PRESS RELEASE
Nov 16, 2009
Support Committee for Armenia’s Cosmic Ray Division
For more information:
Anahid Yeremian
(650) 926-4444, or
Joseph Dagdigian
(978) 772-9417

CRD EXPANDS SPACE WEATHER MONITORING ON MT. ARAGATS

The Cosmic Ray Division (CRD) of the Yerevan Physics Institute (YerPhI)
operates one of the largest cosmic ray monitoring networks at its
research stations on Armenia’s Mt. Aragats. CRD scientists are currently
adding two new categories of monitors in cooperation with their
international research partners.

**Magnetic Field Monitoring
—————————

The magnetic field surrounding the earth is usually thought to be
constant. However magnetic field disturbances in the interplanetary
space (the space between the sun and the planets) can alter the magnetic
field surrounding the earth. Interplanetary magnetic field disturbances
occur due to violent processes at the sun, such as the ejection of large
volumes of hot and charged matter known as Coronal Mass Ejections (CME).
The interplanetary magnetic field variations add to the earth’s own
magnetic field often severely changing the magnetic field surrounding
the earth. This phenomena is known as a Geomagnetic Storm. Depending on
its severity, it can induce damaging current surges in electrical power
lines causing widespread blackouts, induce currents in pipelines
accelerating their corrosion, play havoc on satellite electronics, and
cause astronauts to be subjected to excess radiation requiring them to
take cover in special compartments aboard the International Space Station.

The Lviv Space Research Institute of the Ukrainian Academy of Science
and the Cosmic Ray Division of YerPhI are partnering with each other to
establish LLEMI-417 Magnetometric Stations on Mt. Aragats to measure the
variations in magnetic field around the earth. This summer the first
magnetometric station was installed at CRD’s Nor Ambert research station
at 6,000 foot altitude on Mt. Aragats. A similar geomagnetic field
monitoring station will also be installed at CRD’s Aragats Research
Station at 11, 000 foot altitude.

This new instrumentation will allow the CRD scientists and their
partners to directly correlate cosmic ray and geomagnetic data to better
understand Space Weather. The accumulated measurements from Nor Amberd
will enhance CRD’s ability to forecast major geomagnetic storms and
issue reliable space weather alerts.

Solar Radio Signals
——————–
While Coronal Mass Ejections contribute to geomagnetic storms, they also
generate characteristic radio signals which, travel at the speed of
light reaching the earth before the CMEs and the characteristic magnetic
fields that accompany them. Accurate measurement and characterization of
these weak radio signals can give valuable advance warnings on the
impending CME’s and geomagnetic storms. Professor Gemmeke from the
Karlsruhe Research Center in Germany introduced an antena to measure
these very weak radio signals to the CRD in the Fall of 2008. Capturing
the data from these antenas require very sophisticated electronics.
CRD’s electronic engineers posess just such expertise. They demonstrated
the feasibily of collecting data from such an antena and in the summer
of 2009. Three antennas with the associated electronics were installed
at CRD’s Nor Ambert and Aragats research stations. Data from these
antenas proved that the radio measurements have sufficient precision to
enhance Space Weather Forcasting techniques. Continual monitoring
started this Autumn with equipment supplied by Karlsruhe.

Future plans include manufacturing these antenna systems at YerPhI and
deploying them at locations around the world to improve Space Weather
forecasting. The network of antennas will also be very useful to
investigate lightning storms. Recent research indicates Cosmic Ray
phenomena are well correlated with the occurance of lightning and
thunderstorms. Mt. Aragats is an ideal location for this research
because of its existing infrastructure and the frequent storms that
occur during the summer.

Correlation of geomagnetic data from the magnetometers with radio
signals from the antennas and the data from cosmic ray particle
detectors on Mt. Aragats will aid the CRD to develop enhanced techniques
for accurate and reliable prediction of damaging Space Weather events.