GeoSpace Sciences MOWG Activities

1. GeoSpace Sciences MOWGActivities SECAS Meeting February 21, 2001 D. M. Klumpar Montana State University, Space Science and Engineering Laboratory klump@physics.montana.edu SECAS Meeting February 20-22, 2001

2. Current GMOWG • Geospace Sciences Management Operations Working Group • Appointed October 2000 • Report to Mary Mellott, Jim Sharber, Jim Spann, Geospace Sciences/SEC Program • First meeting November 16-17, 2000 • Charge to the GMOWG: • Communications to & from the community • Special: Senior Review of SR&T/LCAS SECAS Meeting February 20-22, 2001

3. GMOWG Membership • Dave Klumpar, Chair Montana State Univ. • Don Brautigam AFRL • Jim Clemmons Aerospace Corp. • Greg Earle Univ. of Texas at Dallas • Bob Ergun Univ. of Colorado • Miguel Larsen Clemson Univ. • Jimmy Raeder UCLA • Geoff Reeves Los Alamos Nat’l Lab. • Phil Richards Univ. of Alabama • Jim Slavin GSFC • Harlan Spence Boston Univ. • Gary Swenson Univ. of Illinois SECAS Meeting February 20-22, 2001

4. GMOWG Issues: The Access & Instrument Development Crisis • Diminished LCAS Opportunities • Sounding Rocket Program Privatization impacts • Cost overrun cut launch rate from 30/yr (‘95) to ~8 (‘01) • Loss of Wallops civil servants - uncompensated • UNEX Program Scuttled • Paucity of funded Geospace Instrument development activity • in FY2000 4% of program award $ for instr dev • How will flight hardware for LWS and Roadmap get developed and proven? SECAS Meeting February 20-22, 2001

5. SEC Sounding Rocket Launches • In 21 years the Sounding Rocket flight rate has decreased • 21-year average: 22 launches/yr • 2000: 5 flights • 2001: ~8 flights • Factors: • Complexity • $ UNEX 20%Hit SECAS Meeting February 20-22, 2001

6. The Access and Development Issue • We are choking off at the source: • Instrument development for future missions • Space qualification of these instruments • The replacement generation of trained scientists and engineers • Who will carry out our missions in 2010 if the source of young talent dries up? • Solution: Generous support for instrument development and both suborbital & orbital access to space. A new initiative SECAS Meeting February 20-22, 2001

7. Senior Review SR&T/LCAS • Evaluation Criteria • What is the science quality and productivity of the science cluster, and to what degree does the cluster support or enable the strategic goals and objectives of the Space Science Enterprise? • Judging by the priorities in the SSE strategic plan, is the current funding distribution across the nine science clusters the optimum one, or would the Panel recommend changes? • Is the current science cluster structure optimal for attaining the long-term strategic goals of the Office of Space Science? Guenter Riegler, SECAS Presentation, October 26, 2000 SECAS Meeting February 20-22, 2001

8. Senior Review Report Progress • Outline drafted, section page counts assigned • Formed writing teams • Canvassed community for key science results (email letter and response template) • 131 Investigators were asked to: • describe your key scientific result • provide a figure and a reference • describe future planned effort • PI responses collected at: http://sec.gsfc.nasa.gov/sec_gmowg_sr.htm • 59 responses from 43 investigators SECAS Meeting February 20-22, 2001

9. Geospace Cluster Report Outline • Section 0 (electronic) Mary Mellott • Proposal oversubscription • Budget info for FY2002-FY2004 • Section I. (1-2 pages) Dave Klumpar • Science content of the cluster -- program overview • Supporting Research and Technology • Suborbital Program (LCAS) • Section II. (12-14 pages) Consolidation Teams • Recent Program Highlights (two to three; tell a story; could constitute more than one PI’s work; relevance to OSS Strategic Plan: science discoveries, detector/instrument development or test flight. • Section III (6-8 pages) • Highlights of R&A work currently in progress (relevance to strategic goals) • Section IV (2-4 pages) Miguel Larsen • New Initiative and vision for the future: Development program for instruments • fold in a vital sounding rocket orbital access program for flight verification SECAS Meeting February 20-22, 2001

10. SPACE SCIENCE: PROCESS STRATEGICGOAL SR&T Contributions to PROCESS • Strategic Goal • Requires development of - theory - DA techniques - instruments • Which are tested via the - laboratory and/or - suborbital program • Leading to Flight Program and analysis of mission data • Which leads to either - achievement of the goal - or a new cycle which then leads to - achievement of the goal Theory/Technique/ Instrument development Validation via laboratory/ suborbital program New Theory Refined questions Flight Program Mission specific Data analysis STRATEGIC GOAL SECAS Meeting February 20-22, 2001

11. Consolidation Teams • Collect and consolidate key science results from community (Section II) • Mesosphere, lower thermos chemistry/dynamics (Swenson) • Magnetosphere/empirical (include planetary mag) (Spence) • Magnetosphere/modeling (Raeder) • LCAS, instruments, techniques, ionosphere (Earle) • Auroral/plasma interations (Clemmons) SECAS Meeting February 20-22, 2001

12. PI Response Collection Page http://sec.gsfc.nasa.gov/sec_gmowg_sr.htm SECAS Meeting February 20-22, 2001

13. SECAS Meeting February 20-22, 2001

14. Example PI Response • Short Title: Metallic Ion Separation Within Ionospheric Layers • Short statement of Result in Bullet form: • A rocket experiment has confirmed a 30-year old theory regarding the ability of neutral winds to separate metallic ions of meteoric origin into distinct layers in the lower ionosphere. • Narrative Description: • A suborbital rocket launched from Puerto Rico in 1998 carried a sensitive mass spectrometer to measure the content and fine-scale structure of meteoric ions in layered structures within the lower ionosphere (100-115 km). The instrument flew through such a layer and measured the concentrations of Fe+, Mg+, O2+, and NO+ versus altitude. Results (see accompanying figure) show that the metallic ions are not intermixed, but instead are segregated into distinct overlapping layers by the action of neutral winds blowing in the vacuum of space. This finding confirms a theoretical prediction by Chimonas [J. Geophys. Res., 74, 4189, 1968] regarding the action of such winds on ions with differing collision cross-sections. • What role does this result play in the overall program and its contribution to OSS Strategic Goals): • The coupling of atmospheric plasmas to the neutral atmosphere is of fundamental importance to a variety of ionospheric processes, including layered structures, scintillation-inducing irregularities, and tidal variations. The above example helps to quantify our understanding of part of this coupling. Reference: Ion layer separation and equilibrium zonal winds in midlatitude sporadic E, Geophys. Res. Lett., 27, 461, 2000. (G.D. Earle, T.J. Kane, R.F. Pfaff, and S.R. Bounds) SECAS Meeting February 20-22, 2001

15. Geospace R&A Sr Rev Goals-1 • Geospace Sciences Senior Review Report will: • Show relevance to OSS Strategic Plan • Demonstrate scientific vitality of the program • Report major scientific findings-past 3 years SECAS Meeting February 20-22, 2001

16. Geospace R&A Sr Rev Goals-2 • The report will also Air the issues: • SR&T • Level then-yr dollars program funding • Abysmal proposal win rate --> It is nearly “a lottery” • 146 proposals, 40 rated Ex or Ex/VG, 27 funded • Marginal annual funding for winning proposals ($83k/yr) • LCAS • Privatization implementation impacts: ‘95 --32 ‘01-- 8(?) • Loss of UNEX program - Barrier to entry for all but the largest research institutions. • New meaning of LCAS: “Lack of Consistent Access to Space” SECAS Meeting February 20-22, 2001

17. Geospace R&A Sr Rev Goals-3 • The Report will Propose Solutions • Geospace Instrument Development Program GIDEP -- A new initiative • Full Cycle • Concept instrument development • Brassboard/breadboard • Instrument preparation and testing • Flight validation under Low-Cost Access SECAS Meeting February 20-22, 2001

18. Geospace Cluster Report Schedule • Section initial drafts • March 7 • GMOWG normalization and polishing • March 7-16 • Draft for red team review/comment/rework • March 15 - 30 • http://sec.gsfc.nasa.gov/mowgs • GMOWG working meeting • Week ending March 30 or April 6 • Finalize and submit • April 1 - April 15 SECAS Meeting February 20-22, 2001

19. GEOSPACE SCIENCES CLUSTER TheEnd SECAS Meeting February 20-22, 2001