9614175 Papitashvili This project is the continuation of a joint U.S.-Russian program to operate an array of high latitude automated magnetometers in Antarctica. These instruments will be used to investigate polar cap current systems in the Earth's magnetosphere. The antarctic continent is uniquely suited to these investigations because it is the only land mass at very high latitudes, and is therefore an excellent and stable location for an array of magnetometers. These investigations are particularly important to the understanding of the coupling of energy and momentum from the solar wind to the magnetosphere, ionosphere, and upper atmosphere. The data will also prove extremely useful for analyses coordinated with a number of satellite-based experiments that are currently in progress, or are planned for the near future. The specific tasks to be undertaken include design improvements in the digital geomagnetic data acquisition systems at Vostok and Mirny, and the continued operation and maintenance of autonomous stations along the Russian traverse route to Vostok. One improvement will be to add a satellite data transmission capability at the Vostok so that a polar cap magnetic index will be available in near real-time for space weather and research applications. ***
