Abstract
At low and middle latitudes, wavelike plasma perturbations are thought to provide the seeds for larger perturbations that may evolve non-linearly to produce irregularities which in turn have deleterious effects on HF communications and global positioning systems. However, there is currently no comprehensive atlas of measurements describing the global spatial or temporal distribution of wave-like perturbations in the ionosphere. The SORTIE mission is a 6U CubeSat mission with team members from ASTRA, AFRL, UTD, COSMIAC, and Boston College. The SORTIE spacecraft is designed to approach the complex challenges in discovering the wave-like plasma perturbations in the ionosphere. SORTIE will provide the initial spectrum of wave perturbations which are the starting point for the RF calculation, provide measured electric fields which determine the magnitude of the instability growth rate near where plasma bubbles are generated, and will provide initial observations of the irregularities in plasma density which result from instability growth. The SORTIE mission is slated to launch in late 2017, and will provide a timely overlap with NASA's ICON mission scheduled to launch in the 2017 timeframe. The baseline operational plan will be a year of on-orbit lifetime orbiting at a low to middle inclination orbit near 350-400 km altitude.
Scintillation Observations and Response of the Ionoshere to Electrodynamics (SORTIE)
At low and middle latitudes, wavelike plasma perturbations are thought to provide the seeds for larger perturbations that may evolve non-linearly to produce irregularities which in turn have deleterious effects on HF communications and global positioning systems. However, there is currently no comprehensive atlas of measurements describing the global spatial or temporal distribution of wave-like perturbations in the ionosphere. The SORTIE mission is a 6U CubeSat mission with team members from ASTRA, AFRL, UTD, COSMIAC, and Boston College. The SORTIE spacecraft is designed to approach the complex challenges in discovering the wave-like plasma perturbations in the ionosphere. SORTIE will provide the initial spectrum of wave perturbations which are the starting point for the RF calculation, provide measured electric fields which determine the magnitude of the instability growth rate near where plasma bubbles are generated, and will provide initial observations of the irregularities in plasma density which result from instability growth. The SORTIE mission is slated to launch in late 2017, and will provide a timely overlap with NASA's ICON mission scheduled to launch in the 2017 timeframe. The baseline operational plan will be a year of on-orbit lifetime orbiting at a low to middle inclination orbit near 350-400 km altitude.
