This project will test the feasibility of measuring the global electric circuit from Antarctica. The instruments will measure the vertical electric current from which the ionospheric potential can be deduced. The test will involve placing two of the current measuring instruments about one kilometer apart at South Pole Station. If the instruments are successful in producing the same measurement to within a few percent, then it is expected that they will at a later date be installed in Automatic Geophysical Observatories (AGO) at widely separated sites in Antarctica. It is the eventual goal of the investigation to be able to generate a geoelectric index, similar to the geomagnetic indices, and also be able to measure the cross polar cap potential differences. These have both been goals of the geophysics community for many years, but until now, with the development of the AGO system for the uniquely favorable antarctic environment, it has not been feasible to make the required measurements.
