Scientists

Researchers and research students interested in getting involved with IMAP data and the IMAP team can select from the variety of resources listed below.
 

Science Team Meetings

IMAP welcomes the broader community into the IMAP mission through participation in Science Team Meetings. IMAP Science Team Meetings are held jointly with NASA's Interstellar Boundary Explorer (A predecessor to IMAP, IBEX is studying how our heliosphere interacts with interstellar space. IBEX created the first maps showing the interactions at that border, and how they change over time.) science team meetings and are open to the entire The study of the Sun and its connection to the solar system, including the physical processes that occur in the space environment. community.
 
The fundamental science questions of IBEX address the A characteristic of a substance that can be observed or measured without changing the identity of the substance. of the local interstellar medium, global heliospheric boundaries, and interstellar interactions. IMAP takes the next major leap in understanding our global The bubble-like region surrounding the solar system inflated by the solar wind, shielding the solar system from interstellar radiation., heliospheric interactions and boundaries, local interstellar properties and The specific components or “ingredients” that make up a substance or type of matter., and the acceleration of suprathermal and Charged particles (electrons, protons, and ions) that are moving very fast (high energy). If the particles originate at the Sun, they are known as Solar Energetic particles (SEPs)..

If you would like to get added to the science team meeting listserv, please email [email protected].
 

I-ALiRT

IMAP enhances critical real-A measure of the flow of events. The conditions and activity observed in interplanetary space caused by the Sun’s activity, such as solar flares, solar storms, and coronal mass ejections (CMEs). Severe space weather conditions directed towards Earth can impact infrastructure and technology on Earth, as well as satellites, spacecraft, and astronauts in its trajectory. data through its IMAP Active Link for Real-Time (The IMAP Active Link for Reat-Time (I-ALiRT) system provides a high-cadence stream of near-real time space weather data from the HIT, CoDICE, SWAPI, SWE, and MAG instruments to scientists on Earth via a network of antenna partners located around the globe, including the DSN. This enhanced data stream will assist in improving overall reliability and timing of Earthbound space weather predictions, providing data to forecasters in time for users to take protective action.) system. A stream of charged particles, mostly protons and electrons, that escapes into the Sun's outer atmosphere at high speeds and streams out into the solar system in all directions. parameters from the MAG, SWAPI, and SWE instruments and energetic particle intensity data from the HIT and CoDICE instruments, are always transmitted at a high cadence rate, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. During the regular IMAP contacts through the NASA Deep Space Network (DSN), the I-ALiRT data is sent as part of the overall data. When IMAP is not communicating with the DSN, the I-ALiRT data is picked up by an international network of ground antennas. All the I-ALiRT data is forwarded to the IMAP Science Data Center at the University of Colorado, Boulder where it is made available to the public. This near-real-time data stream from L1 helps boost understanding of the science of space weather and improve forecasting reliability, as well as provide more precise timing for users to take protective action. Along with other data, they also allow identification of what types of solar wind are arriving at Earth, including slow solar wind and coronal A measure of an object's resistance to change in its motion (inertial mass); a measure of the strength of gravitational force an object can produce (gravitational mass). ejections (CMEs).

 

Open Science

NASA's Transform to Open Science (TOPS) initiative is designed to transform agencies, organizations, and communities to an inclusive culture of open science. Its first priority is to develop the infrastructure to train scientists and researchers.
 

Science Data Center 

  • GitHub - IMAP Science Operations Center (SOC): This GitHub organization contains repositories used to support the IMAP Science Operations Center (SOC).
  • IMAP Processing Documentation: This website provides an overview of the routines within the imap_processing package. The package is organized by instrument, meaning each instrument is its own module and has submodules for each processing step.
  • GitHub - IMAP Processing: This repository serves as a centralized hub for collaboration among researchers, scientists, and developers involved in the project providing a platform for version control, code sharing, issue tracking, and documentation.

 

The Combined Access and Vizualization Analysis system is a custom-designed mission-level tool that combines and provides access to all IMAP datasets to the IMAP team to visualize and analyze data in a graphical environment. Data System

The Combined Access Visualization and Analysis (CAVA) data system is a mission-level tool for the entire IMAP team which combines and provides access to all IMAP datasets to visualize and analyze in a graphical environment.

 

Science Operations Center (SOC)

The IMAP SOC, located at the Laboratory for Atmospheric and Space Physics (LASP), is responsible for all aspects of instrument operations, including planning, commanding, heath and status monitoring, anomaly response, and sustaining engineering for the instruments. The SOC also handles science data processing (including data calibration, validation, and preliminary analysis), The number of specified items or components found in a defined space., archiving, and maintaining the IMAP data management plan.

 

Mission Operations Center (MOC)

The IMAP MOC, located at Johns Hopkins APL in Laurel, MD, is the command center for mission operations for the IMAP spacecraft. The MOC performs operations that span the whole mission such as implementing requirements from the science team, engineering needs that ensures the spacecraft is safe and healthy and navigation operations, including verifying and uplinking commands to ensure the spacecraft performs its mission.