Project Grant 2426523

This five-year, $263,830 Project Grant awarded by the National Science Foundation's (NSF) Geosciences Program (CFDA 47.050) aims to enable upper atmospheric investigations by operating and maintaining the Mid-Latitude All-Sky-Imaging Network for Geophysical Observation (MANGO) across the continental United States. This collaborative research project between SRI International, the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, and the University of California, Berkeley will collect data on gravity-wave and storm-time impacts on the mid-latitude thermosphere-ionosphere using 15 all-sky imagers and 4 Fabry-Perot interferometers. The project will process and share the data, create higher-level data products, and interface with the scientific community to advance understanding of geophysical and geomagnetic processes in the nighttime mid-latitude ionosphere. Key research goals include determining spatial scales of lower and upper thermospheric winds, investigating vertical propagation of thermospheric variability, and studying the relative impact of lower atmospheric and magnetospheric forcing on the mid-latitude thermosphere and ionosphere.