Instrumentation
The Millstone Hill Observatory supports a number of facilities for
measurement of the near space environment. The primary instrument
available is the
Millstone Hill Incoherent Scatter Radar system. This
high power large aperature radar system is capable of measuring the
physical state of the ionosphere with high precision. In addition to
the ISR system the observatory has a facility for optical
instrumentation, hosts instruments for a number of external projects,
and maintains a significant computing capacity for the processing and
analysis of scientific data.
| Currently Hosted Instrumentation |
| High Power UHF Radar |
MIT | [1965 - present] | Incoherent scatter radar that operates 1000+ hours/year. |
| Digisonde |
U. Massachusetts Lowell | [1987 - present] | Digisonde ionospheric sounder that measures the local ionosphere and operates continuously. |
| All Sky Imager |
Boston University | [1987-present] | An image intensified camera for observing nightglow and auroral emissions. Operates for one week on either side of a new moon. |
| Imaging Spectrometer |
Boston University | [1992-present] | A meridian slit spectrometer with an image intensified camera. Operates for one week on either side of a new moon. |
| MEASURE Magnetometer |
UCLA/IGPP | [1999-present] | A fluxgate magnetometer designed to measure the background variations in the Earth's magnetic field. The instrument operates continuously. |
| ARL CIDR Receiver |
ARL/UT | [2002-present] | The Coherent Ionospheric Doppler Receiver monitors satellite beacons to make ionospheric observations. The instrument operates continuously. |
| Suominet SA01 |
UCAR/UNAVCO | [2001-present] | GPS and weather station. Part of a distributed network of GPS observatories designed to observe the ionosphere and atmosphere. The instrument operates continuously. |
| GPS TEC and Scintillation Monitor |
MIT | [1991-present] | A high performance GPS system for monitoring the ionosphere around the radar site. |
781.981.5407 
