Aeronomy Post-Upgrade Planning Workshop

Craig Tepley

The Arecibo Observatory announces a workshop on the science of the mid-latitude middle and upper atmosphere and the ionosphere. The meeting will be held January 9-11, 1997 at the Observatory. The purpose of the workshop is to identify key science questions that can be solved by focussed efforts in the next five years, and to begin the planning phase. Due to limited space we will limit attendance to first come, first served. For this reason and because airline tickets may be scarce due to holiday season travel, we strongly encourage interested parties to (a) respond quickly, expressing interest in attending to the e-mail address below, and (b) make airline reservations immediately.

The time is ripe for this endeavor since a major upgrade of the Arecibo 430-MHz radar is in its final stages. A new feed system has been installed that will allow the transmitted signal to be split and illuminate two directions simultaneously. The potential of dual-beam operation will be addressed in the meeting as will its implications for improved World Day observations. Recently acquired lidar capabilities also make possible new and exciting studies of the middle atmosphere. Due to time limitations, the workshop will concentrate on upper atmospheric and CEDAR aspects of the Observatory science program. For completeness, other atmospheric and plasma science activities at Arecibo will be reviewed by staff scientists. The instrument complement will also be reviewed, along with projects such as the NASA rocket campaign that is already well into the implementation phase. Based upon results of the Arecibo Friends Workshop at CEDAR, we tentatively identify the following topics for detailed study:

1. Gravity wave and tidal propagation into and through the mesosphere to the lower thermosphere, and associated ionospheric effects, including layer formation, motion, modulation, and plasma instabilities. (Contact person: Qihou Zhou, zhou@naic.edu.)

2. Plasma physics and aeronomy of meteors, meteoric dust, and atomic layers. (Contact person: John Cho, jcho@naic.edu.)

3. Mid-latitude F-region space weather: Electrobuoyancy waves, turbulent upwellings, and the emerging technologies of GPS, SAR, tomography, and optical imaging. (Contact person: Mike Kelley, mikek@ee.cornell.edu.)

4. World Day and patrol observations in the dual-beam post-upgrade period. (Contact person: Mike Sulzer, sulzer@naic.edu.)

5. Chemistry and physics of light ions and atoms in the upper atmosphere. (Contact person: Sixto González, sixto@naic.edu.)

Most sessions will be held in series. Two discussion group leaders chosen from the user community will lead panel discussions for each of these five topics. Candidates are currently being contacted. For the time being, comments on refining the sub-topics listed above should be addressed to the appropriate contact person via the associated e-mail address.

Other suggestions are welcome, as are volunteers to present short, two-viewgraph inputs to the panels, to help plan observational campaigns, and to formulate reports on these topical areas. We anticipate some time will be needed to write white papers on the topics, organize CEDAR workshops and/or to write proposals to the Observatory related to such upcoming events as the rocket campaign.

Preliminary interest in attending the workshop should be sent to Craig Tepley (craig@naic.edu). Further information on housing and registration will be forwarded to those who respond. A very limited amount of travel money is available. Funding inquiries should be sent to Mike Kelley (mikek@ee.cornell.edu).

NAIC/AO Newsletter No. 20 - 2 DEC 1996

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