General document | A Guide to the DST Airglow Database

Abstract

The Defence Science and Technology (DST) Group performs airglow experiments at wavelengths of 557.7 nm, 572.4 nm, 589.3 nm, 630.0 nm and 777.4 nm in support of the Jindalee Operational Radar Network (JORN): a network of three High Frequency (HF) over-the-horizon Radars located at Longreach, Queensland; Laverton, Western Australia and Alice Springs, Northern Territory which monitor the Northern Australian coastline. This report describes the DST airglow database composed of measurements taken primarily over DST Edinburgh in South Australia from March 2012 to December 2016. The database consists of three components: airglow videos from each night, tables of nightly weather conditions and summary plots created nightly from airglow and environmental sensors. The summary plots allow quick look detection of various ionospheric phenomena such as mesospheric bores, ripples and travelling ionospheric disturbances (TIDs).

Executive Summary

The contents of this report detail a new publicly available database of DST airglow measurements collected from March 2012 to December 2016 primarily at DST Edinburgh, Adelaide in South Australia (34.7 S, 138.62 E). The database was created to enable long-term airglow studies of ionospheric disturbances related to high-frequency (HF) over-the-horizon radar signal propagation including: travelling ionospheric disturbances (TIDs), thermospheric bubbles, sporadic E, mesospheric bores and ripples as well as meteor studies in conjunction with external collaborators.

The database utilizes data from two airglow imaging systems, three cloud sensors and a sky quality meter which is used to record calibrated ambient light levels. It is composed of tables of nightly weather conditions, multi-wavelength airglow videos and summary plots created nightly from airglow and environmental sensor measurements. A description of the instruments is provided, and the database‘s uses and limitations are discussed.