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The Space Physics Research Lab (SPRL), located on the Daytona Beach campus of Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University, is actively involved in probing the state, composition and dynamics of the upper atmosphere. The primary focus of SPRL's research is remote sensing of the Mesosphere and Lower Thermosphere (80-180 km). Here, very faint emissions from atomic and molecular species like hydroxyl (OH), atomic oxygen (O), molecular oxygen (O2), and nitrogen (N2) help determine various physical and chemical parameters in the atmosphere (e.g. temperature, brightness, density), and are an indicator of processes taking place as far as the Sun. By utilizing a complex suite of electro-optical instrumentation located around the polar regions, we are able to investigate, among other things: - Long term heating and cooling trends in the atmosphere
- Dynamics of the thermosphere and upper mesosphere
- Gravity waves, planetary waves, and tides in the atmosphere
- Interactions between precipitating particles from the Sun and the atmosphere
- Stratospheric warming and cooling events
- Plasma characteristics of the ionosphere
- Effects of metastable species on minor constituent abundance
- Geomagnetic storms and their effect on the atmosphere
- Ion-neutral coupling
- Comparisons of satellite and ground-based atmospheric data
Supported by grants from the National Science Foundation (NSF) and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), SPRL employs over 20 graduate and undergraduate student research assistants, in addition to several full-time staff members and post-docs. We are part of the CEDAR (Coupling, Energetics, and Dynamics of the Atmospheric Regions) campaign, which seeks to bring about a better understanding of the atmosphere through coordinated, worldwide atmospheric research. |