Development of the Chinese Meridian Project

The Meridian Project is a ground-based network program to monitor Solar-Terrestrial space environment, which consists of a chain of ground-based observatories with multiple instruments including magnetometers, ionosondes, HF and VHF radars, Lidars, IPS monitors, sounding rockets etc. The chain is mainly located in the neighborhood of 120$^\circ$E meridian, and is thus named the Meridian Project. The Meridian Project has officially been approved and supported by the Chinese government and will be finished by the end of 2010. This report gives an overview of the Meridian Project, and reports the recent development since 2008.      

Recent Development and Preliminary Results of Chinese Meridian Project

The Meridian Project is a ground-based network program to monitor solar-terrestrial space environment, which consists of a chain of 15 ground-based observatories located roughly along 120°E longitude and 30°N latitude. The Meridian project started in 2008, and its construction was completed by 2011. The integration and test phase of the Meridian Project conducted in 2011 demonstrated its observation capabilities as expected. The project will be in full operation in 2012. This report gives an overview of the recent development and preliminary results of the Meridian Project since 2010.      

Recent Advances in Chinese Meridian Project

To develop an understanding of near-Earth space's response to solar activities and the coupling among different layers in geospace, China has initiated a ground base program to monitor China's geospace environment called the Meridian Space Weather Monitoring Project (Chinese Meridian Project). The effort consists of a chain of 15 ground-based observatories located roughly along 120°E longitude and 30°N latitude. Each observatory is equipped with multiple instruments to measure key parameters such as the baseline and time-varying geomagnetic field, as well as the middle and upper atmosphere and ionosphere from about 20 to 1000 kilometers. This project started collecting data in 2012. We will give a brief introduction to the Chinese Meridian Project, and present recent scientific results mainly in ionospheric and atmospheric studies.      

Recent Advances in Observation and Research of the Chinese Meridian Project

The Chinese Meridian Space Weather Monitoring Project (Meridian Project) is a ground-based geospace monitoring chain in China. It consists of 15 ground-based observation stations located roughly along 120°E longitude and 30°N latitude. In recent two years, using data from the Meridian Project, significant progress has been made in space weather and space physics research. These advances are mainly in four aspects:regional characteristics of space environment above China or along 120°E meridian line, coupling between space spheres at different heights and different physical processes, space weather disturbance and its propagation along the meridian chain, and space weather effects on ground technical facilities.      

A BRIEF INTRODUCTION TO MERIDIAN PROJECT

Early in 1994, sponsored by Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) and then the State Science and Technology Commission of China (SSTC, now Ministry of Sci ence and Technology), Chinese space scientists (including scientists from Taiwan) gathered together to discuss issues on the development of space physics researches in China. Following it, several special seminars were held to continue the discus sion which finally led to a proposal to CAS and SSTC for establishing a station chain along the 120°E to monitor the space environment. This proposal was care fully reviewed and thoroughly evaluated by many leading scientists in the com munity and then listed in the State Plan of Chinese Central Government in June 1997. The project then has been formally called as "Meridian Chain of Compre hensive Ground-Based Space Environment Monitors in the Eastern Hemisphere" "Meridian Project". After several years of preparations the project has been par tially initiated with the efforts devoted by institutes and universities involved.     

Introduction to Chinese Meridian Project-Phase II

The Chinese Meridian Project is a ground-based space environment monitoring network, which is constructed in two steps. The first step (Phase I) of the project consists of 15 observation stations located roughly along 120°E longitude and 30°N latitude. The second step (Phase II) of the project will additionally deploy 16 stations to better cover China's territory, and build a stereo monitoring capability to monitor the cause and effect of the space weather chain in the solar terrestrial system. Based on the existing two monitoring chains in Phase I, two more chains will be established along 100°E longitude and 40°N latitude, respectively, forming a double-cross network configuration. After the two-step construction, the whole project will run nearly 300 instruments deployed at 31 stations. Aside from standard instruments, quite a few innovative and powerful instruments will be developed, such as radioheliographs with a very wide frequency band, a 3-station incoherent scattering radar to make a 3D measurement of the ionosphere, and a helium lidar to measure atmosphere density up to an altitude of 1000 km.      

Recent Advances in Research of the Chinese Meridian Project

The Chinese Meridian Project is a ground-based space environment monitoring facility in China. The first phase of the project has been put into formal operation since 2012 after 4-year's construction. It consists of 15 observatories located roughly along 120°E longitude and 30°N latitude, with each observatory equipped with multiple instruments to monitor space environment. Based on the huge observational data accumulated, significant scientific achievements have been made with more than 300 peer-reviewed journal papers published. In this report, scientific results from the past two years have been reviewed with topics covering fields of geomagnetic, atmosphere, ionosphere, and their responses to solar activities. The excellent achievements from the Phase I of Chinese Meridian Project lay a good foundation for Phase II, which has already been approved with the official kick-off of construction in November 2019. It will conceive an unprecedented contribution to global space weather community from China.      

Overview of the Solar Polar Orbit Telescope Project for Space Weather Mission

The Solar Polar ORbit Telescope (SPORT) project for space weather mission has been under intensive scientific and engineering background studies since it was incorporated into the Chinese Space Science Strategic Pioneer Project in 2011.SPORT is designed to carry a suite of remote-sensing and in-situ instruments to observe Coronal Mass Ejections (CMEs),energetic particles,solar high-latitude magnetism,and the fast solar wind from a polar orbit around the Sun. The first extended view of the polar regions of the Sun and the ecliptic enabled by SPORT will provide a unique opportunity to study CME propagation through the inner heliosphere,and the solar high-latitude magnetism giving rise to eruptions and the fast solar wind.Coordinated observations between SPORT and other spaceborne/ground-based facilities within the International Living With a Star (ILWS) framework can significantly enhance scientific output.SPORT is now competing for official selection and implementation during China's 13th Five-Year Plan period of 2016-2020.      

Space Life Science of China

With the human space exploration activities, space life science is an emerging interdiscipline, which covers a wide range of researches. Based on our country's manned space station and recoverable satellite science experimental platform, the development of space life science research is very important to acquire new knowledge or new technological innovation, to give further services to the human space exploration activities, to improve the national economic and social development. Both ground-based and flight applied studies were continuously performed in the previous 2 years. Here, we review and summarize the researches on space life sciences contributed by Chinese scientists.      

Space Materials Science in China: II. Ground-based Researches and Academic Activities

Activities of space materials science research in China have been continuously supported by two main national programs. One is the China Space Station (CSS) program since 1992, and the other is the Strategic Priority Program (SPP) on Space Science since 2011. In CSS plan in 2019, eleven space materials science experimental projects were officially approved for execution during the construction of the space station. In the SPP Phase II launched in 2018, seven pre-research projects are deployed as the first batch in 2018, and one concept study project in 2019. These pre-research projects will be cultivated as candidates for future selection as space experiment projects on the recovery of scientific experimental satellites in the future. A new apparatus of electrostatic levitation system for ground-based research of space materials science and rapid solidification research has been developed under the support of the National Natural Science Foundation of China. In order to promote domestic academic activities and to enhance the advancement of space materials science in China, the Space Materials Science and Technology Division belong to the Chinese Materials Research Society was established in 2019. We also organized scientists to write five review papers on space materials science as a special topic published in the journal Scientia Sinica to provide valuable scientific and technical references for Chinese researchers.      

Introduction to Meridian Space Weather Monitoring Project

The Meridian Project is a ground- based network program to monitor solar-terrestrial space environment, which consists of a chain of ground-based observatories with multiple instruments including magnetometers, ionosondes, HF and VHF radar, Lidar, IPS monitors, sounding rockets etc. The chain is mainly located in the neighborhood of 120°E meridian, and is thus named the Meridian Project. It has officially been approved by the Chinese government and will be finished by 2009. This talk will give an overview of the Meridian Project and the proposed International Space Weather Meridian Circle Program.     

中低纬度Pc3-4地磁脉动特性研究——子午工程数据分析初步结果

利用新建成的子午工程地磁台站数据,对比分析了地磁平静期间(2011年3月20-27日)和磁暴期间(2011年9月25日至10月1日)Pc3-4地磁脉动的时空分布特征及其对行星际条件的响应.数据分析结果表明,中低纬度(1.3<L<2.3,L为磁壳参数)的Pc3-4地磁脉动在这两个时期内的分布存在明显的晨昏不对称性,在昼侧前出现明显的Pc3-4地磁脉动并与行星际上游波动密切相关,其振幅增强可能与太阳风动压脉冲相关,高速太阳风更易导致Pc3-4地磁脉动;而对于近赤道低纬(L<1.3)区域,无论是在地磁平静期还是磁暴期均未能观测到Pc3-4地磁脉动,Pc3-4地磁脉动存在明显的纬度效应.      

西藏阿里地区的晴天大气电场特征

晴天大气电场是一个区域大气电场变化的基准场,是大气电场特性的研究基础。对于具有不同地质条件、地理环境和地形特点的区域,晴天大气电场特征具有明显区别。利用在西藏阿里地震台（80.12°E,32.51°N）安装的一台场磨式大气电场仪于2021年10月10日至2021年11月10日观测到的数据,通过对大气电场数据建模与分析,结合气象条件,得到西藏阿里地区23天晴天条件下的平均卡耐基曲线。经过平滑处理去除仪器噪声的波动,得到西藏阿里地区的晴天条件下的标准卡耐基曲线,进而与北京市昌平区十三陵观测台站（116.23°E,40.25°N）同期的晴天大气电场特征进行对比,并对其电场特性差异和原因进行了讨论。研究结果对分析高原地区晴天大气电场特征具有重要的参考价值和科学意义。