Other
Scientific paper
Dec 2001
adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=2001agufmsa41c..04p&link_type=abstract
American Geophysical Union, Fall Meeting 2001, abstract #SA41C-04
Other
0310 Airglow And Aurora, 0355 Thermosphere: Composition And Chemistry, 0358 Thermosphere: Energy Deposition, 0394 Instruments And Techniques
Scientific paper
Aeronomy stands at the crossroads: on one hand is an applied science similar to that seen in meteorology, on the other lies continued basic research akin to atmospheric science. Advances in spacecraft and instrumentation technology will enable the aeronomy community to continue to make progress along either path. Basic research stands, in my estimation, to gain the most over the near term as the nature of proposed and funded investigations expands in complexity. It is fairly straightforward to envision how one might fly more of the same kind of experiments that we have already flown: in this scenario technology is used to drive down unit cost so that more satellites can be flown for the same cost. We are bound to see some substantial improvement in the number of samples made but we will still be far from the density of observations that are used and incorporated in terrestrial weather forecasts. Basic research still must indicate what those essential measurements are: that is basic research must serve to tell us what we must measure, where, and how often. Technology should serve to enable obtaining the required measurements rather than defining that which will be measured. Often our field is criticized as flying another AE just with updated technology. In this brief introduction to new technologies I will summarize new spacecraft designs including advanced propulsion systems (such as ram jets) that could, in principle, remove the spatial and temporal ambiguity that plagues many measurements. I will include a brief description of payload options and platforms that go beyond what we do today (including tethers and solar sail technology) as well as other avenues for access to space. I will illustrate a constellation for monitoring space weather as well as a constellation that, using possible technologies, could enable a more comprehensive look at a basic research problem at the heart of aeronomy: the electrodynamics of the polar ionosphere.
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