Issue4, May 2014
We hope the AOSWA framework helps
our activities for improving space weather activities.
http://aoswa.nict.go.jp/

In this Issue...

AOSWA
LinkAbout IPS..….

2,3Rakesh Panwar and David Neudegg,
Australian Bureau of Meteorology

Space weather research and operations at Lapan Indonesia ..…. 4,5
Timbul Manik and Clara Y. Yatini,Space Science Center-Lapan Indonesia

The new antenna systems in NICT..….

6,7

Shinichi Watari and Yûki Kubo
National Institute of Information and Communications Technology

Your contribution is always welcome!
If you should wish to submit an article, you are greatly appreciated. The articles should be approximately 500 words and contain either figures or pictures. Also It is available for use as a means ofspreading information, such as upcoming conference and so on. Your feedback is always welcome.
Contact :Issue4, page 1

About IPS
Rakesh Panwar and David Neudegg,
Australian Bureau of Meteorology
IPS Radio and Space Services is the space
weather branch of the Australian Bureau of Meteorology (BoM).
From its office in Sydney, IPS (IonosphericPrediction Service), monitors and forecasts space
weather conditions, which include solar activity,and geophysical and ionospheric conditions.
Space weather disturbances can interrupt HF
radio, damage power grids, threaten satellite transmissions and instruments and reduce the life of satellites in low earth orbit and geostationary orbit.
They can even put long- distance pipelines at risk
by reducing the efficiency of anti-corrosion cathode systems. As reliance on technology grows, sodoes the impact of space weather events. The potential impact of solar activity is such that severe
space weather events are ranked in the top four serious threats to the UK in its national risk register.
Realising the impact of solar variability on
high-frequency radio communications, the Federal
government of Australia set up the IPS within theDepartment of the Interior in 1947. It’s remit has
grown to encompass the wider space weather area
and is now a part of BoM with it’s role as an allenvironmental hazard agency.
IPS manages an extensive network of observatories hosting magnetometers, ionosondes, solar
observations and other sensors around the Australasian region and Antarctica. Observations are combined with data from satellites and other countries
observations to monitor space weather and provide
services and advice on space weather conditions forradio communications, satellite navigation and other operations. IPS is a member of International
Space Environment Service (ISES), and operates
the regional warning centre for the Australasianregion. IPS is also a member of the World Meteor-

ological Organisation (WMO) coordination teamon Space Weather ICTSW.
IPS maintains a high profile in the international scientific community by actively collaboratingwith universities and other research organisations
to conduct research into space weather, HF communications, satellite navigation and geomagneticsurveys. Staff regularly participate in national andinternational science conferences by presenting scientific papers, publishing and refereeing journal
papers, contributing panel membership, and providing radio consultancy advice.
Consultancies are also provided for planningand operation of radio systems including antennamodelling, radio wave propagation and ionosphericcharacteristics. These have ranged across highfrequency communications systems, HF direction
finding and trans-ionospheric propagation of GPSand Radio Astronomy. Software tools are also developed for the propagation of HF radio via theionosphere, LF/MF radio via groundwave andVHF/UHF radio across terrain and buildings.
IPS also hosts the regional World Data Centre
for Solar- Terrestrial Science, presents training
about the effects of space weather on HF radio
propagation and how to use IPS software tools toselect the right frequencies for successful radio
communication, and supplies data and informationon the upper atmosphere and space weather to various scientific, research and commercial organisations.
Customer surveys identify potential new services. Innovations have included specialised radio
frequency services for various airlines and several
Federal and State Government Departments, andnew web pages for different businesses.
IPS provides information about space weather

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through daily/weekly/monthly reports and alerts
and warnings as required by the space weather conditions. Many of IPS services are freely available
via the IPS website and e-mail subscriptions at
http://www.ips.gov.au/Products_and_Services/4/1

Using IPS services and information, people
vulnerable to space weather disturbances may beable to minimise potential impacts by taking appropriate protective actions in planning and operations.
IPS services enhance national security, defence,
emergency services, public safety and industry.

The attached photograph shows the Australian Space Forecast Centre. A Type II radio
burst, indicative of a CME, can be seen on the monitor just above the duty forecaster

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Space weather research andoperations at Lapan Indonesia
Timbul Manik and Clara Y. Yatini,Space Science Center-Lapan Indonesia
Space Science Center of Indonesian National
Institute of Aeronautics and Space (Lapan) is thecenter with responsible to carry out space science
research and development as well as the application
for the user, which includes solar science, spaceenvironment including space weather, geomagneticand magnetic space science, and solar system science including the Earth's ionosphere. Space Science Center is located in Bandung, West Java, approximately 200 km south east of Jakarta, and is
supported by approximately 90 research professionals, assistants, technicians, and administrations.

devices are originated from self development devices, self procurement from the manufacturer
abroad, as well as those derived from research collaboration with the institutions abroad.

One of the main activities of the Space Science Center is to provide space weather services,which include the space observation, space research and modeling, space weather forecasting,education, and building the information systems.
To be able to carry out these activities, the center is
supported by divisions of research and development, as well as the space observation stations
spread over the Indonesia archipelago, ranging
from Kototabang in West Sumatra to the west ofIndonesia, to Biak Papua in eastern Indonesia. Observation equipments operated in the stations consisting of ground-based equipments such as radio
and telescope observations of the sun, the ionosphere observation with active and passive radars,
geomagnetic observations, etc. The observation

The information of space weather is not presented only via website, but also by using space
weather bulletin which is published regularly.
Lapan also established a space weather control
room to be able continuous space weather monitoring. By this facility, hopefully comprehensive andreliable information can be obtained more quickly.

The space weather observation network in Lapan

All the observation equipments are connectedin space observation network which allow observation data to be transferred to data center located inBandung in real time and/or in near real-time asshown on Figure 1. These observation equipments
evolved from time to time in accordance with thedemands of space weather research and development in Lapan.

Lapan has established fruitful research collaboration RISH Kyoto University since 1992. Basedon this collaboration, the important facility, Equatorial Atmosphere Radar (EAR) has been Kototabang
West Sumatra in 2001 with the aim to study theequatorial atmosphere dynamics. Other facilities
were MF radar (at Pontianak 1996 andPameungpeuk 2004) and Meteor radar (at Kototabang 2003 and Biak 2011).
The collaboration between Lapan and RISHKyoto University is then growing to space weather
research that, at present has become the focus ofinternational communities. One of the activities
carried out was Research Enhancement and System
Establishment for Space Weather project in Indonesia that has been conducted in 2010 until 2013.
This collaboration is very important and useful for
Lapan since it is closely related to the main research activities at the center. Within this activity,
the EAR can be operated for upper atmosphere andIssue4, page 4

ionosphere observations at least for three years.

cluding the ionosphere dynamics and space communications; jointly operate the space weather monitoring equipments; share and exchange space
weather data and information; training of Lapan
personnel in processing and application of space
weather data and information; and conduct scientific meetings (workshops, seminars and conferences) to report the scientific results related to thecollaboration.

The Photo session during the Workshop on 2011 conducted based on Research Enhancement and System
Establishment for Space Weather project in Indonesia

During this period, ionosphere research in
Lapan has been developed by the establishment ofsatellite radio beacons network in several stations,as well as observations with GPS. Lapan also began
the space weather services to the public and to someinstitutions in Indonesia by conducting comparative
studies with related institution in Japan. Under thiscollaboration, Lapan actively participated in Asia
Oceania Space Weather Alliance (AOSWA), which
is discussed and established in Bandung on 2010 tostrengthen the space weather network in the region.
Lapan also take advantage of this collaboration forcapacity building in space weather for Lapan personnel.
Since 2005, along with NICT (National Institute of Information and Communications Technology ) of Japan, an FM-CW ionosonde has been installed and operated at Kototabang West Sumatera
as a part of a SEALION (Southeast Asia Lowlatitude IOnospheric Network) as shown on Fig. 3.
To strengthen the collaboration with NICT, very
recently Lapan and NICT have signed the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the aim tocontinue the cooperation related to ionosphere research and space communication using Frequency
Modulated Continuous Wave (FM–CW) ionosonde
equipment in Kototabang to observe the equatorial
ionosphere dynamics, and to facilitate a mutual research and operation on space weather data and information by using the equipment of Lapan andNICT.
In the near future, the mutual collaboration
will cover study and research on space weather, in-The latest locations of several instruments
in SEALION

Lapan also established several international
collaborations such as: with IPS (Australia) on theStudy on Space Weather, with ICSWSE Kyushu
University (Japan) on MAGDAS Geomagnetic Observation and Data Acquisition, with JAXA (Japan)
on the utilization of JEM “Kibo” on ISS and also
public outreach. Lapan also conducted International
events such as ISWI and MAGDAS School forspace science on September 2012, and recently theIAU regular agenda, ISYA School on AugustSeptember 2013.
Moreover, to be the center of information forspace weather in national level, and to have more
active contributions in international level, Lapan
plan to enhance research and development on application of solar physics, space environment, geo andspace magnetic science, and ionosphere science,
especially related to satellite orbit, space telecommunication, navigation based on satellite system; toimprove integrated monitoring of space debris,space weather, as well as solar activity, geomagnetic and ionosphere variation; to enhance database,data acquisition, data network, and real time observation system; to improve dissemination and services to the public; and to provide capacity building
for Lapan scientists and engineers. (@Space Sceince
Center‐Lapan)

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The new antenna systems in NICT
Renewal of antenna system to receive
real-time solar wind data
Shinichi Watari, NICT
Real-time upstream solar wind data are important data for space weather to estimate the effecton magnetosphere and ionosphere of the Earth inadvance. Space Weather and Environment Informatics Laboratory, National Institute of Informationand Communications Technology (NICT) in Japan
contributes to receive the real-time solar wind data
since the lunch of the Advanced Composition Explorer (ACE) mission.
ACE was lunched by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) in August, 1997 and has measured solar wind, interplanetary magnetic field, and higher energy particles atthe L1 libration point. ACE has a mode broadcasting real-time solar wind data according to the proposal of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Ad-

The 11.3 meter antenna system toreceive real-time solar wind datafrom ACE and DSCOVR

ministration (NOAA). For 24-hour coverage of thereal-time data, several ground stations are necessary
to receive the data from ACE.
The previous antenna system was built in1989 in Kashima center, NICT to receive ionospheric observation data from ISIS-I (Canada) andDE-1 (USA). Then the system was moved fromKashima center to Koganei, headquarter of NICT in
1996 to receive real-time solar wind data fromACE. The system became old because it passed approximately 25 years since its production. DeepSpace Climate Observatory (DSCOVR) followingon mission of ACE is planned to be launched inJanuary, 2015 and it is necessary for us to prepare
for data from DSCOVR. We decided to renew thesystem. The new system completed in March, 2014.

The Antenna control and data receiving system

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New solar radio spectrographat Yamagawa, NICTYûki Kubo, NICT
Monitoring solar radio bursts is one of the mostimportant activities for space weather forecasting.
As the MHz to GHz frequency solar radio bursts
can be observed by ground-based observation facilities, a lot of solar observatories around theworld have monitored the solar radio bursts fromthe ground by radio spectrograph. Our solar radio
spectrograph called HiRAS installed at Hiraiso solar observatory, NICT has been used for space
weather forecasting. However, the HiRAS system
has been decrepit due to long operation for over 20years. We have developed a new solar radio spectrograph as a successor of the HiRAS system since
2013.

shock, wide-frequency range solar radio observation with high time resolution is required to comprehensively understand high-energy phenomena
in solar corona. Our new solar radio spectrographcovers from 70 MHz to 9 GHz in frequency, andhas high time resolution of 8 milliseconds, so the
new spectrograph can be used for not only monitoring solar radio bursts but also investigating thehigh-energy phenomena in solar corona.
The new spectrograph is installed at Yamagawa
radio observation facility, NICT, where is locatedat the southernmost parts in Kyushu area. Routine
operation starts at the spring in 2016 until when
the system is in test operation.

The MHz and GHz solar radio bursts areclosely related each other through the high-energy
electrons accelerated at a solar flare and a coronal

The 16 meters in diameter radome. The radome shields
a parabolic antenna from typhoon and volcanic ash

The 8 meters in diameter parabolic antenna
inside the radome to observe solar radio wave

Issue4, page 7

Editor’s notes
Yuko Uchida, Editor of AOSWA LINK
As we are working on “Space Weather Forecast”,

cherry blossoms to hold parties over lunch anddo you believe there is “Cherry Blossom Forecast”

drinks.

in Japan?

Normally the peak occurs around early April . If

Each year Japan Meteorological Agency an-

you have a chance to come to Japan at that time,nounces “Bloom Forecast” informing when cherry

you can enjoy watching not only cherry blooming

blossoms are blooming in each area throughout

but also its forecast.

Japanese Island. Because Japan appears on themap as a vertically long island, the best time forblooming varies depending on the location andweather. So you could watch "Cherry Blossom
Forecast" on TV, just like a normal weather forecast .
Though the cherry blossom is an extremely fragile blossom that buds for a very small time, there
are cherry trees everywhere throughout Japan andwe really love to enjoy its beautiful but fragile moment. During this season, many of Japanese people enjoy viewing bloom by gathering under trees ofThe cherry blossom in the yard of NICT(photo by Mr. Imai @NICT)AOSWA LINK is issued by AOSWA Secretariat
AOSWA Secretariat
c/o NICT Applied Electromagnetic Research Institute,
Space Weather and Environment Informatics Laboratory
4-2-1 Nukui-Kitamachi, Koganei, Tokyo 184-8795 Japan
URL: http://aoswa.nict.go.jp/
Email: sw‐project‐oﬃce@ml.nict.go.jp

Issue4, page 8