ICON at AGU Fall Meeting
San Francisco, 12-16 December, 2016
With approximately 24,000 attendees in 2015, AGU’s Fall Meeting is the largest Earth and space science meeting in the world. Here are ICON-related sessions, poster sessions and a press conference:
Monday, 12 December 2016
08:00 – 08:15 Moscone West - 2016 - Authors: Thomas J. Immel et. al.
The Ionospheric Connection Explorer is NASA's next Explorer mission, with a primary scientific goal of understanding the source of the extreme variability in Earth's ionosphere. The observatory is scheduled to be delivered to the Pegasus launch vehicle in early 2017 for a June launch. ICON carries unprecedented capability to orbit in a broader national and international effort to understand changes in our space environment occurring on a wide range of spatial and temporal scales. Here, we will discuss plans for the observatory checkout and early operations, and discuss the observing conditions expected in the atmosphere and ionosphere at that time. The status of the science data pipeline and the predicted performance of the observatory for scientific measurements will be discussed.
12:05 - 12:20 Moscone West - 2016 - Authors: Andrew W Stephan et. al.
The Ionospheric Connection Explorer (ICON) sensor suite includes a spectrograph that will provide altitude profiles of the OII 61.7 and 83.4 nm airglow features, from which the daytime F-region ionosphere can be inferred. To make the connection between these extreme-ultraviolet (EUV) airglow emissions and ionospheric densities, ICON will use a method that has matured significantly in the last decade with the analysis of data from the Remote Atmospheric and Ionospheric Detection System (RAIDS) on the International Space Station, and the Special Sensor Ultraviolet Limb Imager (SSULI) sensors on the Defense Meteorological Satellite Program (DMSP) series of satellites. We will present end-to-end simulations of ICON EUV airglow measurements and data inversion for the expected viewing geometry and sensor capabilities, including noise. While we will focus on the performance of the algorithm for ICON within the context of the current state of knowledge, we will also identify areas where fundamental information can be gained from the high-sensitivity ICON measurements that could be used as feedback to directly improve the overall performance of the algorithm itself.
13:40 - 18:00 - Moscone South - Poster Hall - John Harlander et. al.
The Michelson Interferometer for Global High-resolution Thermospheric Imaging (MIGHTI) is one of four instruments on the NASA-sponsored Ionospheric Connection (ICON) Explorer mission. ICON investigates the extreme variability of the Earth’s ionosphere with a unique combination of sensors on-board a low Earth orbit satellite. MIGHTI uses the Doppler Asymmetric Spatial Heterodyne (DASH) Spectroscopy technique to derive thermospheric winds by measuring Doppler shifts of atomic oxygen airglow emission lines in the visible spectrum over an altitude range generally
not accessible to in-situ probes. Specifically, MIGHTI measures neutral winds utilizing the atomic oxygen O(1S - 1D) transition at 557.7 nm (green line) and the O(1D - 3P) transition at 630.0 nm (red line). In addition, it uses a multiband photometric technique to derive thermospheric temperatures from the spectral shape of the molecular oxygen A-band in the near infrared near 760 nm. Two identical MIGHTI interferometers, oriented on the spacecraft to view a
common atmospheric volume from orthogonal lines of sight. Both instruments use the Doppler Asymmetric Spatial Heterodyne (DASH) approach with low order Echelle gratings optimized for the red, green, and near infrared wavelengths detected by MIGHTI. The design of the monolithic DASH interferometers which are the heart of the MIGHTI instrument will be reviewed followed by a description of the interferometer element fabrication, assembly and their as-built performance.
Poster Sessions
Moscone South – Poster Hall - 13:40 - 18:00
SA11A-01 The Ionospheric Connection Explorer (ICON) : Mission Design and Planning-Thomas J Immel
SA12A-08 Remote sensing of the low-latitude daytime ionosphere: ICON simulations and retrievals - Andrew W Stephan
SA13A-2095 Understanding the limits of limb scans: Simulations of ICON's thermospheric wind observations - Brian Joseph Harding
SA13A-2107 Results of Pre-launch Calibration and Planned On-orbit Operations for MIGHTI, the Thermsopheric Wind and Temperature Instrument on the Ionospheric Connection Explorer (ICON) - Christoph R Englert
Tuesday, Dec. 13
Welcoming Remarks
Tuesday, 13 December 2016 -- 16:00 - 16:05 Moscone South- 303 - Seth Jonas, Pete Riley, Thomas J. Immel
PA24A: Defining Extreme Space Weather Events II
16:00 - 18:00 Moscone South- 303 - Seth Jonas, Pete Riley, Thomas J. Immel, Bill Murtagh
Wednesday, Dec. 15
Press Conference
http://fallmeeting.agu.org/2016/media-center/press-conferences/#ionosphere
,h5>New research on the ionosphere, our interface to space
Wednesday, 14 December
9:00 am
Where Earth’s atmosphere ends and space begins is not clear-cut. We are, in fact, surrounded by a swath that is a bit of both. This area, the ionosphere, is where radio waves and satellite signals, like GPS, travel on their way to and from Earth. It’s also where you will find aurora, some satellites, and the international space station. Changes in this region can have huge effects on Earth, disrupting communications and shortening the lifetime of satellites. This press event will describe novel findings about the ionosphere and upper atmosphere, shedding light on how exactly space weather here can influence Earth and satellites. Additionally, attendees will hear details from another scientist about two upcoming NASA missions to study the ionosphere from different vantage points.
Participants:
Bob Robinson, NASA Goddard Space Flight Center and Catholic University of America, Greenbelt, Maryland, U.S.A.;
Delores Knipp, University of Colorado Boulder, Boulder, Colorado, U.S.A.;
Scott England, University of California Berkeley, Berkeley, California, U.S.A.
Sessions: SA13A, SA41C, SM53A
Thursday, Dec. 15
PA41A: Defining Extreme Space Weather Events | Posters
08:00 - 12:20 Moscone South- 303 - Seth Jonas, Pete Riley, Thomas J. Immel, Bill Murtagh
Poster Sessions
13:40 - 18:00 Moscone South - Poster Hall
SA43C-2405 Longitudinal structure in the ionosphere due to UT onset time of a geomagnetic storm - Katelynn Greer
Friday, Dec. 16
Poster Sessions
PA51A-2248 Visualization of the NASA ICON mission in 3d - Ricardo A Mendez
08:00 - 12:20 Moscone South, Poster Hall
SA53A-2441 Global Effects of Neutral Wind Variability in the E and F Region Ionosphere- Amanda Ann Williams
13:40 - 18:00, Moscone South - Poster Hall
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