars, and the GOES, Cluster, THEMIS and RBSP spacecraft. There has been significant progress on a number of research topics, including using sophisticated mathematical modelling tools. This work has been published or submitted for publication in international journals, and presented at international conferences.

Funding for this project covers calibration, maintenance, and data preprocessing, of induction magnetometers at Davis and Zhong Shan (visited over 2012-13 season), Macquarie Island (planned 2013-14 2014-15, 2015-16), Mawson (2014-15), Casey (visited 2015-16), Macquarie Island (planned 2016-17). The data are used by the Centre for Space Physics at the University of Newcastle in several projects. AAP funding supports the operational and not the core science tasks (e.g. employment of research fellows) and so progress on science topics is contingent upon support from elsewhere.

Macquarie Island is the only land between Australia and Antarctica, providing the only ground data from beneath the field of view of three over-the-horizon research radars operated by a La Trobe/Newcastle/Adelaide University consortium. The induction magnetometer there has not functioned for some years so its repair is urgent. Planned visits to Macquarie in 2013-14 and 2014-15 did not take place for logistic reasons, so the magnetometer system was returned to Newcastle where it was fully repaired and field tested during 2015. However, yet again the Newcastle expeditioner was unable to visit Macquarie to install the system in the 2015-16 season. This puts at risk key elements of our research program. A Newcastle expeditioner did visit Casey over New Year 2015 for successful servicing of the magnetometer system there.

Ongoing research has been undertaken using legacy datasets, including data from the Macquarie, Davis and Zhong Shan magnetometers, the Davis imaging riometer, the above-mentioned radars and also a radar at Syowa base, and the GOES, Cluster and THEMIS spacecraft constellations. There has been significant progress on a number of research topics, including using sophisticated mathematical modelling tools. This work has been published or submitted for publication in international journals, and presented at international conferences.

Funding for this project covers calibration, maintenance, and data preprocessing, of induction magnetometers at Davis and Zhong Shan (visited over 2012-13 season), Macquarie Island (planned 2013-14 then 2014-15), Mawson (planned 2014-15), Casey (planned 2015-16), Macquarie Island (planned 2016-17). The data are used by the Centre for Space Physics at the University of Newcastle in a number of projects. AAP funding supports the operational and not the core science tasks (e.g. employment of research fellows) and so progress on science topics is contingent upon support from elsewhere.

Macquarie Island is the only land between Australia and Antarctica, providing the only ground data from beneath the field of view of three over-the-horizon research radars operated by a La Trobe/Newcastle/Adelaide University consortium. The induction magnetometer there has not been functioning for some time so its repair is urgent. Due to a range of problems visits to Macquarie were not possible in 2013-14 and 2014-15. Meanwhile, extensive discussion with personnel at Macquarie revealed that the magnetometer there was in much poorer repair than expected. So the system has been decommissioned and returned to Newcastle for extensive rejuvenation over 2015 in order to reinstall it during the 2015/16 season.

Ongoing research has been undertaken using legacy datasets, including data from the Macquarie, Davis and Zhong Shan magnetometers, the Davis imaging riometer, the above-mentioned radars and also a radar at Syowa base, and the GOES, Cluster and THEMIS spacecraft constellations. There has been significant progress on a number of research topics, including using sophisticated mathematical modelling tools. This work has been published or submitted for publication in international journals, and presented at international conferences.

Funding for this project covers calibration, maintenance, and data preprocessing, of induction magnetometers at Davis and Zhong Shan (visit over 2012-13 season), Macquarie Island (2013-14), Mawson (2014-15), Casey (2015-16), Macquarie Island (2016-17). The data are used by the Centre for Space Physics at the University of Newcastle in a number of projects. AAP funding supports the operational and not the core science tasks (e.g. employment of research fellows) and so progress on science topics is contingent upon support from elsewhere. In accord with international protocols, the data are also freely provided to the international scientific community via the World Data Centre for Solar-Terrestrial Science.

Macquarie Island is the only land between Australia and Antarctica, providing the only ground data from beneath the field of view of three over-the-horizon research radars operated by a La Trobe/Newcastle/Adelaide University consortium. The induction magnetometer there has not been functioning for some time so its repair was urgent. A Newcastle person was recruited and undertook appropriate training and medical tests in preparation for the 2013-14 visit to Macquarie Island. However the voyage berth was cancelled at short notice due to logistical disasters with the shipping schedule. The magnetometer on Macquarie will therefore not be functioning for another year, disrupting all associated science projects.

Ongoing research has been undertaken using legacy datasets, including data from the Macquarie, Davis and Zhong Shan magnetometers, the Davis imaging riometer, the above-mentioned radars and also a radar at Syowa base, and the GOES and Cluster spacecraft constellations.

Funding for this project commenced on 30 January 2013 and covers calibration, maintenance, and data preprocessing, of induction magnetometers at the Australian Antarctic bases, one base per year. The data are used by the Centre for Space Physics at the University of Newcastle in a number of projects, but the AAP funding does not specially support any of these aspects (e.g. employment of research fellows). Progress on science topics therefore depends upon support from elsewhere. In accord with international protocols, the data are also freely provided to the international scientific community via the World Data Centre for Solar-Terrestrial Science. In early 2013 a Newcastle student visited Davis to conduct calibration of the induction magnetometer there and at the Chinese Zhong Shan base which we maintain on their behalf. Total time available at Zhong Shan (2 hours) did not permit satisfactory completion of this task, but calibration of the Davis instrument has been completed.