Overview: What is MISETA?
Overview: What is MISETA?
Elements of the MISETA program
Campaigns
Campaign Notes
Science Results
MISETA stands for "Multi-instrumented studies of equatorial thermosphere
aeronomy". MISETA was organized to study the dynamics and coupling
of the equatorial thermosphere with the electrodynamics
of the ionosphere. This goal is pursued through coordinated
observational campaigns near the magnetic equator and
collaborative analysis and modeling efforts.
Instrumentation is a mix of optical and radio science systems that
measure complementary parameters.
In terms of organization and sponsorship, MISETA is a part of the
CEDAR program in the National Science Foundation's (NSF)
Division of Atmospheric Sciences.
MISETA focuses on the equatorial thermosphere/ionosphere system.
Two issues are of special interest: the coupling between neutral
and ionized constituents, particularly as manifested in the
F region dynamo, and the identification of sources and the
mechanisms for variability of equatorial spread-F. MISETA aims
to unravel the role played by large and small scale dynamics of the
neutral atmosphere in governing the formation of large scale structure
in the equatorial F region.
The core program comprises three automatically operating instruments
located in Peru that supplement observations taken by the Jicamarca
Radio Observatory (JRO). The three instruments are: an all-sky imager
(ASI) to observe surface brightnesses at selected wavelength, a spaced
receiver scintillation system (SRS) to measure zonal drifts during
periods of scintillation activity, and a 630-nm Fabry-Perot interferometer
(FPI) to observe line-of-sight thermospheric winds and temperatures for selected
positions. The FPI and the ASI are located at Arequipa and the SRS is
at Ancon.
Science Motivation and Focus