Arctic Research and Operations
at the Geophysical Institute
Dr. Bob McCoy
Director Geophysical Institute
University of Alaska Fairbanks
(907) 978-4075 rpmccoy@alaska.edu
Gen. O’Shaughnessy: NORTHCOM Priorities
Presence
Infrastructure
Communication
Domain Awareness
P
O P E R AT I N G
IN ARCTIC
EXTREMES
Geophysical Institute
4
Aurora &
Geomagnetic
Storms
Geophysics in Ala ska
Arctic Weather
54 Active
Volcanoes
3 Eruptions/yr
43,000 Earthquakes/yr
>M7 Every 2 Years
Geophysical Institute
90% Permafrost
M 7.1
Nov 30, 2018
100,000
Glaciers
40% surface
water
ICEX 2018
270,000 sq mi
Sea Ice
GEO PH Y SICAL INST IT UT E
RESEARCH CONCENTRATIONS
Created by Congress 1946
•
Today: 330 Faculty.
Staff & Students
•
$50M/yr
•
7 Research Groups
•
9 Major Operational
Programs
•
2018 GDNP UARC
Snow, Ice & Permafrost
Atmospheric Science
Space Physics &
Aeronomy
Remote Sensing
Tectonics &
Sedimentation
Seismology
Volcanology
GEO PH Y SICAL INST IT UT E
Major Facilities/Operational Programs
Alaska Volcano
Observatory
Alaska Earthquake Center
Alaska Satellite Facility
Poker Flat Research Range
Alaska Center for Unmanned
Aircraft System Integration
Research Computing Services
(former DoD HPCC)
Wilson Alaska
Technical Center
(Infrasound)
High frequency Active
Auroral Research Program
ACUASI
Andy Mahoney
Greg Walker
Warming in the Arctic exceeds global change rate by more
than 2x
Utqiaġvik temperature:
+0.53°C/Decade since 1949
Alaska Climate Research Center
Trends in mean surface air
temperature, 1960 to 2011. Arctic is
red, indicating more than 2° C (3.6°
F) temperature increase.
Image source: NASA GISS
Permafrost
PERM AFRO ST M O DELS
Construction in
Utqiaġvik AK
Construction at
HAARP in
Gakona AK
I
Alaska Earthquake Center
• Report ~ 43,000 earthquakes/yr
I,D
• 50 earthquakes > M5; 6 > M6; M7 (every other year)
• Publishes Tsunami hazard maps for Alaska
EarthScope in Alaska & Western Canada is
complete – 193 stations
Alaska Earthquake Center
Tsunami Inundation Maps
I
Kodiak
Valdez
Valdez
Seward
Volcano Monitoring & Forecasting Ash Cloud Movement
85% of air traffic from Asia
~70,000 passengers/day
Currently Active
Pavlof: March 2016
>600 km long ash
plume canceled over
100 flights
Wilson Alaska Technical Center (WATC)
Geophysical Detection of Nuclear Proliferation (GDNP) UARC
• Broad spectrum of seismic and acoustic
signal detection
– Infrasound
– Wave propagation
– Source localization and characterization
– Natural and anthropogenic sources
USCG Polar Scout 6U Cubesats
406 MHz emergency distress beacon
ACUASI’s UAS Fleet
PokerHerderFlat Research
Burner Tank Range
land-based rocket range
200’ x 200’Largest
X
3’
Only rocket range owned by a university
35 miles from campus
PF Incoherent Scatter Radar
High frequency Active Auroral Research Program (HAARP)
•
•
•
•
•
•
Gakona AK - 62.39 deg, 145.15 deg (West)
33 acre phased HF transmitter array;
2.8 to 10 MHz;
Multiple beams & transmission to 30 elevation angle
5 x 3600 hp diesel engines; 3.6 MW;
$290M (half Congressional earmarks + half AFRL, ONR & DARPA)
23
Radiation Belt Remediation
Altitude km

250
200
150
100
0
Global Communication
Ionospheric Effects on Comms/Nav
HAARP 14 Mar 2013, 04:05 GMT
Natural Ionosphere
Artificial Layer

3 Hours
2
4
6
Plasma Frequency MHz
8
Chris Fallen Experiment:
First simultaneous high-power HF radio aurora and
SSTV broadcast, Sep 2017
Gakona, Alaska
05:44 UT
26
Alaska
Geophysical
Hazards
Ice Free Arctic Ocean
Space Weather
& Aurora
90% Permafrost
Arctic Impacts on DoD:
• Buildings, Runways, Missile Silos
• Earthquakes & Permafrost
• Global Warming
• Aviation
• Volcanic Ash
• Comm/Nav
• Space Weather
43,000 Earthquakes/yr
>M7 Every 2 years
52 Active Volcanoes
3 Eruptions/yr
80% Asian Air
Traffic, 70,000
Passengers/day
100,000 Glaciers,
3.5M Lakes & 60% of
US Surface Water
Aerospace Facilities
in Alaska
High Arctic
Research Center Suborbital
Rocket
Range
DoD Relevance
• Domain Awareness
• Satellite Downlink
• UAS, HAARP (OTHR)
• Communication
• HAARP, CubeSats
• Comm/Nav Mitigation
• HAARP, Sounding Rockets
• Geophysical Detection of Nuclear Proliferation
• Infrasound Precision Geolocation, HAARP
Satellite
Downlink
Fairbanks
HAARP
UAS
Spaceport
Orbital
Alaska Aerospace Corp
Bob McCoy
CO NTACT INFO
Geophysical Institute
University of Alaska Fairbanks
(907) 474-7282
rpmccoy@alaska.edu