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Sunlight is essential for life on Earth, and photosynthesis has created our oxygen-rich atmosphere. The variations of day and night and of the seasons drive climate systems, weather, and the water cycle.
Norwegian scientists have achieved international acclaim for their research on the Sun and on near Earth space.
The high latitude of the country is ideal for observing near Earth space and the ways in which the solar wind interacts with the Earth’s magnetic field to create spectacular phenomena such as the Aurora. The closeness of these phenomena has created interest and triggered research. Northern Norway and Svalbard have the world’s most impressive array of installations for studies of near Earth space.
At Andøya, scientific rockets are launched and the international ALOMAR facility uses lidars (acronym for Light Detection and Ranging) to study the middle and upper atmosphere. At Tromsø and on Svalbard, EISCAT radars probe the nature of the magnetosphere.
Norwegian solar scientists are active in several international space projects and are deeply involved in the ongoing ESA-NASA SOHO project, which will continue to 2007. In 2006, Solar B will be launched in a Japanese project with Norwegian participation. More than half of the Solar B data will be downloaded via a ground station on Svalbard and processed at a European data centre at the University of Oslo.
Scientists at the Norwegian Defence Research Establishment and the universities of Oslo, Bergen and Tromsø are taking part in nearly 20 experiments on board spacecraft, to measure particle currents, electric fields, X-Ray radiation and dust. Most of the spacecraft are in orbits around the Earth, save for Cassini, which is on its way to the Saturn system. Four Cluster satellites are flying in formation around the Earth to provide a three-dimensional map of the magnetosphere, and the Polar satellite is imaging auroral emissions in ultraviolet light, visible light and X-Rays.
