ARCHIVES2005
DEC2005 Asti Bhatt, a graduate student at Cornell University, attempts to detect gyro lines. Interesting returns warrant more measurements!
NOV2005 After the large amount of activity in September, comparatively quiet conditions continue.
OCT2005 Claus Johannsen, an employee of the Danish Meteorological Institute, has returned to Denmark after 2-1/2 years on site. He will be missed!
SEPT2005 Demolishing the old record of 10 days, set in January 1993, the ISR ran virtually nonstop for all 30 days of September in support of the LTCS "world month." As New Moon was on September 3, most of the optical systems were brought online early in the month in support of this campaign.
AUG2005 Jeff Thayer, University of Colorado, Boulder, visits Sondrestrom with three graduate students. Craig Heinselman and Eggert Gudmundsson direct them in using the ISR to demonstrate basic radar techniques (see story).
Asti Bhatt, Cornell University, conducts ISR measurements to attempt to detect the gyro-line.
Three-day world day run, 10–13 August, measuring E-region thin layers caused by meteoric ionization goes smoothly with good Perseids shower.
JULY2005 Prof. Mike Kelley and graduate student Mike Nicholls, both from Cornell University, visit Sondrestrom on their way to and from Raven Camp, located East of Kangerlussuaq on the Inland Ice. Two 25 hr ISR runs were performed to measure the latitudinal distribution of the F-region E field for comparison with their measurements of the ionospheric E field mapped to the top of the ice cap.
Stan Briczinski, GSRE participant from Pennsylvania State University, arrives to use ISR to try to detect and characterize meteor head echoes. Stan has done this succesfully with the Arecibo ISR, which he is using for his PhD dissertation.
JUNE2005 Radio Iceland visits the site and interviews Eggert (our very own Icelander) about the facility and our research.
John Geiszler, recent graduate of the California Polytechnic Institute and new graduate student at the U. of Colorado, Boulder, arrives at the site for a two-month GSRE (graduate student research experience) stint. He will be working with the lidar systems.
MAY2005 Welcome to Tomasz Moczadlowski, electrical engineer. Tomasz spent two weeks on site for orientation, then returned home to Poland to get married and relocate to Greenland. Nathan Eldridge returned to California after his one-year assignment. Thanks for the good work!
CME event monitoring from 0330 UT on 08 May to 0100 UT on 10 May shows nice positive storm and large ion flows parallel to B.
APR2005 On 08 April, the 600 kW diesel generator-set that powers the ISR transmitter failed, resulting in a partial rebuild of the engine. Unfortunately, this caused us to miss the 3-day GPS/TEC world day run in mid-month.
MAR2005 Five-day M-I Coupling world day run goes smoothly.
High-Resolution Spectrograph (HIRISE) installed by Raju Duggirala, Boston University, for optical detections of cusp emissions. Instrument will make daytime measurements for 1 year.
FEB2005 Site crew takes a break to enjoy some sunshine – Nathan Eldridge performing a front grab (photo by Claus Johannsen).
JAN2005 88 hrs of ISR support for PATCHES campaign – coordinated with optics at Qaanaaq, Greenland, and locally – measuring entry, transit and exit of polar cap F-region patches.
ARCHIVES2004
DEC2004 Three-day synoptic world day run shows large ion upflow events.
NOV2004 LTCS world day coverage started early because of CME alert. Four-day run captures large Joule heating events.
OCT2004 Common-volume measurements of high flow events, coordinated with the Stokkseyri (Iceland West) SuperDARN, prove promising for addressing this phenomenon.
SEPT2004 Continued measurements of the vertical structure of the E-region neutral wind for Shin Oyama, University of Alaska at Fairbanks.
AUG2004 Coordinated ISR and lidar measurements are being analyzed for possible PMSE detections.
JULY2004 M-Class flare produces geo-effective CME event – monitored thoughout the 27th.
Because of schooling requirements for his daughter, Tommy Jørgensen has moved to Denmark. Thanks for eight years of quality service.
New and improved internet connection and firewall. Because of the shutdown of the NASA link, we now have internet access through the commercial Greenland service. Concurrently, we modified the LAN and network security. Any PIs having problems accessing their equipment should contact Todd Valentic.
JUNE2004 Lidar campaign with IR system helps define the size and shape of particles in PMC observations.
MAY2004 Welcome to Nathan Eldridge! A recent graduate of the California Polytechnic University in EE, Nathan joins the site crew. Nathan Rausch and family return to the US after 2 years on site – wishing them the best of luck.
APRIL2004 Fabry-Perot Interferometer (Rick Niciejewski, U. of Michigan) completes viewing season.
Welcome to Henrik Sandin! Henrik, a certified mechanic, joins us from Aasiaat, Greenland, where he was the manager of the waste incineration/power generation plant.
MAR2004 With the return of sunlight, ISR resumes routine measurements for Shin Oyama's (U. of Alaska, Fairbanks) study of the vertical structure of the vertical component of the E-region neutral wind. These measurements will continue into Autumn.
Five-day global ISR campaign to study the effects of storms on the coupling between the magnetosphere and ionosphere began on 29 March. Activity early in the run looks promising.
FEB2004 ISR and ASI campaigns with DMSP-F16 overflights to calibrate and validate the SSUSI instrument. Clear skies and auroral acitivity result in many good candidates for this comparison.
Mårtin Blixt from the University of Tromsø, Norway, brought a narrow-field high-speed auroral imaging system for a collaborative campaign with Joshua Semeter, SRI, to study the temporal relationship between ionospheric electric field patterns and discrete auroral arcs.
JAN2004 Danish TV2 network shows facility and ISR runs coordinated with overflights of the Danish Ørsted satellite. GO TO DANISH TV2
ASI upgrades image intensifier and adds a red-edge filter.
ISR and ASI begin calibration and validation measurements for the SSUSI imager aboard the new DMSP-F16 satellite.
ARCHIVES2003
DEC2003 Two-day high-latitude world day run sees lots of auroral activity.
NOV2003 Febry-Perot Interferometer zenith pointing mirror is fixed by site crew under direction of the PI. Now ready for the winter viewing season, it performed well for the 5-day LTCS run of 11–16 Nov.
OCT2003 Large CME, flare events, and PCA are captured by event-driven ISR operations. From 20 UT 28 Oct. thru 10 UT 29 Oct. the radar was run in high-resolution D and E region mode, capturing the PCA event. The mode was then switched to latitudinal measurement of ion convection with measurements parallel to B, thru 08 UT 31 Oct. VIEW SUMMARY PLOTS
Original modulator of the ISR transmitter (built in 1964) is replaced with a new solid-state modulator. This new piece will accommodate our current and spare klystrons, and allow for use of more readily available, less expensive klystrons. Installation began on the 8th. Testing was done 16–20 Oct., before the 21–23 Oct. POLITE world day run. All facility instrument PI's should review their data to ensure that the new modulator's faster HV switching has not had an impact.
SEPT2003 NSF UAF panel visits Sondrestrom for site review. REVIEW MATERIAL
JUL2003 Chirantan Mukhopadhyay, a graduate student at the U. of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign, finishes six-week visit to work with the lidar systems as part of NSF's GSRE program. SEE PHOTO
JUN2003 Real-time feed of line-of-sight ion velocities to RTAmie and SuperDARN is implemented.
MAY2003 Two-day world day run extended to four days to capture CME event.
APR2003 Welcome to Claus Johannsen, the new DMI engineer.
MAR2003 STORMS world day run from 1230 UT on 19 March to 1600 UT on 23 March – alert run performed in response to predictions catches dynamic activity.
FEB2003 Coordinated ISR, lidar and Fabry-Perot Interferometer operations in support of TIMED TIDI measurements over Sondrestrom.
JAN2003 Successful HLPS campaign – 48 hrs of ISR data from 1 thru 7 January in support of study of F-region patch polar cap entry and egress.
ARCHIVES2002
DEC2002 The University of Michigan's Fabry-Perot Interferometer has been repaired and is now routinely taking data.

Jeff Holmes, a graduate student at U. of Alaska, Fairbanks, arrives for a six week stay to work with the lidar systems as part of NSF's GRE program.
NOV2002 Resonance scatter from meteoric sodium and Rayleigh scatter from ablated meteor material detected simultaneously near 0130 UT on 13 November.
OCT2002 SMI system routinely operating during clear and active conditions.

Welcome Eggert Gudmundsson, electrical engineer, and H.P. Petersen, mechanic.
SEPT2002 ASI system ready for 2002/2003 season – new filter added.

Thanks for many years as site supervisor to John Jorgensen, and welcome to his new expanded role.
AUG2002 Augsburg College upgrades the search-coil magnetometer.

U. of Illinois at Urbana-Champagne upgrades all-sky imager.
JUNE2002 Brian Yanity, REU student from Bard College, NY, arrives for summer work with the lidar systems.

Measurements in support of the TIMED-SABER experiment in June and July, September and October.
MAY2002 The Network for Detection of Stratospheric Change (NDSC) has designated the Rayleigh lidar as a primary instrument in their program.

Welcome Nathan Rausch, new site crew member.
APR2002 E-region plasma line measurements successful.

Ten high-school students from Colorado visit the site. (see Education & Outreach)
MAR2002 High resolution optical measurements with SMI are complemented by ISR measurements during week-long campaign.
JAN2002  TIMED satellite payloads successfully deployed. Sondrestrom provides calibration and validation data with measurements in early January.

Millennium Patches campaign (Boston College and AFRL) successful – the weather and ionosphere cooperated and over 40 hours of coincident ISR and optical data taken.

University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign installs an airglow imager.
ARCHIVES2001
NOV2001 Stanford University repairs and upgrades the ELF/VLF system.

New data acquisition mode allows for measurements of meteor head echoes.

New data acquisition mode allows for higher-resolution E-region measurements, with 1.5 km resolution and 1 sec integration. This mode is used in the measurements coordinated with the SMI.

Event-Driven Radar Operations: X1.0 solar event on November 4 produced halo CME and proton event with flux comparable to July 14, 2001 event. Very strong geomagnetic storm (Kp of 8, Dst of –280 nT) on November 6. (see data)
OCT2001 Event-Driven Radar Operations: Two X1.6 solar events on October 19 produced halo CMEs but no proton event. Strong geomagnetic storm (Kp of 7, Dst of –180 nT) on October 21. (see data)
SEPT2001 GPS receiver upgraded by NCAR.

September 25-26: Event-driven IS radar operations commenced in response to a CME. The CME proved geoeffective and the radar data set is very dynamic.
AUG2001 University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign installed a fifth channel to their photometer.

August 30: Lidar observations for NLCs end with a total of 22 different nights of NLC detections, the most in one season, thanks to improved instrument sensitivity and Eggert's hard work.

August 29: University of Michigan's FPI is up and running after a final visit by Dr. Rick Niciejewski to get the instrument calibrated and operational.
Dartmouth College repaired the HF imaging system.

Augsburg College working jointly with UNH upgraded and repaired the pulsation magnetometer.

Embry Riddle Unviersity worked on their Michelson interferometer.
JULY2001 July 24: Henrik Svan becomes new member of the Sondrestrom site crew filling the Technician I position vacated by Kristof Richmond. Welcome!
JUNE2001 June 15 First NLC of the 2001 summer season detected by the Rayleigh lidar. Thanks Eggert!
APR2001 April 3: Another PCA event recorded with the new mode.
MAR2001 March 31: GISR measurements were made with a new mode, providing high-resolution measurements of the lower D region during a polar cap absorption (PCA) event.

March 29-31: Event-Driven Radar Operations: X1.7 solar event on March 29 produced halo CME and proton event. Extremely strong geomagnetic storm (Kp of 9, Dst of -360 nT on March 31).

A sample of river sand from near the bridge in town was sent to Mrs. Brice's 8th grade science class in San Marcos (Southern California). Their geology project is studying sand samples from around the world, and they are eager to compare this sample (which should have glacial loess) to a sample obtained from near an Alaskan glacier.
FEB2001 Auroral Microphysics Campaign: Josh Semeter (SRI), Werner Lieb and P. Schnell (MPE) conducted a joint campaign to study the physics of dynamic aurora. The experiment featured coordinated measurements of discrete arcs by the Simultaneous Multispectral Imager (SMI) and the ISR. The ISR was operated in a dual resolution mode with a Barker coded pulse on one transmitter and a 160 µs pulse on the other. The ISR operated 39 hours over 8 nights
Plasma Lines: They're baaaaack! Craig has taken some new plasma line measurements with the recently upgraded MUSCOX 2 data acquisition system.
Polar Cap Patches and Convection Campaign: Todd Pedersen (AFRL) and Pallamraju Duggirala (Boston U) had a campaign to measure the convection of F-region polar cap patches, with optical measurements from Sondrestrom and Qaanaaq, Greenland. The ISR operated in support for 46 hours over 6 daytime and 5 nighttime runs.

Proton Aurora Observations: Pallamraju Duggirala, S. Chakrabarti and Marina Galand (Boston U) deployed "HiRES" which is the "High Resolution Eschelle Spectrograph" and attempted measurements of proton aurora. The ISR ran for 28 hours over 8 nights in support.

Two dozen high school students and their teachers from Victoria, Australia, visited the site. They were treated to a two-hour tour, with lots of photos taken of the ISR dish.
JAN2001 Polar Cap Patch Exit Campaign: Cesar Valladares (Boston College) and Sunanda Basu (AFRL) had a campaign to study polar cap patch exit as part of the High Latitude Plasma Structure (HLPS) . Cesar was present at the site and four 6-hour radar runs were performed.

ARCHIVES2000
November 27-29 Event-Driven Radar Operations: Nine halo CMEs with X and M-class flares, strong storm conditions (Dst -130 nT) lasting 5 days.
September 21 Gary Bust (U of Texas at Austin) reports a successful deployment of their equipment at Sondrestrom. The equipment will be part of a chain of receivers with Greenland to enable tomographic retrievals of the ionospheric electron density profile.
September 12 Event-Driven Radar Operations: Fast halo CME with proton event. Distrbance proved weakly geoeffective.
September 5 Site crew member, Kristof Richmond, departs the radar site to pursue graduate studies at Stanford University in mechanical engineering. Best of luck! The posted site crew position is yet to be filled.
September 1 The noctilucent cloud lidar observing season proved productive with 9 different nights/days of lidar detections. Thanks to Eggert, Aimee Merkel and Keith Soldavin.
July 14 An X5.7-class flare and coronal mass ejection combined to produce a strong polar cap absorption (PCA) event and a geomagnetic storm topping the scale of activity with a Kp of 9. The site crew spang into action and captured the event by running the IS radar for 72 hours straight.
June 19 Radar is once again operational with a new diesel engine thanks to the Herculean efforts of the Sondrestrom site crew
June 12 New diesel engine arrives in Kangerlussuaq
May 18- August 20 Summer NLC study in full swing with CU student Aimee Merkel at the lidar helm.
May 4 Incoherent scatter radar down due to diesel engine failure.
The Sondrestrom Research Facility is operated by the Ionospheric & Space Physics Group at SRI International under the auspices of NSF and in joint cooperation with Denmark's Meteorological Institute.