This document was last updated in 2012, and as such some information such as PI names, institutions and number of operating radars will have changed, always check with your friendly neighbourhood PI before publishing SuperDARN data and radar information. Check out our radar information tables for up to date information about the PI's, institutions and radars.
An updated version of the PI Agreement is expected in 2021: for which this page will be updated accordingly.
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The Super Dual Auroral Radar Network (SuperDARN) is an international collaborative program for scientific investigation of the upper atmosphere, ionosphere, and magnetosphere. SuperDARN consists of HF radars in the northern and southern hemispheres with locations as listed in Appendix 1. The Principal Investigators for these radars and their associated countries are listed in Appendix 2. This document represents the working agreement reached between the SuperDARN Principal Investigators and forms the basis for coordination of the operations of the radars, the exchange of data, the analysis and publication of results and the sharing of technical developments associated with the radar systems. Specific individual and institutional responsibilities identified in this document have been made under the assumption that they would be adequately supported by their respective funding agencies
The SuperDARN community is international in character and its membership has made a wide range of financial, scientific and technical contributions. In acknowledgement of these contributions, the following categories of SuperDARN participation have been identified:
Principal Investigator:
A representative of a scientific group who has responsibility for one or more of the SuperDARN radars. Typically they will have led the procurement of principal funding and support for the radar(s).
Co-Investigator:
A participant who has been named by a Principal Investigator designated as a member of his SuperDARN research team. The selection should be based upon actual or anticipated contributions to the scientific and/or technical development of the SuperDARN project.
Guest Investigator:
A participant selected by the SuperDARN Executive Council to join the SuperDARN community for a fixed period of time with an equivalent status to a Co-I but not as a member of an individual research team. Selection is through a SuperDARN Guest Investigator program which will invite proposals to be assessed by the Executive Council.
User:
A SuperDARN user who is not in the above categories.
Affiliate:
A contributor to SuperDARN recognized by the SuperDARN Executive Council who is not in the above categories (e.g. a member of the SuperDARN Advisory Board).
SuperDARN is managed by an Executive Council consisting of the Principal Investigators (PI). The Council shall elect its chairman from its membership every 3 years. The Council is the final arbiter on all matters to do with SuperDARN and would normally operate on the basis of consensus, although, if necessary, a vote would require a simple majority of the Principal Investigators present at the meeting provided at least 75% of the Principal Investigators in Appendix 1 are present.
All Principal Investigators are signatories of this document. As additional radars are developed, or as Principal Investigators wish to relinquish their role, the Council may by consensus elect additional or replacement Principal Investigators, respectively. The newly elected Principal Investigators will also become signatories of this document.
The Executive Council may designate individuals as Observers to participate in meetings of the Council. Observers might include prospective Principal Investigators and individuals whose specific expertise or contribution merits participation in Council meetings. Observers may participate in discussions at the Executive Council meetings, but may not vote in Council decisions.
The Executive Council will normally meet once per year in association with the annual SuperDARN workshop. At other times, it will operate via other communication channels such as e-mail. Principal Investigators may be represented by alternates at meetings if they are unable to attend. Alternates may vote should it be necessary.
An ad hoc oversight committee consisting of independent senior scientists and representatives of national funding agencies will advise the SuperDARN community through the SuperDARN Executive Council on long term issues such as funding, science programme, and technical developments. Membership of the Advisory Board would be by invitation from the Executive Council as and when the Council feels the need for such advice. The Terms of Reference for the advisory board and its membership are given in Appendix 3.
An interval of concurrent operation of all SuperDARN radars to produce an identical type of data product (e.g. defined by viewing area, and range and time resolution). The current Common Time Programs are defined in Appendix 4. Modifications or additions to these programs must be approved by the Executive Council.
An interval of concurrent operation of some or all SuperDARN radars to produce a special data product different from those of Common Time. While the mode of operation of each radar may be different, the purpose of Special Time is to use the network of radars for a coordinated scientific experiment. It is the responsibility of the experimenter to demonstrate to each PI that the associated Radar Control Program (RCP) is suitable for their radar and complies with each radar’s transmission licenses (see Appendix 5).
An interval when each radar can operate independently for the specific research goals of individual Principal Investigators, Co-Investigators or Guest Investigators.
The Executive Council agrees to divide the monthly operational time of the radars in the following proportions:
Common Time: a minimum of 50%
Special Time: a maximum of 20%
Discretionary Time: a maximum of 30%
Changes in the proportions of operational time would be determined by the Executive Council, either through consensus or, if necessary, through a simple majority vote.
The SuperDARN radar operating schedule is prepared in monthly blocks with the allocation between Common Time, Special Time, and Discretionary Time being divided into 6-hour UT intervals. Once the monthly allocation has been scheduled, it will apply for all radars. Unused allocations for Special Time or Discretionary Time in a given month revert to Common Time. Unused monthly allocations do not accumulate over monthly boundaries.
If individual Principal Investigators or subgroups of Principal Investigators choose to operate Common Time modes during Discretionary intervals, the resulting data is flagged as Common Time data. Access to this data will follow the same rules as access to Common Time data.
A Scheduling Working Group is responsible for the preparation of a detailed plan for each month which is subject to the approval of the Executive Council. Details of the scheduling process are described in Appendix 5. Each Principal Investigator may nominate one member for the Scheduling Working Group, but should in general not serve on it personally.
Each Principal Investigator agrees to respond to reasonable requests for Discretionary Time from other SuperDARN Principal Investigators.
Within limitations imposed by climatic conditions and available staff and financial resources, all Principal Investigators agree to maintain continuous operation of their respective radars. Where possible, radar down time due to maintenance or upgrade of a radar will be scheduled during Discretionary Time intervals.
The Principal Investigators also agree to maintain the SuperDARN operational software in a state that yields compatible data sets during SuperDARN Common and Special Programs.
Principal Investigators agree to provide data from their radar(s) in common defined formats – level 1 data. A definition of the different levels of SuperDARN data is given in Appendix 6. The data format would normally be determined by the software that each radar operates. This operational software by each radar will be agreed by the Executive Council and should ensure that the data fusion, exchange and usage described below are achievable. Each radar mode will be identified by a CPID number. A record of the CPIDs will be maintained such that the radar mode is described. Definition of CPIDs is given in Appendix 7 and PIs are responsible for ensuring compliance with this definition.
Principal Investigators agree to provide their complete level 1 data sets via direct internet access to an agreed institution on a daily basis, or as regularly and as soon as possible as the available technology or resources allows. At that institution, the data are combined and made available either to a separate institution where they are copied, dated and distributed to institutions agreed upon by the SuperDARN Executive Council, or are directly distributed to those institutions. The institutions currently involved in the distribution are identified in Appendix 8. The method of distribution will be reviewed by the SuperDARN Executive Council on an annual basis.
SuperDARN Principal Investigators are responsible for distributing SuperDARN data to their respective Co-Investigators, Guest Investigators and Users in their country while resources are available. They are also responsible for reimbursing USAS for their media costs.
The SuperDARN Executive Council aims to operate a completely open data use policy for all data and will actively encourage the wider usage of the data by the scientific community. The “Rules of the Road” as outlined in Appendix 9 describe the policy in detail. Provision may be limited by available resources and subject to reasonable specific requests and variable lead times for the release of data depending on the operating time category (see Section 4) as follows:
Common Time data are immediately available to all once data have been made available to all Principal Investigators.
Level 2 data products based on level 1 Common Time data can also be made available to all on the same time scale provided these data are produced by software approved by the SuperDARN Executive Council. A current example of a level 2 data product is the SuperDARN Map Potential. All Level 2 data products currently approved by the SuperDARN Executive Council are listed in Appendix 6. All plots and numerical data produced must be accompanied by a “Rules of the Road” notification outlined in Appendix 9.
Access to Special Time data is restricted for a period of one year following the distribution of the data. During this time the data are for the exclusive use of the SuperDARN Principal Investigators whose radars operated in the Special time mode and Co-Investigators, Guest Investigators and Users designated by these Principal Investigators. After one year access rights are the same as for Common Time data. Exclusivity may be waived by the relevant Special Time investigator before this.
Access to Discretionary Time data is restricted for a period of one year following the distribution of the data. During this time the data are for the exclusive use of the SuperDARN Principal Investigators whose radars operated in the Discretionary Time mode and Co Investigators, Guest Investigators and Users designated by these Principal Investigators. After one year access rights are the same as for Common Time data. Exclusivity may be waived by the relevant Discretionary Time Investigator before this.
Common Time data which are identified by a relevant CPID as a result of a PI running Common Time mode during Discretionary Time will be available for use as soon as the data have been distributed to all SuperDARN PIs.
Higher level data products may be produced from the SuperDARN data either by the SuperDARN team (see Appendix 6) or possibly by external users. The usage of such data products follows the same restrictions as for the relevant types of data provided above. External users should also ensure that SuperDARN is properly acknowledged in an appropriate location, either on user web sites or via publications. Such external data usage should be communicated to the SuperDARN Executive Council as described in the Rules of the Road (Appendix 9).
With the goal of exploiting the scientific potential of the SuperDARN network to the fullest extent possible, the PIs agree to adopt the following policies and procedures to enhance communications, to promote scientific collaboration, and to maintain a spirit of goodwill in the SuperDARN community.
The Principal Investigators agree to encourage general usage of the SuperDARN data set, particularly by scientists in the Principal Investigators’ home countries.
The Principal Investigators agree to monitor and minimize the conflicting application of a data set used by a student in working towards a higher degree.
The Principal Investigators waive the right to be co-authors on SuperDARN papers except where they have made a significant scientific contribution or when a paper makes particular use of a PI’s radar. However, all papers containing SuperDARN data must contain a standard form of acknowledgement agreed upon by the Executive Council (see Appendix 10).
The Principal Investigators agree to share freely amongst themselves all technical information on radar hardware, subject to International Trade Agreements, radar system performance, signal processing techniques, radar-control software and analysis software that will lead to improved performance of the SuperDARN radars.
An archive of control software and analysis software for the SuperDARN radars will be maintained. All Super-DARN participants are encouraged to submit documented copies of useful software to this Archive. All software entered into the archive should bear a suitable open source license statement that explicitly allows modification, recompilation, and redistribution.
This agreement supersedes certain aspects of the pre-existing agreements listed in Appendix 11. It does not abrogate those agreements in areas not covered by this document. Future agreements should be made consistent with this document unless waived by consensus of the Principal Investigators.
All parties agree to abide by this agreement in a spirit of goodwill and conciliation, bearing in mind the harsh and unpredictable environments in which the radars will be operated. The Executive Council will attempt to resolve any controversies that arise under the terms of this agreement. In the event that the controversies cannot be resolved, Principal Investigators may withdraw from this agreement one month after a full Executive Council meeting in which the issues are discussed. Otherwise, this agreement will remain in force for so long as the radars are funded by the sponsoring organizations.
Alterations to this working agreement can only be made by consensus within the Executive Council, or, if necessary, by a simple majority vote.
(in order of development)
Goose Bay, Canada October, 1983 USA
Halley, Antarctica January, 1988 UK, USA
Saskatoon, Canada July, 1993 Canada
Kapuskasing, Canada July, 1993 USA
Stokkseyri, Iceland June, 1994 France
Hankasalmi, Finland February 1995 UK, Finland, Sweden
Syowa South, Antarctica February, 1995 Japan
Pykkvibaer, Iceland November 1995 UK, Sweden
Syowa East, Antarctica February, 1997 Japan
Sanae, Antarctica March 1997 South Africa, UK, USA
Bruny Island, Australia December 1999 Australia
Kodiak, USA January 2000 USA
Prince George, Canada March 2000 Canada
Kerguelen, France June 2000 France
King Salmon, USA October 2001 Japan
New Zealand November 2004 Australia
Wallops Island, USA June 2005 USA
Rankin Inlet, Canada May 2006 Canada
Hokkaido, Japan November 2006 Japan
Blackstone, USA February 2008 USA, UK
Inuvik, Canada August 2008 Canada
McMurdo, Antarctica January 2010 USA
Fort Hays East, USA January 2010 USA
Fort Hays West, USA February 2010 USA
Falkland Islands, UK February 2010 UK
Zhongshan, Antarctica April 2010 China
Christmas Valley East, USA November 2010 USA
Christmas Valley West, USA November 2010 USA
(in alphabetical order)
| Principal Investigator | Radars | Institute |
|---|---|---|
| William Bristow | Kodiak McMurdo |
University of Alaska, Fairbanks, USA |
| John Devlin | TIGER Bruny Island TIGER UNWIN |
La Trobe University, Australia |
| Mervyn P Freeman | Halley Falkland Islands |
British Antarctic Survey, UK |
| Hongqiao Hu | Zhongshan | Polar Research Institute of China, China |
| Mark Lester (Chair) | Hankasalmi Pykkvibaer |
University of Leicester, UK |
| Aurelie Marchaudon | Stokkseyri Kerguelen |
CNRS, France |
| Kathryn McWilliams | Saskatoon Prince George |
University of Saskatchewan, Canada |
| Tsutomu Nagatsuma | King Salmon | National Institute of Information and Communications Technology, Japan |
| Nozomu Nishitani | Hokkaido | Solar-Terrestrial Environment Laboratory, Nagoya University, Japan |
| Jon Rash (Acting) | Sanae | University of KwaZulu Natal, South Africa |
| J Michael Ruohoniemi | Goose Bay Kapuskasing Blackstone Fort Hays East Fort Hays West |
Virginia Tech, USA |
| Simon Shepherd | Christmas Valley East Christmas Valley West |
Dartmouth College, USA |
| Jean Pierre St. Maurice | Rankin Inlet Inuvik |
University of Saskatchewan, Canada |
| Elsayed Talaat | Wallops Island | Applied Physics Laboratory, USA |
| Akira Sessai Yukimatu | Syowa East Syowa South |
National Institute of Polar Research, Japan |
To be defined.
The Common Time program (CP) has changed since the original PI agreement. The aim is to retain standardization and compatibility of radar data for large-scale studies, whilst recognizing increased operational capabilities and a general desire for more flexible data collection. The versions used to date are as follows:
The original PI Agreement specified that during a SuperDARN Common Program (CP) interval, all radars shall perform a precise sequence of beam soundings within 2 minute UT intervals. The number of beams (pointing azimuths) was fixed at 16 and the number of range gates was fixed at 70 with a separation of 45 km. The aim was to ensure standardization and compatibility of radar data for large-scale studies. This aim remains valid. However, in recognition of increased operational capabilities and a general desire for more flexible data collection, the rigid specification of radar mode that is characteristic of CP time is hereby relaxed. The operation of a SuperDARN radar is henceforth deemed to be in compliance with CP requirements if it provides a data stream for archiving that conforms to these conditions:
The CP requirements can be satisfied with a non-standard arrangement of number of beams, range gate separation, integration time, etc. The PI has the flexibility to run even more unusual operating modes provided that (i) a data stream that is in compliance with the CP specification can be extracted from the mode, and, (ii) the PI performs the necessary extraction to produce a CP-compliant data stream for ingestion into the SuperDARN archives.
The CP-compliant data stream shall consist of files written in RAWACF format for every 2- hour UT interval, starting at 00 UT. If necessary for data transfer from the radar site, shorter file lengths may be provided but the PIs should attempt to keep the file lengths an integer number of UT hours.
The PI shall make a good faith effort to ensure that the quality of the CP-compliant data stream in terms of sensitivity and the errors on derived parameters (e.g., Doppler velocity, spectral width) do not fall below common standards as a result of running unorthodox operating modes.
The traditional CP operating parameters (slightly modified) are retained here as guidance for the PIs.
Submission of requests for Discretionary Time and/or SuperDARN Special Program Time: T - 8 weeks
Draft schedule distributed to PIs (note 1.): T - 5 weeks
PIs to approve schedule (note 2.): T - 4 weeks
Release of schedule (note 3.) T - 4 weeks
note 1. Scheduling Working Group (SWG) will determine schedule based upon requests submitted more than 8 weeks prior to first day of month (T) in which schedule will operate. Conflicts in scheduling will be resolved, firstly, by equity in fulfilling requests and, secondly, by scientific merit.
note 2. PIs will have one week to approve schedule.
note 3. Schedule will be sent by E-mail to whole SuperDARN community.
TBD
TBD
APL/JHU is currently responsible for the ingestion of SuperDARN data from each individual radar site and subsequent fusion of all data before transfer to University of Saskatoon for distribution.
University of Saskatoon is currently responsible for the copying and distribution to all SuperDARN PI institutions of the complete SuperDARN data set.
University of Leicester is responsible for hosting the e-mail lists for the various SuperDARN working groups, including the PI group, all SuperDARN users, and the various working groups.
The JHU/APL maintains the version controlled software archive comprised of
The archive is available to the general public and can be downloaded from superdarn.jhuapl.edu
TBD
SuperDARN has an open data use policy – prior permission to access and analyse the data is not required. However, the data user is strongly encouraged to establish early contact with any Principal Investigator whose data are involved in the project to discuss the intended usage. Data are often subject to limitations which are not immediately evident to new users. In addition, some data is embargoed for use by designated Investigators for a period of one year. SuperDARN and the organizations that contributed data must be acknowledged in all reports and publications (see Appendix 10). The SuperDARN Executive Council must be notified before data is redistributed through another data base. If you have any questions about appropriate use of these data, contact any SuperDARN Principal Investigator.
The authors acknowledge the use of SuperDARN data. SuperDARN is a collection of radars funded by national scientific funding agencies of Australia, Canada, China, France, Japan, South Africa, United Kingdom and United States of America.
PACE Agreement (BAS and JHU/APL)
SHARE Agreement (SASSC, BAS, JHU/APL
Southern Hemisphere SuperDARN working Agreement (SASSC, BAS, JHU/APL, NIPR)
French-American Agreement (LPCE, CETP, and JHU/APL)
CUTLASS Agreement (University of Leicester, Finnish Meteorological Institute, Swedish Institute for Space Physics)
Dome-C French-Italian Agreement
Falkland Islands radar MoU (BAS-University of Leicester)
Alaska-Project Agreement (NICT and UAF/GI)
KSR-HOK Agreement (NICT, STEL, and UEC)
MoU between JHU/APL and VT.
Acronyms
BAS: British Antarctic Survey
CETP: Centre d’Etudes de l’Environnements Terrestre et Planetaires
JHU/APL: Johns Hopkins University, Applied Physics Laboratory
LPCE: Laboratoire de Physique et Chimie de I' Environnement
SASSC: South African SHARE Steering Committee
NICT: National Institute of Information and Communications Technology
UAF/GI: University of Alaska Fairbanks, Geophysical Institute
STEL: Solar-Terrestrial Environment Laboratory
UEC: University of Electro-Communications
In this Appendix we identify the data depositories where agreed by the SuperDARN Executive Council and the nature of the data that are stored in that depository.
This section states who is expected to sign the original copy of the PI Agreement, the PI names and institutions may be out of date.