The Upgraded CARISMA Magnetometer Array in the THEMIS Era

Abstract

This review describes the infrastructure and capabilities of the expanded and upgraded Canadian Array for Realtime InvestigationS of Magnetic Activity (CARISMA) magnetometer array in the era of the THEMIS mission. Formerly operated as the Canadian Auroral Network for the OPEN Program Unified Study (CANOPUS) magnetometer array until 2003, CARISMA capabilities have been extended with the deployment of additional fluxgate magnetometer stations (to a total of 28), the upgrading of the fluxgate magnetometer cadence to a standard data product of 1 sample/s (raw sampled 8 samples/s data stream available on request), and the deployment of a new network of 8 pairs of induction coils (100 samples per second). CARISMA data, GPS-timed and backed up at remote field stations, is collected using Very Small Aperture Terminal (VSAT) satellite internet in real-time providing a real-time monitor for magnetic activity on a continent-wide scale. Operating under the magnetic footprint of the THEMIS probes, data from 5 CARISMA stations at 29-30 samples/s also forms part of the formal THEMIS ground-based observatory (GBO) datastream. In addition to technical details, in this review we also outline some of the scientific capabilities of the CARISMA array for addressing all three of the scientific objectives of the THEMIS mission, namely: 1. Onset and evolution of the macroscale substorm instability, 414 I.R. Mann et al.2. Production of storm-time MeV electrons, and 3. Control of the solar wind-magnetosphere coupling by the bow shock, magnetosheath, and magnetopause. We further discuss some of the compelling questions related to these three THEMIS mission science objectives which can be addressed with CARISMA.

Climatology of GPS phase scintillation and HF radar backscatter for the high-latitude ionosphere under solar minimum conditions

“…Such structuring gives rise to irregularity causing scintillation, rapid fluctuations of radio signal amplitude and phase that may affect performance of radio communication and navigation systems. CHAIN is supported by radars, optical instruments and magnetometers, most of which are part of the Canadian GeoSpace Monitoring (CGSM) program (Liu, 2005;Mann et al, 2008).…”

A radiation hardened digital fluxgate magnetometer for space applications

“…The base fluxgate design used in this prototype has more than two decades of terrestrial heritage in the Canadian and American CARISMA/CANOPUS (Mann et al, 2008), POLARIS (Eaton et al, 2005), and EMScope/EarthScope USArray (Schultz, 2009) instruments built by Narod Geophysics Ltd (NGL) (e.g. Narod and Bennest, 1990).…”

Polarisation properties of [SQUID]2horizontal components at the LSBB (Laboratoire Souterrain à Bas Bruit)

“…Table 2. The datasets are sampled on site at 20 Hz thus display only the first SR [9]. The stations are separated from the LSBB by 8, 000 km on average.…”