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January 8th, 2008
SCIFER 2 (Sounding of the Cleft Ion Fountain Energization Region Two)
Tuesday January 8, 2008 Update
This is seventh update for SCIFER 2 collaborators and friends participating in the SCIFER 2 campaign. If you do not wish to be included in these emails, please ask to be removed from future mailings.
Breaking news:
The seventh count was held on Tuesday January 8, 2008 with the window opening at 0600 UT. The ground winds at Andoya Rocket Range permitted raising the rocket to the vertical position. The science team continues to drive directly to KHO Auroral Observatory. The winds aloft have decreased in intensity and the rocket was “in” for winds during the last half of the window. There were several isolated substorms on the night side which failed to bring steady ion upflows on the dayside. Several periods of transient upflow were observed. Both Longyearbyen and Ny Alesund were overcast so that we could not receive auroral images. The window was closed at at 1150 LT due to a high priority flight from Russia crossing the polar cap to Anchorage. The next count down begins at 0300 UT (0400 Norway time). Science station time is 0330 UT (0430 Norway time) at UNIS IPY room. A decision will be made whether to stay in town or to proceed to the KHO Auroral Observatory. The forecast tomorrow is for colder and clearer weather.
Local color: To reach the KHO Observatory we rise at 3:00 AM every morning and then drive about 10 miles. As the road leaves town we encounter the sign attached as a picture in this email. It means “in effect for all of Svalbard”.
Space Weather Conditions
The space weather conditions were moderate today. The solar wind velocity continued to be strong gusting at 700 km/s but the density (1/cm^3) and magnetic field (4 nT) were small. The STEREO B satellite indicates that the solar wind speed will decrease somewhat tomorrow and the density will continue unchanged for tomorrow’s window. There were two sustained periods of southward Bz resulting in small substorms and sporadic outflows seen in EISCAT. We remain optimistic for tomorrow when there will be clearing skies over all of Svalbard.
Current Weather Conditions:
Longyearbyen: Temperature -5.1 C (22.8F), wind speed 2.3 m/s (5.1 mph), snowing
Andenes: Temperature 2 C (35.6 F), wind speed 5.1 m/s (6.9 mph), sunny
Rocket/Payload status: The payload is mounted on the launcher and is operating nominally. The payload was in the vertical position and nominal for the window today.
Phone numbers for science launch operations
Backup Science Center at UNIS, Longyearbyen 79 02 64 48
KHO Auroral Observatory 79 02 64 70 or 71
EISCAT 79 02 12 36
CUTLASS Ops 44-116-252-3520