NWT RESEARCH DATABASE

Regions: Gwich'in Settlement Area

Tags: physical sciences, magnetic field, aurora borealis, space weather

Objective(s): To measure voltage patterns several hundred kilometers above the ground which project out into space along the Earth's magnetic field lines.

Project Description: Just as high and low pressure systems drive normal weather, high and low voltages drive space weather. The radar network is designed to measure these voltage patterns several hundred kilometers above the ground, and these patterns project out into space along the Earth's magnetic field lines. The radar installation is rather simple, requiring transmitting and receiving electronics in a small building, and antennas outside. The radar requires a local Field Technical Support Officer (from the Auroral Research Institute). University of Saskatchewan SuperDARN engineers, Marci Detwiller, Keith Kotyk, and/or Kevin Krieger, will make periodic trips to Inuvik to check the radar when problems arise that cannot be handled by the Aurora Research Institute personnel. The radar engineering team aims to visit the site every one or two years during the summer when access to all of the site's infrastructure is best. SuperDARN Canada has an online presence including the website Superdarn.ca which includes publications, a forum, and soon a real time data display and a mailing list. SuperDARN Canada also has a social media presence (https://twitter.com/SuperDARNCanada and https://www.facebook.com/SuperDARNCanada/). Because the radars operate autonomously and remotely (based at the University of Saskatchewan in Saskatoon), the research team welcome interactions with all interested parties via online methods. The fieldwork for this study will be conducted from January 11, 2018 to December 31, 2018.