MAGIC

Magnetometer Array on the Greenland Ice Cap
1992-2006

[Clickable Map]

[MAGIC Sites: GISP,West,East,North] [Greenland Chain]

Project Description

The MAGIC array consisted of four tri-axis fluxgate variometer stations centered around the summit of the Greenland ice sheet. The summit was chosen as the central site to take advantage of logistical support available through the Greenland Ice Sheet Project 2 (GISP2) ice coring project. The central station (MCG) is located approximately one kilometer from the center of the drilling camp. The remaining three stations were located between 125 and 150 km to the north (MCN), East (MCE) and South-West (MCW).

Each station was powered by a combination of solar panels and lead-acid gel-cell batteries. In addition, the MCG has a Rutland WindCharger to provide additional power. The field is sampled once each second and 15-second averages are computed and stored in static random access memory (RAM). The data collection system is an 8088 based microprocessor system with 10 Megabytes of available memory for data storage. Each memory board has its own 3-volt lithium battery to protect the data against power failures. An OMEGA clock is used to ensure that the time stamps are accurate to within milliseconds of the actual time.

Each site was visited once each year to download data and provide any needed system maintenence. Snow accumulation requires that the towers which support the solar panels and OMEGA antenna be periodically raised.

Access to the ice sheet has been provided by the 109th Air National Guard stationed in Schenetedy, NY. The three remote stations are accessed by snowmobile traverse.

Scientific Objectives

The MAGIC project was designed to study small scale ionospheric phenomena associated with various coupling process occuring at the interface between the solar wind and the earth's magnetic field. Because of the array's small spatial scale and high temporal resolution, the array can be used to study the spatial and temporal evolution of these phenomena. The MAGIC array also provides an important link between magnetometers located on the east and west coasts of Greenland, permiting a more detailed study of the spatial and temporal evolution of structures as they move across Greenland.

Principal Investigator:
 Dr. C. Robert Clauer
Space Physics Research Laboratory
The University of Michigan

Co-Investigators:
 Dr. Vladimir O. Papitashvili
Space Physics Research Laboratory
The University of Michigan

Dr. Peter Stauning
Solar-Terrestrial Physics Division
Danish Meteorological Institute

Field Operations:
 Robert J. Sitar
Jo B. Baker
Space Physics Research Laboratory
The University of Michigan

Data Availability   Main Page 
 Last Update: Apr 2007  (VGP)