Mission

Our principal focus is the research on the complex and extreme state of disturbance that occurs in the magnetically equatorial ionosphere nearly every day after sunset, and on the ionosphere-thermosphere-electrodynamics (ITE) system that constantly controls the dynamics of the plasma density, creating the proper conditions to initiate plasma turbulence. Known and studied for seven decades, the equatorial spread F (ESF) phenomena are now held responsible for causing high-technology (GPS) navigation and communication failures that depend on inter-hemispheric links. Enough is known and understood about this region and its processes to show conclusively that nothing less than a meteorological approach to detailed and comprehensive observations, integrated closely with assimilative modeling, can lead to physical understanding and the imperatives of practical forecasting and nowcasting.