Brian J. Anderson,
APL: Active Magnetosphere and Planetary Electrodynamics Response
Experiment (AMPERE) Drives Real Time Space Weather Forecasting
August 18, 2010
The
Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory (APL), with help
from Boeing and Iridium Communications has successfully implemented a
new space-based system to monitor Earth’s space environment. Known as
the Active Magnetosphere and Planetary Electrodynamics Response
Experiment (AMPERE), the system provides real-time magnetic field
measurements using commercial satellites as part of a new observation
network to forecast weather in space. This is the first step in
developing a system that enables 24-hour tracking of Earth's response to
supersonic blasts of plasma ejected from the sun at collection rates
fast enough to one day enable forecasters to predict space weather
effects.
"This milestone brings us one step closer to accurate space weather
forecasts around the Earth," said APL’s Dr. Brian J. Anderson, principal
investigator and the scientist who spearheads the program. "Solar storms
can disrupt satellite service and damage telecommunications networks,
cause power grid blackouts and even endanger high-altitude aircraft. The
next wave of solar storms will occur over the next three to five years
and recent solar activity is just the beginning of a long, stormy space
weather ‘season.’ The timing for AMPERE is just right because we need
this system both to help us understand how solar storms disturb the
space environment and to develop reliable monitoring and forecasts of
major space weather storms."
The Boeing engineering team and scientists at APL have proven that the
program yields continuous, real-time measurements of the magnetic field
over the entire Earth simultaneously with up to 100 times greater
sampling density than previously possible.
“The electric currents linking Earth’s uppermost atmosphere with space
-- those same currents that generate the aurora borealis -- also produce
magnetic signatures that can only be sensed from space,” said Dr.
Anderson. “This achievement by the AMPERE team is a quantum advance in
science that allows the first continuous (24/7) global observation of
space weather.”
The AMPERE program is funded by a $4 million grant from the National
Science Foundation (NSF) to the Johns Hopkins Applied Physics
Laboratory. The laboratory, working with Boeing, partnered with Iridium
to introduce this new capability by using Iridium's commercial satellite
constellation.
“NSF is proud and thrilled to be the catalyst for this breakthrough
project,” said Dr. Therese Jorgensen, program director in NSF’s division
of Atmospheric and Geospace Sciences which sponsors AMPERE. “AMPERE is a
hugely exciting and novel project that brings the best of university
scientists together with commercial space assets and industry
engineering expertise to open a new window on our home planet’s response
to solar activity.”
Boeing presently handles data collection, processing and packaging from
the Iridium satellite fleet for AMPERE and transfers the magnetic field
samples to the Science Data Center at APL (in Laurel, Md.), where the
data are processed to yield globally integrated views of Earth’s space
environment. Leveraging more than nine years of operations and
maintenance support to the Iridium satellite fleet, Boeing was able to
create a new data pathway for transferring magnetic field samples from
the satellites to the ground station – providing the data in real-time
and up to 100 times more frequently than before. Based on this
innovation, AMPERE provides data every two to 20 seconds from each
Iridium satellite and the data are available within minutes for
analysis. Previously, data were only sampled once every three minutes
and were available for analysis only the following day.
“This program provides a model of a successful public-private
partnership between the scientific and academic communities and
industry,” said Steve Oswald, vice president and general manager, Boeing
Intelligence and Security Systems. “Together this team will answer
critical scientific questions about our home planet.”
AMPERE uses Iridium's network of 66 low-Earth orbiting (LEO)
communication satellites, the only system capable of providing a fully
global view.
"The
AMPERE program validates the potential for using sensors on the LEO
Iridium satellites to provide unprecedented visibility over the entire
Earth's surface and its atmosphere," said Don Thoma, executive vice
president, Marketing, Iridium. "We are actively in discussions with
partners in the scientific community to incorporate a wide range of
Earth observation and remote sensing missions through hosted payloads on
Iridium NEXT, our next-generation satellites."
The next step for the APL scientists will be to develop the analytical
tools to evaluate and forecast severe geomagnetic storms in space. This
phase of the project is on schedule and the first release of AMPERE
space weather products to the scientific community is planned for the
fourth quarter of 2010.