Geospace

The Atmospheric and Geospace Sciences group at Haystack conducts fundamental and collaborative scientific research into the complex and highly intercoupled near-Earth space environment using a wide variety of observational experimental data sets. These include radio (passive), radar (active), and other remote sensing tools using instruments such as incoherent/Thomson scatter radar, ionosondes, HF based convection radars (SuperDARN), optical neutral airglow observations, and in-situ satellite instruments, including small satellite platforms.

Studies of ionospheric response in both quiet and active times also involve collaborative data-model investigations using frontier whole atmosphere community models.

The Madrigal database is available at: http://cedar.openmadrigal.org/.

Spotlight Projects

ElectroMagnetic Vector Sensor Ionospheric Sounder (EMVSIS)

EMVSIS (pronounced "emphasis") is a brand-new radar network for studying the effects of the 2024 solar eclipse on the Earth's atmosphere.

EMVSIS (pronounced "emphasis") is a brand-new radar network for studying the effects of the 2024 solar eclipse on the Earth's atmosphere.

AERO-VISTA CubeSat mission

A NASA twin CubeSat mission for auroral radio science and space interferometry technology.

Zephyr Meteor Radar Network

A novel multiple-input/multiple-output (MIMO) radar network designed to estimate the 3D wind field in the upper atmosphere by way of meteor trail scattering.

Geospace science

Millstone Hill Geospace Facility (MHGF)

The current centerpiece of the Millstone Hill Geospace Facility is its high-power, large-aperture incoherent scatter radar (IS radar) facility. MHGF comprises a scientific and technical team of people and a cluster of radio, radar, and distributed instruments.

Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS)–based Total Electron Content

GNSS systems for precision location yield as a by-product measurements of the total electron content (TEC) of the ionosphere. MIT makes this popular data available to the geospace community.

Madrigal Database

Madrigal is an upper-atmospheric science database used by groups throughout the world—it's a robust, web-based system capable of managing and serving archival and real-time data, in a variety of formats, from a wide range of upper-atmospheric science instruments.