This award will support a three-month visit by Dr. Clifford Fairchild of the Department of Physics, Oregon State University, to Australia where he will participate in collaborative work with Dr. Peter Dyson of La Trobe University on Fabry-Perot spectroscopy (FPS) of airglow emissions in the southern hemisphere. Results of the FPS of airglow are used to determine winds and temperatures of neutral atoms and molecules in the Earth's upper atmosphere. Dr. Dyson currently supervises the operation of FPS airglow observatories at Beveridge, Victoria, Australia and at the Australian Antarctic station at Mawson. Dr. Fairchild is a major participant in ongoing improvements and modernization of equipment at these two observatories. Data from the Beveridge and Mawson FPS airglow observatories provide important contributions to a worldwide program for improved knowledge and understanding of global atmospheric dynamics and change. The current collaboration focuses on the development of a fully automated FPS airglow facility for Beveridge. Once proven, the techniques developed will also be used to automate the Mawson observatory.
