NAIC Visiting Committee Meeting February 15-16, 2005 SAS Radar Science Highlights Outline: – And finally describe the aeronomy and radar school from last summer. – We also discuss progress in meeting some of our challenges with our aging hardware, in particular, the 430 MHz transmitter, and the digital receiver, which will replace many old analog components. – We discuss progress (results) in meeting this goal, and show how our improving capabilities ‘spin-off’ into other projects. – The equivalent talk last year presented one difficult scientific goal, and then showed how improvements in our science program would allow it to be achieved, involving staff, hardware, and techniques, or people, tools, and ideas in current NSF language, and this year….. – We look at staff and budget issues. – HF Facility: proposal will be withdrawn, resubmitted; talk later in day

NAIC Visiting Committee Meeting February 15-16, 2005 Staff Issues (SAS in general) SAS staff:Sixto, Mike, Craig, Nestor, Jose, Hein, Shikah, Ryan Coming: Johannes, Paloma NSF Funded users: John Mathews, John Noto, Xin Shao, Diego Janches, Lara Waldrop Students: Romina Nikoukar, Mike Nicolls

NAIC Visiting Committee Meeting February 15-16, 2005 Budget Issues EAS initiative moves to Jicamarca budget. (little practical significance) FY 2006 will bring a small cut in the SAAS budget from NSF UAF.

NAIC Visiting Committee Meeting February 15-16, 2005 Our Goal: Routine Molecular ion Measurements in the World Day Periods –Both ion and plasma line measurements required (Day time only technique) –New ion line technique with modern inverse technique –New amplitude codes for reducing statistical errors added by inversion –Optimization of these codes still under way –Coded long pulse technique for plasma line: computations on cluster –Simultaneous dual NLLS fitting technique after inversion of ion line –It must be all put together into a practical, standard technique.

NAIC Visiting Committee Meeting February 15-16, 2005 Plasma Line Measurement

NAIC Visiting Committee Meeting February 15-16, 2005 Measuring F1 region ion composition and temperatures with plasma line and ion line data at Arecibo Nestor Aponte, Michael P. Sulzer, Romina Nikoukar, Michael J. Nicolls and Sixto A. Gonzalez

NAIC Visiting Committee Meeting February 15-16, 2005 Combination of ion line and plasma line

NAIC Visiting Committee Meeting February 15-16, 2005 Arecibo April 3, 2004 at 14:52

NAIC Visiting Committee Meeting February 15-16, 2005 Spin-off Effects

NAIC Visiting Committee Meeting February 15-16, 2005 The MIT Experiment Min Chang Lee and Students have been looking for the interaction of guided whistler waves with the ionospheric plasma using a variety of diaagnostics. One of these is the ionospheric plasma line (enhanced, at night). The availability of the coded long pulse experiment, recording raw data for later analysis, has allowed a group of MIT undergraduates working with Professor Lee to take data and AO analysis software back to MIT. They have found a surprising night time E region plasma line associated with sporadic E. (I have repeated their analysis and see it also.) This potential result requires careful verification, but the characteristics of the CLP technique make “false” observations of this kind unlikely.

NAIC Visiting Committee Meeting February 15-16, 2005 Transmitter Discussion Points Although we have lost a significant amount of time in the last year due to problems with the 430 MHz transmitter, most of these problems are solved, or the solution is underway. Limitation in average power due to high body current (since the new type of Klystron was installed) have been solved with the correct magnet current tuning procedure. We have had some power monitoring problems. The upstairs power meter now works correctly. The high voltage monitoring resistor tower has been replaced, but this is probably not the permanent solution A tubes in the modulator are checked and replaced more frequently; they seem to be “life-time challenged”.

NAIC Visiting Committee Meeting February 15-16, 2005 New Digital Receiver Plot of Ryan’s first power profile goes here with a disucssiom of the status.

NAIC Visiting Committee Meeting February 15-16, 2005 Arecibo PARS Summer School Description and pictures