2006 Incoherent Scatter Coordinated Observation Days
URSI-ISWG

In the following table, column 2 gives the start and end date of the experiment, column 3 gives the day of the week of the start of the experiment, column 4 is the length of the experiment and column 5 shows the date of the new moon.

Incoherent Scatter Coordinated Observation Days should start at 1300 UT on the first day indicated (to ensure that all radars are operating correctly by 1600 UT) and end at 0500 UT on the last day indicated to optimize coverage for storm-time and other electro-magnetic events. (Note that 0500 UT is midnight EST.) At the request of the modeling community, runs should be a minimum of 3 days.

2006 Incoherent Scatter Coordinated Observation Days

Observation Dates Starting
Day		 Observation
Length (days)		 New Moon Notes
January

29
February

28
March 6-
to
April 6		 Tuesday

Monday		 30
(best effort)		 Mar 29

April 27		 Assimilative Models (parameters for initialization and verification)
and support for CAWSES, LTCS, CVS, CPEA, M-I Coupling, & MST (inc. long period wave studies)
May

27
June 26-30 Monday 4-2/3 25 CVS -- MST -- CAWSES [CEDAR is June 19-23]
July

25
August

23
September 20-22 Wednesday 2-2/3 22 GPS-Radar: wide F-region coverage with topside at AO and JRO
October

22
November

20
December

20
Total
Variable

Last updated: Friday, 2005 October 7


Real-Time Data Links (when available)

Jicamarca Arecibo Millstone Hill Sondre Stromfjord EISCAT
EISCAT Svalbard Kharkov Irkutsk MU SuperDARN
Send comments, questions and proposals for the World Day schedule to Wes Swartz at wes@ece.cornell.edu.

World Day Facts

Establishing "World Day" schedules is one of the activities of the URSI Incoherent Scatter Working Group (ISWG) and the CEDAR meeting has provided a timely forum for scheduling coordinated experiments at the Upper Atmospheric Facilities (UAFs) for the next calendar year. These schedules are then published as part of the International Geophysical Calendar. Here are some of the facts about world days:

Procedures for requesting World Day experiments

New procedures for 2007 are available at: http://people.ece.cornell.edu/wes/URSI_ISWG/RequestingWD.doc
A template for the the 2007 World Day schedule is now available at: http://people.ece.cornell.edu/wes/URSI_ISWG/2007WDschedule.htm
A sample proposal for requesting special World Days is available at: http://people.ece.cornell.edu/wes/URSI_ISWG/SampleWDproposal.htm

Notes on World Day observations proposed for 2006

CVS (Ionospheric Convection and Variability Studies): Convection Variability

This campaign is designed for the study of the ionospheric convection, variability, and effects on ionospheric structures at different longitudes. We would examine longitudinal features of the convection, deviations from various average models, and study how such variability affects ionospheric (electron density) and thermospheric (composition and temperature) variations. Since the variability in the convection as well as in the ionosphere and thermosphere is not necessarily associated with major geomagnetic activities, the campaign can be scheduled almost anytime (e.g., during either quiet or minor magnetic activity conditons). However, we do prefer days not well covered by existing ISR datasets, i.e., in summer or winter to help improve the data statistics for modeling efforts making use of large ISR datasets. A no-less-than-5-day campaign is requested in order to secure enough data for examinimg the variability. The EISCAT tristatic convection observational mode (CP4?) and the steerable ESR antenna making long pulse observations at low elevations (southward and northward) are preferred. Sondrestrom comp-san experiments are well suited for this campaign. Millstone Hill should use the standard "extra-wide coverage" mode. AO and JRO should use standard drift and density modes. Local measurements at each of the above sites interleaved with wide coverage ones, as well as at all other ISR sites, are also required. This latter part of (local) data will be used for examining the local feature of the variability. It is hoped that AMISR will be operational for this campaign. The generic ISR world days for the coming year may be run AT ALL SITES using the mode described above for synoptic convection world day operation, given the general characteristics of the experiment (any activity condition; electric field mode). Other specific compaigns such as 30-day run, LTCS, etc., may continue using the assigned modes.
Contact: Shun-Rong Zhang

GPS-Radar: (Global Plasma Structuring-Radar Experiment): Thermal plasma coupling between low, mid, and high latitudes.

The evolution and effects of electric fields in the inner magnetosphere and low and mid-latitude ionosphere are topics of recent emphasis for understanding storm effects as well as M-I coupling and Space Weather issues. The equatorial ionosphere and inner plasmashpere are coupled from low to auroral latitudes by electric fields which drive plumes of storm enhanced electron density which feed tongues of ionization into the polar caps. This global mechanism carries low-latitude dayside plasma across polar latitudes and into the nightside auroral ionosphere. Multi-instrument observations including high, mid, and low-latitude ISR profiles and E-field measurements are needed to advance understanding of these effects. Data needed include: Experiments should be conducted during the Spring and/or Fall Equinoxes for 2 full days with the moon down. Disturbed geomagnetic conditions are preferred, but background observations are needed, as well.
Contact: John Foster

C/NOFS: Communications / Navigation Outage Forecasting System

The primary purpose of C/NOFS is to forecast the presence of ionospheric irregularities that adversely impact communication and navigation systems through
(1) improved understanding of the physical processes active in the background ionosphere and thermosphere in which plasma instabilities grow;
(2) the identification of those mechanisms that trigger or quench the plasma irregularities responsible for signal degradation; and
(3) determining how the plasma irregularities affect the propagation of electro-magnetic waves.
A satellite, now scheduled for launch in February of 2006 into a low inclination (13°), elliptical (~ 400 x 700 km) orbit will be solely dedicated to the C/NOFS objectives. It will be equipped with sensors that measure ambient and fluctuating electron densities, ion and electron temperatures, AC and DC electric fields, magnetic fields, neutral winds, ionospheric scintillations, and electron content along the lines of sight between C/NOFS and the Global Positioning System (GPS) satellite constellation. The orbit will have a 45-day repeating precession. Complementary ground-based measurements including the Jicamarca and Altair radars are also critical to the success of the mission. Calibration comparisons will be scheduled for local noon in Northern Spring/Summer 2006 and validation comparisons will be during local nighttime in Fall 2006 and Winter 2007. (Requests for additional UAF radar time beyond the currently scheduled World Days are to be made directly to the respective observatory staffs once orbital characteristics are known.) Contacts: Odile de La Bedaujardiere, David Hysell, Wes Swartz

CPEA: Coupling Processes in the Equatorial Atmosphere

This is an initiative for studing the coupling of dynamical coupling processes in the equatorial atmosphere from the troposphere up through the theromosphere and ionosphere centered around the Indonesian Equatorial Atmospheric Radar (EAR). Oportunities for collaborations initally focused on the successful March-April 2004 campain period. See highlights, or more information at CPEA and look for results from the EAR two-month CPEA campaign in November and December of 2005.
Contacts: Shoichiro Fukao, Project Leader, Sunanda Basu, Janet Kozyra

CAWSES: Climate And Weather of the Sun-Earth System

The third CAWSES Space Weather campaign will run in association with MLTCS and MST during the 2006 World Month period. The focus of the CAWSES aspect of these experiments will be on global ionospheric variability and on modeling of this variabilty using data assimilation models. The scope of the observations will extend from the sun to the earth to look at solar drivers and geospace responses by coordinating satellite programs and ground-based arrays of instruments. For more information on this SCOSTEP program for 2004-2008, see CAWSES.
Contacts:Sunanda Basu, Chair, D. Pallamraju, Scientific Coordinator.

World Month: Providing Ground Truth for Model Validation and Studies of Long Period Waves

Long-duration experiments are being sought by the CEDAR modeling community for providing both the model initial conditions and tracking data for comparing with model responses over long time intervals. Studies of long period waves and tides also require measurements over many sequential days. The March-April World Month will also give some emphasis on sunrise conditions and their variability. It is anticipated that not all of the UAFs will be able to run for the full March-April 30-day period, in which case only a "best effort" is being ask for with labor and/or power saving modes being adapted at some sites. Expected modes are as follows:

AO: The Arecibo Observatory is expecting to run for about 6 of the 30 days (near the end of the period) using dual beams, one swinging, with multiple pulsing schemes to provide good atitude coverage. See http://www.naic.edu.

MSH: Millston Hill plans to limit their runs to 16 hours per day starting at 4:00 am LT using a local multiposition E/F region mode yielding plasma parameters, vector drifts and neutral winds in the vicinity of Millstone +/- 1 deg latitude at F region heights. We will use an interleaved alternating code and longpulse modes. See http://www.haystack.edu/cgi-bin/midasw_radar_status

JRO: Jicamarca plans use lower power modes for portions of the 30-day period, and based on AO's plan, Jicamarca's schedule was adjusted so that its high power modes would be used during the best overlap as follows:
*March 6 (8 am) -17 (noon) ISR DVD mode
*March 17 (1 pm) - 29 (8 am) JULIA
*March 29 (9 am) - April 3 (8 am) ISR DVD mode
*April 3 (noon) - 6 (6 pm) MST-ISR, only daytime (except the night of 3 to 4).
See http://jro.igp.gob.pe/DB_Admin/JRO_Schedule/Scheduler_View.php

ESR: The EISCAT Svalbard radar is to be run 24/7 for the entire period using fixed field-aligned programs covering altitudes from below 90 to about 800 km. See http://www.esr.eiscat.no

EISCAT: The EISCAT UHF tri-static radar will run during all the weekdays (but not during the weekends). Fixed field-aligned programs will be run that cover altitudes from below 90 km to about 800 km. See http://www.eiscat.uit.no/

Sonde: The SRI Sondrestrom radar will run from 13 UT on 06 March until 23 UT on 06 April (with a couple of short breaks to service the generator) with a mode that uses the standard 3 positions with interleaved longpulse and coded pulses for both E- and F-region height-resolved measurements of basic parameters and electrodynamics and neutral dynamics. The 3 positions will be interleaved with a pair of composite scans to provide the F-region resolved velocity over ~12 deg of invariant latitude. This will also provide the F-region latitudinal distribution of Ne, Te, and Ti, as well as contextual E-region information of those parameters over about 3deg of latitude. See http://isr.sri.com/

SuperDarn: Will run standards modes during the entire period. See http://superdarn.jhuapl.edu/rt/map/index.html

Other: As with all World Day/Week/Month operations, observers with other instrumentation are encouaged to take advantage of this extensive coverage by the incoherent scatter radars. Examples and further information.
Contacts: Tony van Eyken, Larisa P. Goncharenko , Wes Swartz.


Updated Friday, 2006 March 3 by Wes Swartz, Chairman of the URSI Incoherent Scatter Working Group.