Dataset Documentation#
DOIs, Acknowledgements, and Collaboration
We are actively working on generating Acknowledgement PDFs and DOIs for all listed datasets. If you wish to utilize this dataset and we haven’t updated this website yet, please reach out to the corresponding contact. Our data is openly and freely available. We welcome opportunities to collaborate with researchers whose studies involve significant use of our data.
| Dataset | Description | Start Year | End Year | Additional Details |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| SMILE ASI | Continent-wide network of color (RGB) ASIs operated by UCalgary in support of the ESA/CAS SMILE satellite mission. These will replace the THEMIS ASIs. These are currently being developed by UCalgary. | 2024 [1] | - |
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| THEMIS ASI | Continent-wide network of white light ASIs operated by UCalgary as part of the NASA THEMIS satellite mission. The ASI systems were developed by UCBerkeley and UCalgary. | 2004 | - |
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| TREx Blueline | TREx-Blueline is part of the Canada Foundation for Innovation, Transition Region Explorer (TREx) sensor web. TREx-Blueline is a network of narrow-band filtered (427.8nm) ASIs strategically deployed to bracket the ionospheric footprint of the Nightside Transition Region (NTR). TREx-Blueline nominally records 3s images but is capable of burst mode acquisition up to 10Hz. | 2020 | - |
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| TREx NIR | TREx-Near InfraRed (NIR) is part of the Canada Foundation for Innovation, Transition Region Explorer (TREx) sensor web. TREx-NIR is a narrow-band filtered (844.6 nm) ASIs deployed alongside TREx-Blueline at 6 locations bracketing the NTR. | 2019 | - |
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| TREx RGB | TREx-RGB (Red, Green, Blue) is part of the Canada Foundation for Innovation, Transition Region Explorer (TREx) sensor web. The RGB sensors are highly sensitive, broadband, true color detectors that product 3-channel (RGB) ASI images. RGB operates at a nominal cadence of 3s but is capable of 3Hz burst-mode acquisition. Burst mode data is recorded regularly and can be found in the RGB data tree. | 2018 | - |
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| TREx Spectrograph | The Meridian Imaging Spectrographs obtain a full auroral spectrum along a magnetic meridian, from which keograms (and other data products) of individual auroral emissions (e.g., 630 nm) can be obtained. As well, one can calculate ratios between different emissions, and identify the presence of the continuum emission. | 2018 | - |
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| TREx IRIS | TREx Imaging Riometers (IRIS) are a digital beamforming, 25 look direction, imaging riometers. TREx-IRIS was jointly developed by the University of Calgary, Sienna College, and Merrimack College. There are eleven IRIS systems providing coverage across the TREx target region. | TBD [2] | - |
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| REGO | The Redline Emission Geospace Observatory (REGO) is a joint Canada Foundation for Innovation and Canadian Space Agency project developed by the University of Calgary. REGO consists of 9 narrowband (630nm) ASIs deployed across Canada. | 2014 | - |
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| RISR-C | South-facing or 'Canadian' face of the Resolute Bay Incoherent Scatter Radar. The facility operates in response to community requests for experiments as well as for the World Days. | 2015 | [3] |
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| Single Beam Riometers | The UCalgary riometer data set includes historical single beam (La Jolla riometer) data from instruments operated as part of CANOPUS, CGSM, and GO-Canada originally deployed in the 1980's (see data portal). It also includes newer systems (coming online 2024) developed as part of the Canada Foundation for Innovation, Space Weather Adaptive Network (SWAN). SWAN systems are multi-frequency, single beam, and will replace the aging La Jolla single frequency systems. | 1989 | - |
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| FESO | Fourty-Eight Sixty-One (FESO) is a meridian scanning photometer (photon counter) developed by UCalgary to capture the proton aurora (486 nm). | 2013 | - |
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| AuroraMAX | AuroraMAX is a Canadian aurora observatory. By means of a ground camera in Yellowknife, Northwest Territories, you can see the aurora from the comfort of your home. The camera turns on automatically as soon as the Sun sets in Yellowknife during the aurora season. | 2010 | - |
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| CANOPUS ASI | The Canadian Open University Study was Canada's contribution to ISTP. CANOPUS consisted of 13 riometers, 13 magnetometers and four Meridian Imaging Photometers (MSPs). It also included the world's first digital ASI that delivered real time data (that was made available to the science team often in as little as one day). The CANOPUS ASI was designed, built and operated by the University of Calgary. | 1989 | 2002 |
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| Rainbow | Network of ASIs very similar to THEMIS-ASIs but providing full-colour images. Contiguous field of view covered western Canada and the NWT. | 2003 | 2020 |
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| IRIS | Rosenberg/Weatherwax era imaging riometer. System originally deployed in Iqaluit, then moved to Fort Smith and operated with limited performance. | 2008 | 2019 |
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| MSP | Meridian Imaging Photometers scanned the sky along magnetic meridians, providing auroral intensities at four wavelengths, including the 486 nm 'Hβ' proton aurora. Three instruments covered from sub-auroral to polar cap latitudes along the 'Churchill Line', while the fourth covered auroral latitudes from Fort Smith, two hours MLT to the west. | 1989 | 2019 |
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| NASCAM | This network of filter-wheel ASIs delivered images in multiple scientific wavelengths across much of western and northern Canada. NASCAM data was used to demonstrate the scientific value of a stand-alone 'redline' network (now called REGO). | 2001 | 2014 |
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| Dense Array | Three moderately narrow beam color ASIs operated roughly 50 km from each other to enable triangulation and tomography. | 2005 | 2008 |
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[1] SMILE-ASI is currently in early prototyping. Verified data will be made available when ready.
[2] TREx IRIS is currently commissioning. Data will be available once data verification and level 2 processing has been implemented.
[3] RISR-C is currently not operating due to a fire at the site in September 2022. The UCalgary team is planning for the radar to be operational in several years.
[4] A second FESO has operated and continues to do so in Athabasca, to the west of the UCalgary instrument. That FESO is owned and operated by the Athabasca University Geophysical Observatory. Questions regarding data from the AUGO instrument should be directed to Martin Connors.
[5] CANOPUS was a revolutionary program designed to explore system-level geospace processes and data that complimented that collected by in situ data. UCalgary held all CANOPUS instrument operating contracts for the last three years of the program. With the beginning of CGSM in 2003, CANOPUS was divided into the magnetometers, which went to UAlberta as the foundation of CARISMA, and the riometers, and MSPs, which remained with UCalgary. All pre 2003 CANOPUS data can be found on our data tree, however all queries, requests, offers of collaboration, etc. for the magnetometers should be directed to the CARISMA team at UAlberta. The CANOPUS vision was presented by the Canadian community in what we now refer to as the Yellow Book.