Space Science Resources

The Atmospheric Sciences Group at MIT Haystack is involved in a wide variety of US national and international efforts across the science, engineering, and public outreach spectrum. Explore these space science resources to learn more.

Educational Resources

Many excellent sources of information are available about the structure of Earth's upper atmosphere, the space weather which occurs there, and the ways in which our planet is fundamentally coupled to our nearest star, the Sun.

Windows to the Universe - a general public, user-friendly learning system covering the Earth and Space sciences, including specific information about space weather .
SpaceWeather.com - news and information about the Sun-Earth environment, including the latest information on space weather conditions.
Space Weather Center - more information from the Space Sciences Institute.
NASA Space Science - stories with general information on NASA efforts to study the properties of the near space environment.
Australian Government IPS Radio and Space Services - educational articles about space weather, the Sun, solar activity, and the Earth's magnetic environment.
Ask the Space Scientist - your questions answered about the Sun, solar storms, auroras, and more.

Measurement Techniques: Incoherent and Coherent Scatter Radars

In order to study the upper atmosphere, we use ground based techniques to remotely obtain information on its behavior. One of these methods involves the use of incoherent scatter radar. This technique uses a powerful radiowave transmitter, large antennas, and sensitive receivers to remotely probe Earth's upper atmosphere at levels from 100 km to over 1000 km altitude.

Since atmospheric behavior changes as a function of geography, several such systems are located across the planet. In particular, The US National Science Foundation's Geosciences Directorate supports the operation of several radars through the Upper Atmosphere Facilities (UAF) program. This funding supports the Millstone Hill incoherent scatter radar as a key component of the Atmospheric Science Group's mission.

Other NSF UAF radars measure flow and dynamics of the mid to high latitude ionosphere through stronger coherent backscatter techniques using HF radar frequencies, coordinated through the SuperDARN project.

NSF Upper Atmosphere Facilities Program information
Individual incoherent and coherent scatter radar facilities, including international efforts:
- NSF Supported:
  - Jicamarca, Peru
  - Arecibo, Puerto Rico
  - Millstone Hill, Massachusetts, USA
  - Sondrestrom, Greenland
  - Advanced Modular Incoherent Scatter Radar (AMISR)
  - SuperDARN - international HF radar network dedicated to studying mid and high latitude flows and structuring
- International groups:
  - EISCAT, Norway/Sweden/Finland
  - EISCAT Svalbard Radar, Svalbard
  - Institute of Solar-Terrestrial Physics Irkutsk Incoherent Scatter Radar, Irkutsk, Siberia
  - Institute of the Ionosphere Kharkov Incoherent Scatter Radar, Kharkov, Ukraine
  - MU Radar, Shigaraki, Japan

Professional Organizations

American Geophysical Union - geophysical sciences research promotion and publication
SPA: Space Physics and Aeronomy section of the American Geophysical Union
URSI: International Union of Radio Science - radio science research promotion and publication
IEEE: Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers - electrical engineering and radio wave society

Program Agencies and Sponsors

NSF: National Science Foundation
NASA: National Aeronautics and Space Administration
ESA: European Space Agency
NCAR: National Center for Atmospheric Research
AFOSR: Air Force Office of Scientific Research

Space Science Research Centers

NGDC-STP: National Geophysical Data Center - Solar Terrestrial Physics
NSSDC: National Space Science Data Center
WDC-C1: World Data Centre C1 for Solar-Terrestrial Physics
SWPC (formerly SEC): National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA)'s Space Weather Prediction Center (formerly Space Environment Center)
Center for Integrated Space Weather Modeling - NSF Science and Technology Center focused on simulating the Sun-Earth space environment.
Community Coordinated Modeling Center - research and operational transition for space weather models
ISES: International Space Environment Service (Australia)
NCAR : National Center for Atmospheric Research

University Based Research Programs and Centers

M.I.T. Kavli Institute for Astrophysics and Space Research (MKI)
Cornell University Space Physics, Plasma, and Atmospheric Studies
University of Washington Radar Remote Sensing Laboratory
Stanford University Space, Telecommunications, and Radio Science Lab
Boston University Center for Space Physics
Colorado State University LIDAR Group
Rutherford Appleton Laboratory EISCAT Group
Leicester University Radio and Space Plasma Physics Group
Atmospheric-Optics Laboratory , Dalhousie University, Halifax, NS, Canada
Tromso Geophysical Observatory , University of Tromso, Tromso, Norway
CRL Japan: Communications Research Laboratory, Japan

Space Science Missions and Programs

CEDAR: Coupling Energetics and Dynamics of Atmospheric Regions - NSF sponsored, broad based, community initiated upper atmospheric research program.
GEM: Geospace Environment Modeling - modeling and observational research on near-earth regions from the ionosphere to the solar wind.
Living With A Star - NASA project to study the physics, dynamics, and behavior of the Sun-Earth system over the 11-year solar cycle.
IMAGE - NASA mission to image the region of space controlled by Earth's magnetic field.
TIMED - NASA mission to study the mesosphere and lower thermosphere, one of the least explored and understood regions of Earth's atmosphere.
NASA Sounding Rocket Program - short duration, low cost experiments dedicated to atmospheric science.
CLUSTER - European Space Agency mission to investigate the small-scale near space plasma environment

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