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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 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 (0), molecular oxygen (02), and nitrogen (N2) help to determine the dynamics and composition of the atmosphere both above and below the MLT region, and can even indicate processes going on as far distant as our sun.
By utilizing a complex suite of electro-optical instrumentation, we are able to investigate, among other things:
- Interactions between precipitating particles and the atmosphere
- Dynamics of the thermosphere and upper mesosphere
- Gravity waves, planetary waves, and tides in the atmosphere
- Stratospheric warming events
- Effects of metastable species on minor constituent abundance
- Plasma characteristics of the ionosphere
- Long term trends within the atmosphere
- Effects of geomagnetic storms on the atmosphere
- Ion-neutral coupling
- Comparisons between satellite and ground-based 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 staff members and post-docs. We are part of the CEDAR (Coupling, Energetics, Dynamics and Energetics of the Atmospheric Region) campaign, which seeks to bring about a better understanding of the atmosphere through coordinated, worldwide atmospheric research.
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