This award is funded under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (Public Law 111-5).
This project is a collaboration between space scientists and engineers at Utah State University, ASTRA LLC, Embry-Riddle University, and Clemson University. The objective of this three-year cross-disciplinary team effort is to build and operate a set of tiny, so-called CubeSat, spacecraft. Each satellite will carry a DC Probe (DCP) to measure in-situ ionospheric plasma densities, and an Electric Field Probe (EFP) to measure DC and AC electric fields. These measurements will permit accurate identification of storm-time features in the distribution of ionospheric plasma, such as the Storm Enhanced Density (SED) bulge and plume, together with simultaneous co-located electric field measurements which have previously been missing. The primary scientific objective of the Dynamic Ionosphere Cubesat Experiment (DICE) mission is to understand how exactly the greatly enhanced plasma is formed over the southern USA (the SED bulge) and what is the source of the plasma; what physical drivers are involved in the formation and evolution of the SED plume, and what is their relative importance; and, finally, what is the precise relationship between the occurrence of penetration electric fields, the subsequent expansion of the Appleton anomaly crests, and the development of SED, particularly in terms of why there is an apparent preference for the USA geographic sector.
Space weather refers to conditions in space that can influence the performance and reliability of space-borne and ground-based technological systems. Ionospheric gradients and irregularities at equatorial, auroral, and mid latitudes produce major space weather effects on navigation, communications and surveillance systems. To advance our abilities to predict these space weather events and their effects these ionospheric features need to be better characterized and understood. DICE will provide important new measurements of SED features and insight into what causes them towards meeting these goals. The project will pursue scientific discovery while providing unique and inspiring educational opportunities. It relies on extensive undergraduate and graduate student involvement through all aspects of the mission. The involvement of students in every area of the proposed work will provide educational benefits at all of the participating institutions as well as at University of Texas at San Antonio (UTSA), a minority-serving institution. In addition to the hands-on work, the mission will provide material for classes that will serve to motivate students with regard to science. The new, largely unproven technology involved in cubesat missions, inherently makes the project associated with significant risks. On the other hand, however, the project has tremendous potential to be transformational not only within its own research area but also for the larger field of space science and atmospheric research as well as within aerospace engineering and education. In addition, the project will be one of the first two to carry out a multi-spacecraft CubeSat mission, thus pushing the limit of this emerging technology.
