During the past week, our class spent each day operating the European Incoherent SCATter radar on Svalbard. This instrument measures parameters of the upper atmosphere. We also got to visit SPEAR and run a coordinated experiment with them. SPEAR is an ionospheric heating facility, designed to excite wave and instabilities in the upper atmosphere.
Just a few photos showing the inside of the Kjell Henriksen Observatory…
In order to use the instruments at the observatory for scientific purposes, they need to be calibrated each year to a standard light with a known radiance. For some instruments, such as the meridian scanning photometer, this procedure can be done comfortably inside. However, the spectrometers must be calibrated outside in the dark. Over the [...]
In the Aurora! post I mentioned that my AGF-301 course was spending this week at the Kjell Henriksen Auroral Observatory. While the photos I took for that last post are beautiful, I think it is worth spending a little time discussing what scientists do at an auroral observatory.
Auroral observatories have the job of taking measurements [...]
