Archiving and Enhancing the DMSP Special Sensor Data

After more than five decades of continuous observations, the Defense Meteorological Satellite Program (DMSP) has perhaps the richest legacy of any space-based earth observing system. Since the introduction of space environment sensors in 1976 it has served as a staple data source for the heliophysical community. Currently, three satellites (DMSP F16, F17, and F18) remain in service and the data are more relevant than ever before, augmented by results from other missions and numerous ground-based sensors. In this work, we perform a continual archiving of the DMSP observation data from the special sensor suite (SSIES, SSJ5, and SSM) on the distributed Madrigal system, allowing the processed DMSP data to reach a wider scientific user community. In addition, we are also working towards providing additional, value-added tools and products based on the DMSP special sensor suite data. Further, we utilize the available time and the DMSP observation data for a number of scientific investigations in order to advance DMSPs role in understanding our geospace environment. These investigations include an event analysis of the Port Beirut explosion that occurred on 4 August 2020, an analysis of ionospheric response to the annular solar eclipse on 26 December 2019 over Southeast Asia, an analysis of disturbances originating from the 15 January 2022 Tonga volcano eruption, a numerical study of Shannon information content as a quantitative global measure of perturbed ionospheric state, and an investigation of increased ionospheric fluctuations during the summer 2021 North American heat wave event. The multi-instrument analysis of the 4 August2020 Beirut explosion and the 15 January 2022 Tonga eruption demonstrate the use of DMSP observation in combination with ground-based ionosondes as a powerful combination.