Redstone is newest antenna at Poker Flat Research Range
By nrozell [at] gi [dot] alaska [dot] edu (Ned Rozell)
Taking to the sky to better sniff the air
Cathy Cahill holds a carbon-fiber AeroVironment Raven she will use to sample plumes of hazy air.
Photo by Ned Rozell.
On a cool spring morning in the mountains of southwest Washington, 12-year old Cathy Cahill helped her dad plant scientific instruments around the base of trembling Mount St. Helens. A few days later, the volcano blew up, smothering two of his four ash collectors. When he gathered the surviving equipment, Cathy’s father found a downwind sampler overflowing with ash laced with chlorine. Tom Cahill of the University of California, Davis, wrote a paper on this surprising result; editors at the journal Science were impressed enough to publish it.
Alaska Science Forum: Taking to the sky to better sniff the air
By nrozell [at] gi [dot] alaska [dot] edu (Ned Rozell)
Unmanned aircraft used in South Africa game reserve
In April 2013, personnel from the Alaska Center for Unmanned Aircraft Systems Integration at the UAF Geophysical Institute visited the Welgevonden Game Reserve in South Africa.
2013 Rockets & Gold: Poker Flat Research Range Open House
The University of Alaska Fairbanks Geophysical Institute will host “Rockets and Gold,” an open house at the Poker Flat Research Range Thursday, July 18 from 4 to 8 p.m. Admission is free and is open to all ages.
Measuring the winds of space: UAF team prepares for 2014 launch
The sounding rocket released bright puffs of tri-methyl aluminum, which scientists track from the ground to study winds near the lower boundary of space. The streak on the bottom right is formed by chemicals that have been moved and distorted by winds and turbulence.
Photo Courtesy Carl Andersen
On a clear, cold night two winters ago in Fort Yukon, Carl Andersen watched a rocket he helped design pierce the upper atmosphere. He and three other scientists shot pictures as the rocket ejected bright puffs of chemicals in an inverted V formation more than 60 miles up.
“They were the brightest things in the sky,” Andersen said from his office at the University of Alaska Fairbanks.
Alaska Science Forum: Measuring the winds of space
By molly [dot] rettig [at] gi [dot] alaska [dot] edu (Molly Rettig) 
On a clear, cold night two winters ago in Fort Yukon, Carl Andersen watched a rocket he helped design pierce the upper atmosphere. He and three other scientists shot pictures as the rocket ejected bright puffs of chemicals in an inverted V formation more than 60 miles up.
Donald Hampton
Oct. 2001-Present: Research Assistant Professor in Space Physics, Geophysical Institute, University of Alaska Fairbanks.
Nov. 2006-Oct. 2011: Optical Science Manager, Poker Flat Research Range and Geophysical Institute Chief Systems Engineer, Ozone Mapping and Profiler Suite (OMPS) Ball Aerospace & Technologies Corp.
2005-2006: Chief Systems Engineer, Ozone Mapping and Profiler Suite (OMPS) Ball Aerospace & Technologies Corp.
1999-2006: Systems Engineer, Deep Impact Instrument Suite, Ball Aerospace & Technologies Corp.
1996-1999: System Engineer, Ball Aerospace & Technologies Corp.
Lynch, K.A., D. Hampton, M. Mella, B. Zhang, H. Dahlgren, M. Disbrow, P.M. Kintner, M. Lessard, E. Lundberg and H.C. Stenbaek-Nielsen. (2012). Structure and dynamics of the nightside poleward boundary: Sounding rocket and ground-based observations of auroral electron precipitation in a rayed curtain. Journal of Geophysical Research, 117, A11202, doi: 10.1029/2012JA017691.
Nicolls, M.J., S.L. Vadas, J.W. Meriwether, M.G. Conde and D. Hampton. (2012). The phases and amplitudes of gravity waves propagating and dissipating in the thermosphere: Application to measurements over Alaska. Journal of Geophysical Research, 117, A05323, doi: 10.1029/2012JA017542.
Garner, T.W., R.B. Harris, J.A. York, C.S. Herbster, C.F. Minter III and D.L. Hampton. (2011). An auroral scintillation observation using precise, collocated GPS receivers. Radio Science, 46, RS1018, doi: 10.1029/2010RS004412.
Samara, M., R.G. Michell, K. Asamura, M. Hirahara, D.L. Hampton and H.C. Stenbaek-Nielsen. (2010). Ground-based observations of diffuse auroral structures in conjunction with Reimei measurements. Annales Geophysicae, 28, 873-881.
Semeter, J., T. Butler, C. Heinselman, M. Nicolls, J. Kelley, D. Hampton. (2009). Volumetric imaging of the auroral ionosphere: Intital results from PFISR. Journal of Atmospheric and Solar-Terrestrial Physics, 71, 738-743.
A'Hearn, M.J. et al. (35 in all, including D.L. Hampton). (2011). EPOXI at Comet Hartley 2. Science, 332(6036), 1396-1400, doi: 10.1126/science.1204054.
Sunshine, J.M., et al. (19 in all, including D.L. Hampton). (2005). Exposed water ice deposits on the surface of Comet 9P/Tempel 1. Science, 311, 1453-1455.
A'Hearn, M.F., et al. (33 in all, including D.L. Hampton). (2005). Deep Impact: Excavating Comet Tempel 1. Science, 310, 258-264, 14 October 2005.
Hampton, D.L., J.W. Baer, M.A. Huisjen, C.C. Varner, A. Delamere, D.D. Wellnitz, M.F. A'Hearn and K.P. Klaasen. (2005). An overview of the instrument suite for the Deep Impact mission. Space Science Review, 117, 43-93.
Hampton, D.L., M.J. Heavner, E.M. Wescott and D.D. Sentman. (1996). Optical spectral characteristics of sprites. Geophysical Research Letters, 23, 89-92.
Successful launch from Poker Flat Research Range
but then, a camera stationed downrange at Kaktovik, Alaska showed some promising aurora. From there, everything lined up to create the perfect conditions for the VISIONS sounding rocket to launch. At 11:21 p.m.
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