CEDAR email: Update on restoring RISR-N operations

[Asti Bhatt]

Dear colleagues,


We would like to inform the community about the plan for the restoration of the lost capability at the Resolute Bay Observatory (RBO) from the fire last year. As many of you are aware, in late September 2022, there was a fire at the RBO that resulted in the operations control center at the site burning down. The fire did NOT affect the RISR-N and C faces, or the generators powering the radars. However, we lost critical instrumentation to operate the radars, auxiliary optical and RF instruments hosted at the RBO, and the generators powering the site.



Given that we are approaching solar maximum, our highest priority is to get the ISR capability restored at the site. To that end, we are working on a temporary solution to restore partial site power, network access, and the capability to run RISR-N for limited pre-scheduled experiments by Fall 2023. Due to the constraints posed by limited site power, we will be unable to run experiments that need quick scheduling this year, e.g. in response to a developing solar event, but we will plan to pre-schedule and run the radar for as much time as possible.



We are also working on plans and the timeline for restoring the full site power leading to the capability to run RISR-N more flexibly, and the capability to host auxiliary instruments. We will inform the community once we have firmer plans for these.



We appreciate the patience and support from the scientific community, as any work at Resolute Bay has significant constraints driven hugely by the weather, available transportation options and limited local resources , affecting the timeline for restoration.


Please feel free to reach out to me if you have any concerns or questions.


Thanks,

Asti



Asti Bhatt
Principal Research Engineer
Center for Geospace Studies
SRI International
Menlo Park 94025
Ph: 650-859-3424
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