Progress in polar upper atmospheric physics research in China

The Chinese Antarctic Great Wall, Zhongshan, Kunlun and Arctic Yellow River stations have unique geographical locations, well suited to carry out polar upper atmospheric observations. This paper reviews the tremendous history of nearly 30 years of Chinese polar expeditions and major progress in polar upper atmospheric physics research. This includes the polar upper atmospheric physics conjugate observation system at Zhongshan Station in the Antarctic and Yellow River Station in the Arctic, and original research achievements in polar ionospheric fields, aurora and particle precipitation, the polar current system, polar plasma convection, geomagnetic pulsations and space plasma waves, inter-hemispheric comparisons of the space environment, space weather in polar regions, power spectrum of the incoherent scatter radar, ionospheric heating experiments and polar mesospheric summer echoes, polar ionosphere-magnetosphere numerical simulation and others. Finally, prospects for Chinese polar upper atmospheric physics research are outlined

Identification of optical auroras caused by mantle precipitation with the aid of particle observations from DMSP satellites

Particle observations of the Defense Meteorological Satellite Program (DMSP) show that discrete auroral structures commonly exist in the region of the plasma mantle, but the optical features of the aurora generated by particles from the plasma mantle (called ‘mantle aurora’ in this paper) have not been established. A comparison of 7-year optical auroral observations made at the Yellow River Station with conjugate particle observations obtained from the DMSP confirm that mantle auroras have common features and can be clearly identified from all-sky imager observations. The mantle auroras normally present as sporadic and weak auroral structures split poleward of the dayside auroral oval. They are observed in both the green and red lines with the intensity of the red line being greater than that of the green line. In this paper, we illustrate typical mantle auroras and provide statistics on 55 mantle aurora cases that are confirmed by particle observation by the DMSP. Statistical results show that the occurrence of the mantle aurora has no clear dependence on the IMF By and Bz conditions, but the motion of the mantle aurora strongly depends on the IMF By, which indicates that the generation of the mantle aurora is intimately related to the dayside magnetopause reconnection. With the fundamental criteria for distinguishing the mantle aurora presented in this paper, we will be able to independently identify the mantle auroras from ground optical observations. This will allow us to investigate the physical processes that occur in the plasma mantle by monitoring the evolution of the auroral forms

Photometric Variability in the CSTAR Field: Results From the 2008 Data Set

The Chinese Small Telescope ARray (CSTAR) is the first telescope facility built at Dome A, Antarctica. During the 2008 observing season, the installation provided long-baseline and high-cadence photometric observations in the i-band for 18,145 targets within 20 deg2 CSTAR field around the South Celestial Pole for the purpose of monitoring the astronomical observing quality of Dome A and detecting various types of photometric variability. Using sensitive and robust detection methods, we discover 274 potential variables from this data set, 83 of which are new discoveries. We characterize most of them, providing the periods, amplitudes and classes of variability. The catalog of all these variables is presented along with the discussion of their statistical properties.Comment: 38 pages, 11 figures, 4 tables; Accepted for publication in ApJ

Interplanetary shock-associated aurora

Interplanetary shocks or solar wind pressure pulses have prompted impacts on Earth’s magnetospheric and ionospheric environment, especially in causing dynamic changes to the bright aurora in the polar ionosphere. The auroral phenomenon associated with shock impingements, referred to as shock aurora, exhibits distinct signatures differing from other geophysical features on the dayside polar ionosphere. Shock aurora provides a direct manifestation of the solar wind–magnetosphere–ionosphere interaction. Imagers onboard satellites can obtain the associated large-scale auroral characteristics during shock impingement on the magnetopause. Therefore, auroral data from satellites are very useful for surveying the comprehensive features of shock aurora and their general evolution. Nonetheless, the ground-based high temporal-spatial resolution all-sky imagers installed at scientific stations play an essential role in revealing medium- and small-scale characteristics of shock aurora. Here, we focus on shock aurora imaging signatures measured by imagers onboard satellites and ground-based all-sky imagers

Statistical characteristics of ionospheric backscatter observed by SuperDARN Zhongshan radar in Antarctica

Zhongshan HF radar, as one component of SuperDARN, has been established and in operation since April, 2010. Using data from the first two years of its operation, this paper investigates the radar’s performance, the diurnal and seasonal variations of ionospheric echoes, and their dependence on geomagnetic activity. Statistical studies show that the occurrence of echoes in different beams varies at different frequencies, which arises from the direction of the beam and the area over which the beam can achieve the orthogonality condition between the wave vector and the Earth’s magnetic field. The diurnal variation is obvious with double peak structures both in the occurrence rate and average power at 04–08 UT and 16–17 UT. The line-of-sight velocities are mainly positive on the dayside and negative on the nightside for Beam 0, which is the opposite of the trend for Beam 15. The spectral widths on the dayside are often higher than those on the nightside owing to the high energy particle precipitation in the cusp region. The seasonal variations are more obvious for those beams with larger numbers. The occurrence, the average power, the line-of-sight velocity, and the spectral widths are generally larger in the winter months than in the summer months. The influence of geomagnetic activity on radar echoes is significant. The peak echo occurrence appears on the dayside during geomagnetically quiet times, and shifts toward the nightside and exhibits an obvious decrease with increasing Kp. With increasing geomagnetic activity, the line-of-sight velocities increase, whereas the spectral widths decrease. The frequency dependence is investigated and it is found that in the operating frequency bands in 2010, 9–10 MHz is the most appropriate band for the SuperDARN Zhongshan radar

Experiments on meteor burst communications in the Antarctic

Two kinds of experiments on the meteor burst communication(MBC) are now being conducted in the Antarctic to study the ability of MBC as a communication medium for data collection systems in that region. In the first one, continuous tone signal is transmitted from Zhongshan Station. The received signal at Syowa Station about 1400km apart is recorded and analyzed. This experiment is to study basic properties of the meteor burst channel in that high latitude region. From the data available thus far, we can see that 1) the sinusoidal daily variation in the meteor activity typical in mid and low latitude regions can not be clearly seen, 2) non-meteoric propagations frequently dominate the channel, etc. On the other hand, the second experiment is to estimate data throughput of a commercial MBC system in that region. A remote station at Zhongshan Station tries to transfer data packets each consists of 10 data words to the master station at Syowa Station. Data packets are generated with five min interval. We are now operating the system only five min in each ten min interval. About 60% of the generated data packets are constantly transferred to the master station within two hours delay

Gattini 2010: Cutting Edge Science at the Bottom of the World

The high altitude Antarctic sites of Dome A and the South Pole offer intriguing locations for future large scale optical astronomical Observatories. The Gattini project was created to measure the optical sky brightness, large area cloud cover and aurora of the winter-time sky above such high altitude Antarctic sites. The Gattini-DomeA camera was installed on the PLATO instrument module as part of the Chinese-led traverse to the highest point on the Antarctic plateau in January 2008. This single automated wide field camera contains a suite of Bessel photometric filters (B, V, R) and a long-pass red filter for the detection and monitoring of OH emission. We have in hand one complete winter-time dataset (2009) from the camera that was recently returned in April 2010. The Gattini-South Pole UV camera is a wide-field optical camera that in 2011 will measure for the first time the UV properties of the winter-time sky above the South Pole dark sector. This unique dataset will consist of frequent images taken in both broadband U and B filters in addition to high resolution (R similar to 5000) long slit spectroscopy over a narrow bandwidth of the central field. The camera is a proof of concept for the 2m-class Antarctic Cosmic Web Imager telescope, a dedicated experiment to directly detect and map the redshifted lyman alpha fluorescence or Cosmic Web emission we believe possible due to the unique geographical qualities of the site. We present the current status of both projects

From mandatory icebreaker guiding to a permission regime: changes to the new Russian legislation of the Northern Sea Route

This article focuses on two issues. The first concerns definitions of the Northern Sea Route (NSR) in old and new Russian legislation, and the second relates to Russian rules on icebreaker guiding. Based on a comprehensive comparative analysis of relevant Russian legal provisions enacted in 2013 and previous laws in this area, we offer the following conclusions. (1) Our legal analysis indicates that Russia’s view of the NSR as a historical national transportation route has not changed. However, the new law redefines the scope and coverage of the NSR, which now comprises the internal waters, territorial sea, adjacent zone, and the exclusive economic zone of the Russian Federation. In fact, the new law resolves previous ambiguity regarding extension of the NSR boundary to the high seas. (2) Based on an analysis of the new rules on icebreaker guiding, the article concludes that NSR is transitioning from a mandatory icebreaker guiding regime into a permit regime. This is particularly evident in its provision of a concrete, practical, and predictable clause on permissible or impermissible conditions relating to independent navigation. According to the new rules, it is possible for foreign ships to undertake independent navigation in the NSR. The Russian NSR policy, therefore, appears to have changed significantly, and has future potential for opening the NSR up to the international community