Award Abstract #0838046
Collaborative Research: CubeSat-based Ground-to-Space Bistatic Radar Experiment--Radio Aurora Explorer
NSF Org: |
ATM
Division of Atmospheric Sciences
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Initial Amendment Date: |
August 26, 2008 |
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Latest Amendment Date: |
August 26, 2008 |
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Award Number: |
0838046 |
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Award Instrument: |
Standard Grant |
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Program Manager: |
Therese Moretto Jorgensen
ATM Division of Atmospheric Sciences
GEO Directorate for Geosciences
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Start Date: |
September 1, 2008 |
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Expires: |
August 31, 2011 (Estimated) |
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Awarded Amount to Date: |
$510510 |
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Investigator(s): |
James Cutler jwcutler@gmail.com(Principal Investigator)
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Sponsor: |
University of Michigan Ann Arbor
3003 South State St.
Ann Arbor, MI 48109 734/764-1817
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NSF Program(s): |
MID-SIZE INFRASTRUCTURE, UPPER ATMOSPHERIC FACILITIES
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Field Application(s): |
0205000 Space
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Program Reference Code(s): |
OTHR,0000
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Program Element Code(s): |
7716,4202
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ABSTRACT
This project is a collaboration between a space science Principal Investigator (PI) at SRI International and an engineering PI at University of Michigan. The objective of this three-year cross-disciplinary team effort is to build and operate a tiny, so-called CubeSat, spacecraft carrying a UHF radar receiver payload. Launch of the satellite will be as a secondary on a Department of Defense launch scheduled for December 2009. The satellite will be operated in coordination with the AMISR incoherent scatter radar from the ground to investigate the radio aurora from field-aligned irregularities in the high-latitude ionosphere. The primary scientific objective of the Radio Aurora Explorer (RAE) mission is to understand the microphysics of plasma instabilities that lead to field-aligned irregularities (FAI) of electron density in the polar lower (80-300 km) ionosphere. The RAE mission is specifically designed to remotely measure, with extremely high angular resolution (~0.5 degree), the wave spectrum of ~1 m scale FAI as a function of altitude, in particular measuring the magnetic field alignment of the irregularities. Due to the magnetic field geometry at high latitudes this bi-static (ground radar to satellite) configuration, in which a narrow radar beam is scattered off the FAI and then observed by the CubeSat receiver, is the only way to perform these measurements. Better understanding of ionospheric irregularities and their role in ionospheric dynamics is an important space weather research objective because plasma structures in the ionosphere can have an adverse effect on communications via satellite, HF and VHF radio and as well as an adverse effect on navigation, tracking, and positioning. The project has a very strong educational component; it relies on extensive undergraduate and graduate student involvement through all aspects of the mission. The new, largely unproven technology involved in cubesat missions, inherently makes the project associated with significant risks. On the other hand, however, the project has tremendous potential to be transformational not only within its own research area but also for the larger field of space science and atmospheric research as well as within aerospace engineering and education.
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