Event A-111    2015 / 2016 Season

The ionosphere-thermosphere-magnetosphere (ITM) region of Earth's atmosphere, which is part of the larger geospace environment, is the portal through which the solar wind can enter and impact our planetary system. Though space weather research over the past decades has greatly increased our understanding of a wide variety of phenomena associated with ITM physics, the sum of these individual processes occurring in the geospace environment does not replicate the rich diversity and scope of this complex region. Thus, a more holistic approach to ITM research is necessary, one that integrates clustered instrumentation at multiple locations to simultaneously look at the interactions within the entire system. Using coordinated and collaborative instrumentation currently installed in Antarctica, researchers will study interrelated ITM phenomena observed at high latitudes with the goal of better understanding the energy transfer and modulation of the geospace system.

The 2015 A-111 project will be carried out by two teams, called Team 1 and Team 2 hereafter.

Team 1 is a joint A-111/A-112 team, that will interlace A-111 activities with A-112 activities in November-December 2015. There will be a core of 3 people. The primary goals of this team this coming field season are to:
1. Check on all MCM and SPA instrumentation and do any firmware or data acquisition (DAQ) updates as needed
2. Install a new photometer at Arrival Heights, sending the old one back to the states. This activity will require 1-hour of carpenter time.
3. Install a new photometer at SPA [in the hatch at B-2]. This activity will require 1-hour of carpenter time.
4. Site and start the preparation for an absolute magnetometer vault, for installation in 2016-2017.
5. Check the riometer system and repair as needed.

Team 2 is a 2-person team that will do A-111 activities in January 2016. The primary goals of this team are to:
1. Check the installation/operation of the A-111 all-sky imagers at Arrival Heights
2. Re-install the imager at SPA. Currently we use two domes in the Science Lab in the elevated station. Previously, one dome was used for ASI-1, and the other one for ASI-2. Now, the backup system (that consists of 4 tiny cameras) is using the former dome because ASI-1 was removed this year. This year we would like to make a hole to place the third dome for the backup system, and use the backup system together with the pre-existing ASI imagers. A picture of the backup system is found at http://pc115.seg20.nipr.ac.jp/www/spa_mcm/spa.html . This activity will take ~4-hours of carpenter time.