1. INTRODUCTION

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. Additional radars may be added to the network in the future which will lead to expansions of Appendices 1 and 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 institutional responsibilities identified in this document have been made under the assumption that they would be adequately supported by the respective funding agencies.

2. CATEGORIES OF PARTICIPATION

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:

3. MANAGEMENT

3.1 Executive Council

SuperDARN is managed by an Executive Council consisting of the Principal Investigators. The Council shall elect its chairman from its membership. The Council is the final arbiter on all matters to do with SuperDARN and operates on the basis of consensus.

All Principal Investigators are signatories of this document. As additional radars are developed, the Council may by consensus elect additional Principal Investigators. The newly elected PIs 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 SuperDARN workshops. At other times, it will operate through E-mail. PIs may be represented by alternates at meetings if they are unable to attend.

4. SUPERDARN OPERATIONS

Three categories of SuperDARN operations have been defined. Each category has associated data rights and availability which are described in subsequent sections.

4.1 Categories of Operation

(i) SuperDARN Common Program

SuperDARN Common Programs are well-defined, coordinated, data-acquisition programs that are concurrently used by all SuperDARN radars. The initial Common Program is defined in Appendix 3. Modifications to this program or additional Common Programs must be approved by the Executive Council.

(ii) SuperDARN Special Program

SuperDARN Special Programs are coordinated data acquisition programs in which some or all of the SuperDARN radars use special sounding modes. While the mode of operation of each radar may be different, the purpose of a Special Program is to use the complete network of radars for a coordinated scientific experiment. SuperDARN Special Programs must be approved by the Executive Council.

(iii) Discretionary Time

Discretionary Time is that portion of the SuperDARN operating schedule which is devoted to specific research goals of individual PIs or sub-groups thereof. During this time each radar (or sub-group of radars) may be operated independently of the others according to the requirements of individual PIs.

4.2 Division of Operating Time

The Executive Council agrees to divide the monthly operational time of the radars in the following proportions:

Changes in the proportionment of operational time require consensus of the Executive Council.

4.3 Scheduling

The SuperDARN radar operating schedule is prepared in monthly blocks with the allocation between Common Programs, Special Programs, and Discretionary Time being divided into 24 hour UT intervals. Once the monthly allocation has been scheduled, it will apply for all radars. Unused allocations for Special Programs or Discretionary Time in a given month revert to Common Program intervals. Unused monthly allocations do not accumulate over monthly boundaries.

If individual PIs or subgroups of PIs choose to operate Common Program or Special Program modes during Discretionary intervals, the resulting data is flagged as Discretionary Time data. Access to this data will follow the same rules as access to Discretionary 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 4. Each PI may nominate one member for the Scheduling Working Group, but may not serve on it personally.

Each PI agrees to respond to reasonable requests for Discretionary Time from other SuperDARN PIs.

4.4 Maintenance of Operations

Within limitations imposed by climatic conditions and available financial resources, all PIs agree to maintain continuous operation of their respective radars. Where possible, radar down time due to maintenance or upgrade will be scheduled during Discretionary Time intervals.

The PIs also agree to maintain the SuperDARN operational software in a state that yields compatible data sets during SuperDARN Common and Special Programs.

5. DATA FUSION, EXCHANGE AND USAGE

5.1 Data Fusion and Exchange

PIs for the northern hemisphere SuperDARN radars agree to send their complete data sets to the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory (APL) as soon as possible after collection. There, the data are combined onto two distinct types of Multiple Radar (MR) exabyte tapes. Tapes containing autocorrelation functions of the backscattered signals are designated as DAT tapes. Tapes containing fitted parameters extracted from the autocorrelation functions are designated as FIT tapes. The FIT tape will also contain a Summary File of fitted parameters for each day of operations contained on the tape. These Summary Files will contain data from both northern and southern hemisphere SuperDARN radars. Each MR tape contains a directory defining the Category of Operation for each file. The MR tapes are sent to the University of Saskatchewan (USAS) where they are copied, dated and distributed to institutions agreed upon by the Executive Council.

PIs are responsible for distributing SuperDARN data to their respective Co-Investigators, Collaborators, and interested Participating Country Investigators. They are also responsible for reimbursing USAS for their tape costs or for replacement of the exabyte tapes that were used in the MR tape production.

All SuperDARN data from isolated southern hemisphere locations will be copied onto exabyte tapes as soon as the data are returned. The tape production, copying, and distribution will be organized by the responsible PIs. These tapes will be readable by standard SuperDARN software, but need not be in the form of MR tapes. They will be distributed to all institutions agreed upon by the Executive Council. Tape costs will be reimbursed or replacement tapes will be provided as done for the northern hemisphere data.

PIs will distribute southern hemisphere data to their associated Co-Investigators, Collaborators, and Participating Country Investigators.

5.2 Data Usage

Usage of both the northern and southern hemisphere SuperDARN data is subject to the same restrictions. Any PI may follow a less restrictive policy for the distribution and usage of his own data. He may not allow less restrictive use of the data of another PI unless receiving explicit permission to do so.

All Common Program data on the MR tapes are immediately available for use by PIs, Co-Is, Collaborators, and interested scientists in participating SuperDARN countries. Other interested individuals may obtain access to SuperDARN data through direct requests to those PIs whose data they intend to use. Two years after the distribution date of the MR tapes, SuperDARN Common Program data may be freely used by scientists from non-participating countries. Distribution of this data may be limited by available resources and will be provided only in response to reasonable specific requests.

All Special Program data on the MR tapes are for the exclusive use of SuperDARN PI's, Co-Is and special-program-specific Collaborators for a period of two years following the distribution date of the DAT and FIT tapes. Other individuals interested in the use of this data prior to the end of the two year period must obtain permission from the Executive Council. After two years, nonrestrictive usage is extended to all Collaborators and interested scientists in participating SuperDARN countries. After four years, nonrestrictive usage is extended to scientists from non-participating countries. Distribution of this data may be limited by available resources and will be provided only in response to reasonable specific requests.

PI's have exclusive rights to their own Discretionary Time data for four years following the distribution date of the DAT and FIT tapes on which these data reside. Use of Discretionary Time data within this time interval by any individual, including other PIs, requires permission of the PI responsible for the specific Discretionary Time data. After four years, unrestricted usage is extended to all scientists. Distribution of these data may be limited by available resources and will be provided only in response to reasonable specific requests.

5.3 Data Center Distribution

The PIs agree to provide the SuperDARN Key Parameters (as identified in Appendix 5) to the Central Data Handling Facility for the NASA Global Geospace Science mission. All PIs will receive CD-Roms containing Key Parameters from the GGS satellites and ground-based experiments. Usage of the CD-Rom data is guided by the GGS Rules of the Road.

The PIs agree to participate in Event Studies associated with the GGS mission and to provide such data as is appropriate for their participation.

The PIs agree to provide appropriate data sets to other satellite missions for which equitable data exchange and usage have been negotiated.

The PIs agree to provide data for periods of special interest to national data centers. However, they expect to have the option of participating in any studies associated with the analysis of this data.

6. COMMUNICATION AND RESEARCH COLLABORATIONS

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 PIs agree to encourage general usage of the SuperDARN data set, particularly by scientists in the PIs' home countries.

The PIs agree to circulate summaries of the research activities of their Co-Is, their Collaborators every and themselves every three months. These summaries list data period, topic, radar(s), research leader, participants, and current status. Other PIs have the right to request participation for themselves or their designates in newly started research activities. It is expected that such requests will contain a statement as to the type of contribution that will be made. The lead PI retains the right to accept or reject additional collaborators or to drop collaborators if they fail to fulfill their research obligations.

The PIs agree to circulate lists of data files that have been provided to Participating Country Investigators. These lists contain the name of the recipient, the intended research use and status (if known), and the radar(s) that will be used in the study. Participating Country Investigators using data of foreign PIs are encouraged to include those PIs or their designates in their research collaborations.

The PIs agree to monitor and minimize the conflicting application of a data set used by a student in working towards a higher degree.

The PIs waive the right to be co-authors on SuperDARN papers except where they have made a significant scientific contribution. However all papers containing SuperDARN data must contain a standard form of acknowledgement agreed upon by the Executive Council.

7. INTERCHANGE OF TECHNICAL INFORMATION

The PIs agree to share freely amongst themselves all technical information on radar system performance, signal processing techniques, radar-control software and analysis software that will lead to improved performance of the SuperDARN radars.

Leicester University will maintain an archive of control software and analysis software for the SuperDARN radars. All SuperDARN participants are encouraged to submit documented copies of useful software to the Leicester Archive.

8. LIMITATIONS AND DURATION OF AGREEMENT

This agreement supercedes certain aspects of the pre-existing agreements listed in Appendix 6. It does not abrogate those agreements in areas not covered by this document. Future agreements should be made consistent with this document unless waivered by consensus of the PIs.

This agreement is bound by national and international laws concerning access to scientific data.

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, PI(s) 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.

Program Planning

Notes:

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.

2. PIs will have 1 week to approve schedule.

3. Schedule will be sent by E-mail to whole superDARN community. It will also be available on the WWW.

Implementation of the schedule

• Each PI is responsible for the implementaion of the schedule on the radars under his control.

• For SuperDARN Special Programs or programs run on other radars during Discretionary Time, it is the responsibility of the proposing individual to develop the program(s) and make them available in the Leicester Software Depository.

• An experimenter must validate a program on his home radar, before distributing it for operation at other sites.

• PIs should attempt to validate new Special Programs on their own radars at appropriate periods in the month prior to the intended scheduled operation.

• The first month of scheduled SuperDARN operations will commence August 1995.

The SuperDARN Key Parameters as defined for the NASA GGS mission are latitudinal profiles of the plasma convection velocity in the ionosphere as derived from single radar azimuth scan data using the SuperDARN operational algorithm VLPLT. The procedure utilized in VLPLT is described in Ruohoniemi et al. [1989]. The temporal resolution of the Key Parameter data is determined by the scan time of the radars and the spatial coverage is determined by the radar operating parameters. The algorithm VLPLT operates continuously extracting Key Parameters whenever they are available. Key Parameter files are extracted from the radars on a daily basis and transmitted to the GGS CDHF directly or via JHU/APL. Timely submission of Key Parameters is essential as they are included on CD-Roms containing Key Parameters from the full set of GGS satellites and ground-based instrumentation.

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 (Leicester University, Finnish Meterological Institute, Swedish Institute for Space Physics)