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Intense summer school program studied the Earth’s ionosphere

A 10-day NSF-funded summer school at the ���ϳԹ��� last month spanned three geographic locations — Fairbanks, Valdez and Gakona — and supported over 50 students, faculty and researchers from across the United States.

The 2025 Polar Aeronomy and Radio Science Summer School participants represented 18 academic institutions, federal agencies, national laboratories and the Department of Defense. The program was sponsored by the Subauroral Geophysical Observatory, or SAGO, in Gakona, Alaska, part of the UAF Geophysical Institute. SAGO is home of the High-frequency Active Auroral Research Program, one of the instruments at the facility. This was the third year PARS has been organized by the GI.

“We ran 72 distinct experiments over four days, executing over 22 hours of active research time with synergetic ground- and space-based instruments collecting data,” HAARP Director Jessica Matthews said.

The last experiments took place Aug. 14.

“This had such a big reach, with a lot of science being done in a short time. It was impressive,” said UAF Vice Chancellor for Research Laura Conner following the conclusion of the summer school.

The intense program using the HAARP instrument included several experiments designed to create field-aligned irregularities — 3D ripples — in the ionospheric plasma in Earth's atmosphere. The experiments were designed to measure the impact of those irregularities on radar returns and on satellite signals passing through them. These tests can lead to an understanding of how, when and where satellite signals are likely to be disturbed by the natural ionosphere.

Other experiments investigated different ways to perturb a localized region of the lower ionosphere to generate very low frequency and extremely low frequency — or VLF and ELF — waves. A more thorough understanding of how HAARP can generate these waves may increase understanding of space ���ϳԹ��� and provide tools to help remediate extreme space ���ϳԹ��� effects. The VLF/ELF waves can also penetrate deep into the ocean or ground, making them useful for submarine communication and geophysical exploration.

For many attendees, PARS 2025 was a transformative educational experience. One participant, a first-generation college student who is also the first in her family to graduate from high school, is now pursuing a Ph.D. Her participation in the program not only deepened her academic interests but also made a profound and lasting impact on her research trajectory.

For many returning participants, this year’s program marked a continuation of multi-year research efforts. Several teams were involved in the deployment of scientific instruments across Interior Alaska, a process that required the students to engage in substantial logistical coordination, including site selection, securing permissions on private lands and extensive field travel.

Much of the data collected from these deployments will be made available to all PARS participants.

“Through these shared efforts and discoveries, we continue to deepen our understanding of how the upper atmosphere influences critical aspects of our lives — particularly through impacts on satellite transmissions that support our daily communication, including GPS as well as national security and defense systems," Matthews said. “This ongoing exploration of Earth’s atmosphere enhances our knowledge of where we are, what surrounds us and how interconnected our environment truly is.”