Antarctic Aeronomy and Astrophysics Program

PROGRAM GUIDELINES


08-535  Program Solicitation

SYNOPSIS

The Antarctic Aeronomy And Astrophysics Program supports studies of three major domains:

• The stratosphere and the mesosphere. Current research focuses on stratospheric chemistry and aerosols, particularly in the context of the ozone hole. The polar stratosphere is expected to be a field of continued interest and growth.                                    
• The thermosphere, the ionosphere, and the magnetosphere. These domains derive many of their characteristics from the interplay of ionized plasmas and energetic-charged particles with the geomagnetic field. The upper atmosphere and particularly the ionosphere are the ultimate sinks of the solar wind energy that is transported into the magnetosphere. Energy dissipates in the ionosphere because of particle precipitation, which is the result, in part, of resonant wave-particle interactions, and because of the Joule heating that is a result of currents driven by ionospheric electric fields. 
• Astronomy and astrophysical studies of the Universe, including solar astronomy and cosmic ray physics. Astrophysical studies are primarily conducted at Amundsen-Scott South Pole Station or on long-duration balloon flights launched near McMurdo Station.

Major goals are to sponsor research that requires or would benefit from the unique conditions of the Antarctic, to contribute to understanding of the role of the Antarctic in global environmental change, to participate in interdisciplinary studies of geosphere-biosphere interactions in the middle and upper atmosphere, and to improve understanding of the coupling of the polar atmosphere with the Earth's magnetosphere and of the ways in which both are affected by solar activity.

Examples of the unique conditions that can be exploited for science are the Antarctic Muon and Neutrino Detector Array (AMANDA) and the IceCube Neutrino Observatory (under construction).  Both use photo detectors buried up to 2.5 km deep in the ice sheet at South Pole Station to detect high-energy neutrinos that can be used to image portions of the Universe, normally obscured to light and ordinary electromagnetic radiation. Another example is the Center for Astrophysical Research in Antarctica (CARA), which was active in the 1990s and phased out in 2001.  However, the Center’s outstanding research activity at South Pole led to the development of the 10-m South Pole Radio Telescope for future studies of the Cosmic Microwave Background Radiation (CMBR), residual energy from the Big Bang, with unprecedented accuracy.

RELATED URLS

IceCube--A 1-cubic-kilometer, international high-energy neutrino observatory

South Pole Telescope

Astronomy & Astrophysics, University of Chicago (Center for Astrophysical Research in Antarctica)

Antarctic Ozone Hole Watch page, Goddard Space Flight Center/NASA

THIS PROGRAM IS PART OF

Antarctic Research

Abstracts of Recent Awards Made Through This Program

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