OASIS, Observatory for Atmosphere Space Interaction Studies

OASIS is an initiative to develop an observatory that will substantially advance our understanding of the fundamental, universal processes that occur in the Earth's space-atmosphere-interaction region (~ 50 km and above) and how they shape the atmospheres of Earth-like planets. The initiative addresses three basic questions, including 1) What are the fundamental processes that shape the Earth's upper atmosphere and govern it's evolution, 2) How do these processes affect weather and climate, and 3) What roles do they play on other planets. Three key problems, plasma-neutral coupling, wave and turbulence transport, and cosmic dust influx, will be discussed as well as the methodology which includes collocated Large Aperture LIDAR and ISR.