WD2013

World Day Schedule 2013

2013 Incoherent Scatter Coordinated Observation Days

URSI-ISWG [http://www.ursi.org]

Data collection on these Incoherent Scatter Coordinated Observation Days is to start no later than 1300 UT on the indicated day and stop not before 2000 UT the ending day. That means that an experiment scheduled for 1 day, actually runs for minimum 31 hours. Depending on local setups, it is recommended to extend the runs around the core hours to be sure to have the systems up at full power during the selected periods.

In the following table, columns 1 and 2 give the UT start dates of the experiments, column 3 lists the lengths of the experiments, column 4 shows the dates of new moon, and column 5 lists the experiment titles. See special notes associated with each World Day period.

2013 Incoherent Scatter Coordinated Observation Days

Month
Starting Date
Length (days)
New Moon
Experiment
January
15-31 Alert
10
11
StratWarm (see Note 1)
February
1-15 Alert
10
March
11
April
16
3
10
Synoptic
May
10
June
8
July
8
4
8
E-region E field
August
6
September
5
October
5
November
4
3
3
Synoptic
December
3
Total
20

Note 1: The decision to start will be based on predictions by Larisa Goncharenko of stratospheric warming. In the case of no SSW event, the World Day will fall back to a 5-day run at the end of the alert period, 7-12 Feb.


Real-Time Data Links (when available)

Jicamarca Arecibo Millstone Hill
Sondrestrom PFISR RISR-N
EISCAT Kharkov Irkutsk
MU SuperDARN

Send comments, questions and proposals for the World Day schedule to Mary McCready or Ian McCrea


World Day Facts

Establishing “World Day” schedules for coordinating the operations of the incoherent scatter radars around the world is one of the activities of the Incoherent Scatter Working Group (ISWG) of Commission G of URSI. These schedules are published yearly as part of the International Geophysical Calendar. Here are some of the facts about world days:

The World Day Schedule for 2012 can be found at WD2012.htm

Procedures for requesting World Day experiments

Instructions and guidlines for submitting World Day proposals are available at: http://people.ece.cornell.edu/wes/URSI_ISWG/SampleWDproposal.htm, where you can also find a sample proposal.


Notes on World Day observations proposed for 2013

Sudden Stratospheric Warming (StratWarm): Dynamics, electrodynamics, temperature and electron density in the lower and upper thermosphere and ionosphere during a sudden stratospheric warming event

Key objectives:

Background condition: The observations need to be made before and during the sudden stratospheric warming. A 10-day campaign is requested.

Primary parameters to measure: LTCS mode - electron and ion temperatures from lowest possible altitudes throughout
the F region, zonal and meridional components of the neutral wind in the lower thermosphere (95-140km), ExB drift,
F-region meridional wind. Temporal resolution can be sacrificed and data integration period increased in order to obtain data at lower altitudes.

Need for simultaneous data: The idea is to measure how variations in temperatures, electric field and winds associated with sudden stratospheric warming change with latitude and altitude and relate to variations in electron density.

Principle investigator: Larisa P. Goncharenko, lpg@haystack.mit.edu, MIT Haystack Observatory, Westford, MA 01886, USA. Larisa is responsible for issuing the alert. She anticipates a few days' notice.

Co-investigators: Jorge Chau (Jicamarca Radio Observatory, Peru), Hanli Liu (NCAR, USA), Peter Hoffmann (Institute for Atmospheric Physics, Germany).

E-region E field: Latitudinal variation of the vertical electric field in the E region

Key Objectives:

Background Conditions: Ideally two days each during geomagnetically quiet and active periods.

Primary Parameters to Measure: Vertical profiles of vertical ion drifts and geomagnetic zonal ion drift primarily during daytime. No beam swinging unless necessary to obtain the two components in the geomagnetic zonal plane. For single feed, swing in the geomagnetic zonal plane if possible.

Secondary Parameters to Measure: Electron density, electron and ion temperatures.

Principle Investigator: Qihou Zhou, zhouq@muohio.edu, Tel: +1-513-529-0743 Electrical and Computer Engineering Dept., Miami University, Oxford, OH 45056, USA. Qihou will coordinate the observations and discuss with each ISR site to ensure that optimal modes will be used.

Synoptic: These synoptic experiments are intended to emphasize wide coverage of the F region, with some augmented coverage of the topside or E region to fill in areas of the data bases that have relatively little data.

Contacts: Jan Sojka, Mary McCready
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