© 2016 RAL Space

RAL Space and an Introduction to the

Worldwide IPS Stations (WIPSS) Network

M.M. Bisi (Mario.Bisi@stfc.ac.uk) (1), J.A. Gonzalez-Esparza (2), B.V. Jackson (3),

E. Aguilar-Rodriguez (2), M. Tokumaru (4), I. Chashei (5), S.A. Tyul’bashev (5),

P.K. Manoharan (6), R.A. Fallows (7), M.A. Hapgood (1), R.A. Harrison (1),

O. Chang (8), J.C. Mejia-Ambriz (2), H.-S. Yu (3), K. Fujiki (4), and V. Shishov (5).

(1) STFC-RAL Space, Oxfordshire, UK. (2) SCIESMEX/MEXART/UNAM, Mexico.

(3) CASS-UCSD, CA, USA. (4) ISEE, Nagoya University, Japan.

(5) LPI-BSA, PRAO, Russia. (6) RAC-NCRA, TIFR, India.

(7) ASTRON, Dwingeloo, NL. (8) Posgrado en Ciencias de la Tierra, UNAM, Mexico.

© 2016 RAL Space

• Part 1: An Overview of Space Weather Interests/Activities

at RAL Space.

• Part 2: The Worldwide Interplanetary Scintillation

Stations (WIPSS) Network.

• Part 3: Brief Summary.

Outline…

An Overview of Space Weather

Interests/Activities at RAL Space.

Part 1:

© 2016 RAL Space

STFC – Rutherford Appleton Laboratory

© 2016 RAL Space

World’s most powerful source of

pulsed neutrons

World’s first 3rd-generation

X-ray synchrotron

World’s most intense

laser

RAL Space

ECSAT + Sat Aps

Catapult

Our Ionospheric Physics Heritage: …the start of space environment physics at RAL

1924 - Radio Research Board formed, located at

Ditton Park Slough; Ionosphere discovered

and named by Appleton.

1927 - RADIO RESEARCH STATION established.

1931 - Ionosonde project starts (80+ years data and

running).

1935 - Invention of Radar at RRS by Watson Watt and

Wilkins.

1965 - RSS renamed the RADIO & SPACE

RESEARCH STATION.

1973 - RSRS renamed APPLETON LABORATORY

by Mrs M. Thatcher.

1980 - Appleton Lab. merges with Rutherford Lab..

1981 (to date) - EISCAT (and now EISCAT_3D).

1989-1991 - Cambridge IPS.

1990s onwards - Various satellite/space-based

involvements (e.g. ACE, CLUSTER, SWARM). © 2016 RAL Space

Our Solar/Heliospheric Physics Heritage: …the start of our space-based programme

© 2016 RAL Space

1958 - Plasma Spectroscopy Group set up at the Atomic

Energy Research Establishment, Harwell, for plasma

diagnostic analysis of ZETA (Zero Energy Toroidal

Assembly).

The UV spectroscopy techniques developed for ZETA

provided a powerful tool for studying astrophysical plasmas,

exploiting the new post-war rocket opportunities.

1962 - The group moved to Culham running a programme

of UV solar observations with rocket-borne

instruments, including the first flights of stabilised

Skylark rockets.

The Astrophysics Research Unit (as it was then) ultimately

became part of RAL.

1980s and 1990s - Key involvements in solar instrumentation

on SMM, Spacelab 2, and SOHO (still going today).

2000s and 2010s – Key involvements in solar/heliospheric

instrumentation on SMEI, STEREO, and Solar Orbiter.

► Research (10%)

Solar/Heliospheric Physics, I-R Astronomy, Space Weather, SST, Climate, Atmospheric Composition,

Radio Propagation…

► Design & build Space Instruments (50%)

216+ instruments in Space

plus Ground-based telescopes.

► Develop key technologies (15%)

Electronics/Detectors, Optics/Thermal, MMT, Robotics.

► Data and information Centres (25%)

Acquisition, Analysis, Dissemination, Curation.

© 2016 RAL Space

RAL Space – “Science Led, Technology Enabled”:

What we do…

Post Launch Support

(PLS)

LOFAR (from 2010): Low Frequency

Array radio telescope at the lowest

frequencies accessible from Earth. SOHO (from 1995): EUV

studies of the solar atmosphere.

STEREO (from 2006): Out of

Sun-Earth line heliospheric imaging.

Herschel (2009-2013): IR astronomical observatory.

Swarm (from 2013): Earth

magnetic field mission.

EISCAT (from 1981): Ionospheric radar.

Cluster (from 2000): The

near-Earth space environment.

Hinode (from 2006): Physics of the solar

atmosphere.

© 2016 RAL Space

Space-Weather Focus:

The Sun-Earth Connection

© 2016 RAL Space

Space weather arises (mainly) from solar

ejecta impacting the Earth, in particular

plasma and particle radiation.Need to understand energy flow:

Source (Sun) and transmission (solar wind), processing

by the Earth’s own magnetically-confined system

(magnetosphere, ionosphere/atmosphere, lithosphere).

Why is Space Weather a Natural

Hazard?

© 2016 RAL Space

Flooding People, homes, and infrastructure on flood plains and

coasts.

Tsunami People, homes, and infrastructure near coast.

Volcanoes People, homes, and infrastructure on pyroclastic and

lava flow lines.

Space weather People, homes and infrastructure near a star!

• Natural hazards occur in places that are good to live and occasionally

dangerous.

• Scale and frequency of extreme risks is a key concern.

Assessing the Risk• UK’s National Risk Register

(NRR – 2015 edition) –

other risks.

• Severe space weather has been

on the UK’s NRR since 2011.

• This, along with other additional

risks, were brought to the

government’s attention following

the problems caused by the

Iceland volcano ‘Eyjafjallajökull’

ash clouds in 2010.

• Not just the UK government!

• UKSA funded a socio-economic

study on space-weather impacts

(IPSP) reporting to government.

© 2016 RAL Space

Solar/Heliospheric Science

and Space Weather• Provide community focus.

• Design & build instruments/future technology.

• 10 Solar/Heliospheric missions over the last

30 years.

• Range of study:

– Physics & chemistry of the Sun to Solar activity,

Earth climate, and Space weather.

STEREO SDOHINODE Solar Orbiter

© 2016 RAL Space

Satellite

Ground station

Heliospheric Imaging• The disentangling of heliospheric structures

between the Sun and Earth is no simple task.

• There are many different features: different solar-wind streams,

stream interaction regions (SIRs), CMEs, etc…

• Remote-sensing heliospheric imaging via visible-light (Thomson

scattered sunlight off of heliospheric structures) or radio (indirect

via changes in signals from background sources) frequencies

enables us to get a good handle on the large space between Sun and

Earth (and beyond the Earth).

• Observations can be input into the University of California, San

Diego (UCSD) 3-D tomography for reconstruction (movie – top) of

the whole inner-heliospheric structure in several parameters…© 2016 RAL Space

Visible-Light Heliospheric Imaging

© 2016 RAL Space

• Earth-

directed

CME –

06 March

2012 as

imaged

by in

Thomson

-Scattered

sunlight.

Carrington-L5 Space-Weather Mission

• Prospects for a

UK/UK-led

dedicated space-

weather mission

to the Sun-Earth

Lagrangian 5

point (L5).

• Likely to be a

multi-national

endeavour if the

mission goes

ahead.© 2016 RAL Space

(Courtesy of

Airbus UK.)

The Worldwide Interplanetary

Scintillation Stations (WIPSS)

Network.

Part 2:

© 2016 RAL Space

Interplanetary Scintillation (IPS) (1)

© 2016 RAL Space

- e.g. see M.M. Bisi, “Planetary, heliospheric, and solar science with radio scintillation”,

Chapter 13 of Heliophysics Volume IV “Active stars, their astrospheres, and impacts on

planetary Environments”, Editors C.J. Schrijver, F. Bagenal, and J.J. Sojka,

Cambridge University Press, 16 March 2016, and references therein.

IPS (2)

IPS is most-sensitive at and around the P-Point of the LOS to the Sun and is only sensitive to the

component of flow that is perpendicular to the LOS; it is variation in intensity of astronomical

radio sources on timescales of ~0.1s to ~10s that is observed.

Interplanetary

magnetic field

Solar wind

velocity, density/

turbulence, and

signatures of field

rotation and SIRs

Variation in

amount of

scintillation →

density proxy

Cross-

correlation of

power spectra

→ velocityFit to individual power

spectra → velocity etc…

© 2016 RAL Space

WIPSS Core Members• M.M. Bisi – STFC RAL Space, UK.

• J.A. Gonzalez-Esparza, E. Aguilar-Rodriguez, O. Chang,

J.C. Mejia-Ambriz, V.H. De la Luz, P. Corona-Romero, and E.

Romero-Hernandez – SCIESMEX/MEXART/UNAM, Mexico.

• B.V. Jackson, and Hsiu-Shan Yu – CASS-UCSD, USA.

• M. Tokumaru, and K. Fujiki – ISEE, Nagoya University, Japan

• I.V. Chashei, S.A. Tyul’Bashev, V. Shishov – Pushchino Radio

Astronomy Observatory, Russia.

• R.A. Fallows – ASTRON, The Netherlands.

• P.K. Manoharan – Ooty Radio Telescope, India.

• Future expected additions (some are much more science

focused) from the Republic of Korea (South Korea)

(2016/2017), Ukraine (2017), China (2017), Australia (2017),

and perhaps South Africa (TBC).

Worldwide IPS Stations

(WIPSS) Network

Japan

Mexico

India

RussiaUK/Europe –

EISCAT/LOFAR

(USA-Australia)

Ooty 327 MHz、16,000 ㎡

Pushchino 111 MHz

70,000 ㎡MEXART

140 MHz、10,000 ㎡

MWA

80-300 MHz

ISEE Multi-Station 327 MHz

2000 ㎡× 3, 3500 ㎡

WIPSS

South

Korea

Low-Band Dipoles

~10 to 90 MHz.

High-Band Tiles

110 to ~250 MHz.

What we want from WIPSS (1)

© 2016 RAL Space

• Using the UCSD 3-D Tomography for real-time heliospheric

reconstruction and space-weather forecasting in this detail…

What we want from WIPSS (2)

© 2016 RAL Space

• And to drive MHD using IPS data as input…

Brief Summary

Part 3:

© 2016 RAL Space

Overall Summary

• Part 1: RAL Space’s Space Weather Interests: Involves the whole

Sun-Earth chain; looking towards future ground-based and space-

based opportunities (including L5); and continuing working with

partners to emphasise and make the case for dedicated space-

weather missions and improvements to Sun-to-Earth modelling.

• Part 2: WIPSS Network: IPS is an extremely-powerful and unique

technique with a wide international interest for making heliospheric

imaging observations of the inner heliosphere as well as now

having validation for space-weather forecasting underway (RAL

Space/Met Office US Air Force EOARD project as well as several

international efforts); combined with heliospheric FR and the

UCSD tomography, this allows for huge potential in obtaining 3-D

magnetic-field forecasts as well as those in velocity and density.

© 2016 RAL Space