Polar Experiment Network for Geospace Upper-atmosphere Investigators

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  OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA
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Summary

Mission: investigate the electrodynamic system that comprises the space environment of planet Earth from Antarctica and nominally conjugate regions in the Arctic. 

Challenge: The creation of more comprehensive models of the phenomena produced by the interactions between solar wind energy and momentum through the magnetosphere down to the ionosphere and upper atmosphere. This goal has been hampered so far by the lack of sufficient data to investigate processes and to validate global models, particularly in the Southern Hemisphere.

Solution: Create autonomous instrument platforms, powered year-long with solar panels and improved battery capacity, strategically deployed in the Southern polar cap to gather data on the entire Geospace system.

Value: The complex behavior of space weather can impact navigation, communications, and defense technologies. The project’s data can be used to validate space weather models that will help mitigate the impact of these complex atmospheric events on human technologies deployed in space and on land. 

Lab: SPRL