The CHAMOS studies entered a new area on 31st of January, 2008, when three photometers, funded jointly by SGO and MISU, Stockholm were launched into a weakening stable auroral arc onboard the sounding rocket HotPay II. European Union funded the rocket, integration of instruments and the launch as a European Research Infrastructure project, whereas the participating institutes funded their instruments. The three NEMI (Night Time Emissions from Mesosphere and Ionosphere) photometers measured successfully emissions in the wavelengths 391 nm, 500 nm and 762 nm. A major target of the forth-coming data analysis will be to use the NEMI photometer data, emission from electronically excited NO2 produced by the association of NO and O above 70 km, as an in-situ measurement of NO produced by aurora. Analysis using the SIC model will be assisted by data from a Faraday experiment which provides an accurate electron density measurement.

The scientific instruments onboard HotPay II fall into three different categories: One group studies phenomenona in the upper mesosphere and lower thermosphere, MLT, then there were instruments for auroral science, and the last category was for cosmic ray flux. Seven of the nine different instruments worked as planned. Unfortunately the Na-photometers and a dust detector failed at the ignition of the second phase of the rocket and at the nose cone release.

link to NEMI:

http://www.sgo.fi/Projects/NEMI/

link to HotPay II:

http://www.rocketrange.no/news/hotpay2-launched