Bernhard Lettau (interim) Antarctic Sciences Section NSF/Office of Polar Programs Aeronomy and Astrophysics Program Aeronomy, Space Physics, and Astrophysics Program

Three Major Domains: Stratosphere and Mesosphere –Aerosol Chemistry –Ozone Hole Thermosphere, Ionosphere, Magnetosphere –Ionized Plasmas –Charged Particle/Geomagnetic Field Interactions Astronomy and Astrophysical Studies –Solar Astronomy and Space Weather –Neutrinos –Cosmic Microwave Background Radiation Aeronomy, Space Physics, and Astrophysics Program

August 2006 U.S. Antarctic Program, New Investigators Workshop South Pole Station –Neutrino astrophysics and radio astronomy to test cosmological models –Space physics and upper atmospheric studies to forecast space weather –Ozone depletion, monitoring of UV radiation to test global change –Atmospheric constituents and pollution –Paleoclimatic records from snow and ice –Human behavioral studies –Global seismology

August 2006 U.S. Antarctic Program, New Investigators Workshop Aeronomy, Space and Astrophysics Research Why Antarctica ? –high, dry, cold atmosphere with negligible variability — almost space-like conditions –clarity of the continental ice for the largest neutrino telescope –polar vortex permits long duration balloon-borne experiments –geomagnetic focus of solar and cosmic particles and fields (aurora australis) –unique photochemistry creates the ozone hole

AMANDA - Antarctic Muon and Neutrino Detector Array Neutrino telescopes look through the Earth to understand how Mother Nature can accelerate particles to very high energies (tera- and peta-electron volts)

IceCubeIceCube A new neutrino telescope of 1-km 3 scale To detect high-energy neutrinos from deep space To probe new window into the Universe

Radio Astronomy (Sub-MM and Infrared) Temperature variations (µK) (inflationary model and data)

Cosmic Microwave Background Research A new 10-m dish radio telescope – to test inflation of the Universe SPT– FY07 45 m 16 m

NASA/NSF Long-Duration Balloons Program

Sun –Earth Connections AURORA BOREALIS AND AURORA AUSTRALIS

U.S. Automatic Geophysical Observatories Ozone Hole September 2000