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Armenia's Cosmic Ray Division Armenia’s Cosmic Ray Division (CRD) is among the world’s top 5 scientific organizations in the fields of High Energy Astrophysics, Solar Physics, and Multivariate Statistical Analyses. CRD's Aragats Space Environmental Center (ASEC) is the one of the world's foremost ground based Space Weather Forecasting research organizations. In this area of excellence Armenia joins the United States, Germany, Japan, and Russia. Following is an introduction to the CRD and a sample of CRD’s accomplishments during the past 12 months. The support of the diaspora was crucial in allowing the CRD to make these impressive advancements: CRD
Infrastructure CRD provides uninterrupted year-round operation of its two high altitude research stations on Mt. Aragats (Nor Ambert station at 2000m and the Aragats station near the summit at 3200 m) despite severe winter conditions. Data gathered from several cosmic ray monitoring systems at these stations is transferred to the CRD headquarters in Yerevan via wireless modems. The data is analyzed and posted on the CRD web site http://crdlx5.yerphi.am every 5 minutes for use by international partners. CRD
Personnel Approximately 80 scientists, technicians, and support personnel are employed by the CRD. The head of CRD, Prof. Ashot Chilingarian, is a visionary scientist who is determined to conduct world class science in Armenia. Additionally he teaches Physics at Yerevan State University. Five of his students conduct their thesis research at CRD facilities. International Scientific Partnerships
cover half of CRD’s needed Budget 2019 Encouraging Young Scientists CRD physicist Hripsime Mkrtchyan while still working on her PhD, together with other students at CRD and from Yerevan State University, the Yerevan Pedagogical University, and the Yerevan Physics Institute organized “Young Minds Project” chapters in Armenia and Artsakh. The Young Minds Project was established by the EPS to organize young undergraduate to post-doctoral scientists to promote science education among youth. Yerevan’s branch visited science classes at over 15 high schools in Armenia and Artsakh where they delivered science kits and performed experiments with the students. The EPS cited the Armenian Young Minds group in Artsakh and Yerevan with the “2019 Best Activity of the Young Minds Project” prize.. Environmental Research funded in 2018 In 2018 CRD received an Armenian government research grant for the project “Environmental research; cosmic rays; space weather; atmosphere electricity; lightning initiation; dangerous consequences of storms”, although another applied project, “Comprehensive monitoring and prediction of potentially dangerous processes in the magnetosphere and atmosphere of the Earth”, remained unfunded. This loss unfortunately reduces the possibility of collecting necessary information on radiation hazards in Armenia. All equipment will be produced by the CRD and will partly be funded with the support of the Armenian diaspora in US. Read more...Armenian Geophysical Network (AGN) Established in 2017 One of the most important CRD achievements in 2017 was the launching of the Armenian Geophysical Network (AGN) for measuring and analysis of tens of important environmental parameters for global change research and natural disaster forecasting. AGN sites are operating on the slopes of Mt. Aragats at heights of 2000 and 3200 m; in Yerevan, on the shore of lake Sevan, in Dilijan at the International High School, and at Shushi University. In 2017 the Aragats high-altitude research station in Armenia operated continuously providing data on more than 100 Thunderstorm Ground enhancements (TGEs). For the first time CRD prepared a catalog of TGE events now under review in Scientific Reports of Nature. The publication was prepared with the active participation of YerPhI master students. In 2017 CRD experts installed another SEVAN module in Czech Republic enlarging European network to 4 stations. Read more...2016 Lectures In March 2016 a foreign member of NAS RA (National Academy of Sciences, Republic of Armenia) and former employee of National Lab Prof. Alexander Khodjamirian from Siegen University, Germany was invited to give a series of lectures at the national lab. His introductory level lectures covered the modern theory of elementary particles, the two most recent discoveries at Large Hadron Collider, the basics of Quantum Electrodynamics, and the role of hadronic effects in electroweak phenomena. In May Professor Jean Lilensten, research director at the Institut de Planétologie et d'Astrophysique de Grenoble (France) was invited to deliver lectures to YerPhI master students. Read more...2015 TEPA Conference: The problem of how lightning is initiated inside thunderclouds is one of the biggest mysteries in atmospheric sciences. One of the most intriguing opportunities opened by the observation of the high-energy processes in the atmosphere (so- called Thunderstorm ground enhancements – TGEs) is their relation to lightning initiation. Lightning and TGEs are alternative mechanisms for atmospheric discharges and synchronized observation of both phenomena helps to understand both. To discuss these high-energy phenomena, the conference on Thunderstorms and Elementary Particle Acceleration (TEPA) was held at the Nor Amberd International Conference Center of the Yerevan Physics Institute (YerPhI) in Armenia. The Cosmic Ray Division of YerPhI and Skobeltsyn Institute of Nuclear Physics of Moscow State University organized the workshop; YerPhI and the Armenian State Committee of Science sponsored it. The presentation slides and discussion videos are available on the conference website, http://crd.yerphi.am/Conferences/tepa2015/home. Three CRD researchers represented CRD at international forums in 2014 Levon Vanyan, Tigran Karapetyan, and PhD candidate Hripsime Mkrtchyan participated in international meetings at the European Geosciences Union (EGU) presenting and discussing CRD’s research results. From 27th of April through 02 of May, in Vienna, Austria, Levon Vanyan participated in the European Geosciences Union (EGU) General Assembly. Vanyan’s presentation was titled “The Origin of Thunderstorm Ground Enhancements (TGEs): Energy Spectra Analysis”. Tigran Karapetyan traveled to Sozopol, Bulgaria to take part in the Solar Influences on the Magnetosphere, Ionosphere and Atmosphere conference held from May 26 to 30 where he presented a report on the significant enhancement of cosmic ray fluxes in our galaxy due to the enormous weakening of solar activity since 2006. This enhancement poses additional hazards to the satellite electronics. At the Thunderstorm Effects on the Atmosphere- Ionosphere System (TEA-IS) summer school in Colliure, France, from June 23 to June 27, CRD's PhD student Hripsime Mkrtchyan reported on lightning detection networks operating in Armenia and their relation to Thunderstorm Ground Enhancements. Recently a node of the Worldwide Lightning Location Network (WWLLN) was established in Yerevan to further explore this phenomenon. All 3 of the young CRD scientists have received financial support from the conference organizers to assure their attendance, confirming the international appreciation for the work done at CRD in Armenia. Read more...March 2014 - Armenia Joins the Word-wide Lightening Location Network CRD joined the World Wide Lightning Location Network (WWLLN), which is managed by the Department of Earth and Space Sciences at the University of Washington in Seattle, Washington. The Armenian stations fill a crucial void as there are no other stations for thousands of kilometers to the east or west; the nearest station to the southwest being in Tel-Aviv. November 2013 – Armenian scientific papers sited more times per paper than
papers from any other Country. According to the World List of Best in Publishing and Citations, Armenia
ranks number 64th for number of published papers in 2012, with 1058 papers in
international refereed journals. USA is number one with 537,308 papers. Scientific Journal need expert editors who are able to ascertain the quality of the scientific work expressed in the articles submitted to the journal. Each article is independently reviewed by at least two expert reviewers after which the editorial staff must make a decision whether to print the article or not based on the recommendations of the reviewers and their own assessment. The editorial staff has the final say. It is a great achievement to be invited to serve on such a prestigious board. September 2013 – (TEPA – 2013) Successful Conference in Armenia The Terrestrial Elementary Particle Acceleration (TEPA-2013) attracted scientists from around the word to CRD’s Nor Ambert research station and conference center. Representatives from NASA, the European Space Agency, the Japan Atomic Commission, the Max Plan Institute in Germany,and universities from USA, Russia and around the world went to Armenia to present their work and to hear about others’ work on the subject. CRD young scientists had the opportunity to rub shoulders with the giants as well as forge friendships with other young scientists from around the world with whom they will be exchanging information for decades to come. June 2013 - CRD Student Milestones Two CRD students completed their Masters Degree in Physics at the Yerevan State University and are now applying for the PhD program at the Cosmic Ray Division at YerPhI. One student completed his Bachelors degree in Mathematics and Computer Science at the Yerevan State University and will be working at CRD full time and one student intern from University of Notre Dame in Indiana, USA spent the summer at the CRD learning about Thunderstorm Ground Enhancements - a new area of physics where CRD leads the world. Look for the press release coming soon. March 2012 - APS announcement about Prof. Ashot Chilingarian's election as an APS Fellow. American Physical Society Forum on International Physics - Spring 2012 Newsletter
February 2012 - The International Space Weather Initiative Report to the UN includes Armenia as a Leader.
“The International Space Weather Initiative (ISWI) currently has 15 instrument array projects in deployment or under development. These are located in 101 countries and coordinated by scientists from Armenia, France, Japan, Switzerland and the United States.”, states the ISWI steering committee’s report to the United Nations Committee on the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space Forty-ninth session held in Vienna, Austria on February 6 – 17, 2012. Professor Ashot Chilingarian (director of Yerevan Physics Institute and head of its Cosmic Ray Division) is one of the 17 elite international scientists from around the world that comprise the International Space Weather Initiative Committee. The ISWI committee held its annual meeting in Vienna during this time on February 14 and 15 to prepare the report for the UN session, to review progress and discuss future plans.
February 2012 - The International Scientific Committee on Solar Terrestrial Physics Invitation to Armenia.
“Armenia has been very active in the Solar Terestrial Physics research area with lots of young researches active and making their presence known with excellent publications. Armenian scientists have also been contributing enormously to the physics of the Sun- Earth system by creating observing facilities and data analysis tools, and are recognized internationally. For this reason, I invite Armenia to become an official member of the Scientific Committee on Solar Terrestrial Physics (SCOSTEP)”. Says Nat Gopalswamy, the president of SCOSTEP, an interdisciplinary body of the International Council for Science (ICSU), in a letter to Dr. Samvel Harutyunyan, the chairman of the Armenian State Committee of Science. December 2011, PROF CHILINGARIAN WAS ELECTED AMERICAN PHYSICAL SOCIETY FELLOW. Prof. Ashot Chilingarian, the director of Yerevan Physics Institute and the head of its cosmic ray division is named and APS fellow this this year. The APS announcement reads as follows: "Ashot Chilingarian, Yerevan Physics Insitute: For bringing one of the world's largest facilities for monitoring different species of secondary cosmic rays located in Armenia to the International Space Weather initiative as a global warning system from violent space events. Nominated by: Forum on International Physics" Congratulations to Prof. Chilingarian! December 2011, Prof. Chilingarian Invited to Report on the Research on Aragats at the Annual American Geophysical Union Conference in San Francisco. Dr. Bagrad Mailyan also to Present His Work.
March 2011, The 24-th Solar Activity Cycle Produced the First Violent Blast. Aragats and SEVAN Monitors Took Excellent Data. September 2010, the Thunderstorms and Elementary Particle Acceleration (TEPA-2010) conference was held from September 6 through 11, 2010 in the Nor Amberd international conference centre of Artem Alikhanyan National Laboratory (AANL), formerly known as Yerevan Physics Institute, in Armenia. The conference was organized by the Cosmic Ray Division (CRD) of AANL, Armenia and Skobeltsyn Institute of Nuclear Physics of Moscow State University, Russian Federation. The conference was sponsored by AANL, the international Committee On Space Research (COSPAR) and the Armenian State Science Committee. Forty scientists and students from USA, UK, Germany, Mexico, Russia and Armenia attended the conference September 2009, CRD Delegation at the Balkan, Black and Caspian Sea Regional conference on Heliophysical Phenomena and the Earth Environment.
December 2008, SEVAN Detectors Deployed in Bulgaria and Croatia Construction of the SEVAN (Space
Environmental Viewing and Analysis Network) network has started within the
framework of the International Heliophysical Year and United Nations Basic Space Science (UNBSS) program
focusing on deployment of arrays of small inexpensive instruments around the
world. The Cosmic Ray Division of the Alikhanyan Physics Institute donates
scintillators, photomultipliers and Data Acquisition electronics to donor
countries. The first four SEVAN modules operated at Aragats Space Environmental
Center in Armenia, at altitudes 1000, 17000, 2000 and 3200 m in Yerevan and
on the slopes of mountain. Aragats. Installation of the first SEVAN detector
abroad was performed by the group of CRD experts in December 2008 in These units will be deployed at the universities and research centers of developing countries to perform survey and monitoring of the most dangerous space storms and to involve new generations of students and scientists in space research. A further step towards creating world-wide network will be the development of databases and on-line data flow from remote detectors for mutual analysis and issuing alerts and forecasting on upcoming space storms. The potential recipients of particle detectors in this new initiative are Croatia, Slovakia, Costa Rica, Bulgaria, Indonesia, and India. When fully deployed the SEVAN network will provide reliable monitoring of the Sun by at least one detector 24 hours and by two detectors 18 hours every day. September 2008, International Workshop “Forecasting of
Radiation and Geomagnetic Storms by Networks of Particle Detectors” Held in
Armenia From September 29 to October 3 the Cosmic Ray Division (CRD)
of the Alikhanyan Physics Institute hosted the International Astroparticle
Physics Symposium “Forecasting of the Radiation and Geomagnetic Storms by
Networks of Particle Detectors (FORGES-2008)” at CRD’s International
Conference Center, Nor Amberd, Armenia.
The focus of the Symposium was pointed on the Space Weather drivers
and on possibilities of the networks of particle detectors measuring changing
fluxes of neutral and charged particles to forewarn on upcoming severe
radiation and geomagnetic storms. Radiation and geomagnetic storms can interfere
with electronic systems on earth and damage satellites in space. Thus
forecasting such events is extremely important. The conference lasted a week. Approximately 40 scientists
and students from Germany, Italy, Great Britain, Croatia, Greece, Ukraine,
Russia, USA, Costa-Rica and Armenia attended the symposium. The conference
met for six hours on each of the conference days, split into morning and
afternoon sessions, with free time between the sessions for ongoing
individual exchanges or outdoor activities. The core activities of the conference were based on lectures by invited scientists, followed by 15 minute discussion periods. Participants listened to 8 invited lectures and 25 original Papers. September 9-12 2008, Participation of the CRD delegation in the
European Cosmic Ray Symposium The 21st ECRS - European Cosmic Ray Symposium was held at the Technical University of Košice, Slovakia, September 9-12, 2008. Approximately 150 scientists from 20 European countries presented 76 and 120 poster presentations. The Armenian delegation (A.Chilingarian and G.Hovsepyan), as usual, participated in the European projects meetings, and at INTAS 8777 project meeting they reported on new electronics commissioning for the large Aragats Multichannel Muon Monitor (AMMM) and calculations of the most probable primary proton energies for the Aragats particle detectors. Meetings were also held with the Bulgarian and Croatian delegations concerning the installation of SEVAN particle detectors. Both groups already prepare PM and scintillator housings. It was settled that the Armenian experts would finalize the detector assembly in late autumn or winter 2008. August 29- 30, 2008, CRD-
GIAN- DAAD Symposium Hosted in Nor- Amberd, Armenia The CRD- GIAN-
DAAD Symposium “Advanced Information Technologies in Collaborations:
Preconditions for Constructing Effective Networks of Researchers and
Facilities” was held at the Nor- Amberd International Conference Center
August 29- 30, 2008. The 2-day seminar hosted 25 participants from Iran, Germany and Armenia. 15 papers were presented during the following 2 sessions: ·
Research and Networking: International
Collaborations and the Challenges of Millenium Development Goals. ·
Special Session Dedicated to Solar Radiation and
Hazard Prevention of the Occasion of International Heliophysical Year. The conference participants were also familiarized with the particle detectors at the Aragats research station. Karen Arakelyan and Gagik Hovsepyan from CRD staff introduced them to ASEC monitors registering charged and neutral fluxes of cosmic rays. July 2008, Armenia at the
37th COSPAR Congress in Canada July
13-23 Montréal hosted the 37th International Scientific Assembly which is
considered as one of the greatest events since COSPAR foundation in 1958. The
COSPAR Scientific Assembly provides the world’s largest interdisciplinary
forum for the exchange of recent results in realm of space research and,
therefore, is a particularly important meeting for members of participating
in the scientific business activities organized in the context of this
congress.
The
Canadian Space Agency (CSA) and National Research Council of Canada
co-sponsored the weeklong gathering of more than 2,500 scientists and
students from 50 countries who presented 1,500 reports in more than 87
sessions covering all topics of Space Research: such as “planetary
protection” and “ jet dynamics in Supernovae explosions”.
Head of the Cosmic Ray Division (CRD), Professor Ashot Chilingarian, participated in COSPAR Congress as Armenia’s official representative to this organization and a member of the Committee’s Council. He plays a crucial role in the Committee’s council, particularly in the area of promoting space research for developing countries. During the COSPAR assembly in Canada, he chaired a session and presented three papers resulting from cosmic ray research in Armenia. June 24, 2008,
Armenia Celebrating the 100 Year Anniversary of Artem Alikhanyan (1908 –
2008) On June 24, 2008, Armenia celebrated the 100 year anniversary of one of its most renowned scientists, Artem Alikhanyan. The Yerevan Physics Institute organized a number of events devoted to this anniversary. On June 24 Alikhanyan’s former friends and colleagues paid tribute to their great teacher laying flowers to his grave and monument. After, in the National Academy of Sciences, a memorial session was held devoted to his centenary anniversary. The same day the opening ceremony of memorial plaque was held at 18 Bagramyan street; former headquarters of YerPhI. The last event organized in honor of Alikhanyan was a scientific session devoted to the Alikhanyan’s scientific activity held in Nor- Amberd Cosmic ray station. A film devoted to the memory of Alikhanyan was shown at the very beginning of the seminar. During the three hour long seminar guests and former colleagues of Alikhanyan presented reports and related memorable events from Alikhanyan’s life. A banquet was prepared for the participants of the seminar at the dining hall of the conference center. September 2008, CRD to Monitor Solar
Radio Signals On September 1 Professor Hartmut Gemmeke from the German Research Center at Karlsruhe gave a seminar at CRD where he proposed installing at CRD new type of antennas to detect radio-bursts from solar flares and CMEs. Seminar followed by assembling the antenna that Hartmut had brought from Germany. Karen Arakelyan, David Pokhsraryan and Gagik Hovsepyan from CRD staff not only installed the hardware, but also registered first spectra of radio frequency intensities in Yerevan region. These first results will be followed by spectra measurements at Nor Amberd and Aragats research stations. After collecting initial data the decision will be made on location and configuration of new antenna network for solar physics and space weather research. The fruitful collaborations between CRD and German physicists continue. June 2008, the Armenian
Delegation at the Workshop on the International Heliophysical Year
2007 and Basic Space Science
As
a part of the outreach activities for the International Heliophysical Year
(IHY) which started in 2007, the United Nations Office for Outer Space
Affairs (UNOOSA) organized a five-day Workshop on the International
Heliophysical Year 2007 and Basic Space Science in Sozopol, Bulgaria, from
2–6 June 2008. Approximately 150 participants from 51 countries
attended the Workshop. The
Armenian delegation to the conference included 5 Cosmic Ray Division (CRD)
employees supported by CRD projects and 2 students of Yerevan State
University, supported by UN and NASA.
The
workshop highlighted front-line research results with a deep impact on the
development of space
sciences and geo sciences and reviewed the achievements of the past three
workshops in the establishment
of low-cost, ground-based, worldwide instrument arrays and coordinated
investigation programs as implemented through IHY 2007. The Armenian delegation delivered 4 oral and 8
poster presentations. All presentations were based on the Aragats Space
Environmental Center (ASEC) data and on the first results from CRD’s SEVAN
particle detector network. September 24-27, 2007, CRD at the Solar Extreme
Events 2007: Fundamental Science and Applied Aspects, Athens, Greece CRD participated in the bi-annual International Symposium “Solar Extreme Events 2007” held in Athens, Greece. The aim of this
International Symposium, similar to that of SEE 2005 held in Nor-Amberd,
Armenia, was to provide a world forum for the discussion of recent
interesting events in the coupled solar-terrestrial system, which attracted
the attention of scientists, engineers and the public. September 2007, Lebedev-CRD International Cosmic Ray
Workshop “ARAGATS-2007"
Held in Nor-Amberd,
Armenia The International Cosmic Ray Workshop
"ARAGATS-2007" organized by the Moscow Lebedev Physical Institute
and the Yerevan Physics Institute was held September 9-13, 2007 in
Nor-Amberd, Armenia. The Workshop focused on the cosmic ray and gamma ray
data collection, analysis and interpretation relevant to the study of the
knee energy region of the primary cosmic ray energy spectrum on data
collected with the GAMMA and MAKET-ANI arrays on Mt. Aragats and other
facilities located on mountain elevations as well as closer to sea level. The numerous close discussions among the several research
groups working in this area served an important ground on the way to
resolving differences between them and aimed at better understanding of the
knee origin. This Workshop was a logical successor to a very successful
Workshop held in Kazakhstan at the Tien-Shan station in August, 2006. March 31 - April 3, 2007,
CRD Hosted Workshop on Particle Networks for Space Weather Research Rainer Hippler from Institut fuer Physik Ernst-Moritz-Arndt-Universitaet Greifswald, Germany Erwin Flueckiger from Bern University, Switzerland Lev Dorman and Lev Pustilnik from Israel Cosmic Ray & Space Weather Center and Emilio Segre Observatory, Israel participated in the workshop. The workshop included: Meeting CRD electronics group members; demonstration of new electronics to be used in the project; discussions; Visit to Yerevan Physics Institute, CRD headquarters, electronics lab, Space education Center. Meeting with CRD students and their short presentations, as well as discussion on the possible participation in FP7 program and on the on-line integration of data from surface and space born facilities. July 23-29,
2006, Participation of the Armenian delegation in COSPAR Congress, China July 16-23, Visit
to Seminar at Key laboratory of Particle Astrophysics of
Institute of High Energy Physics Chinese Academy of Science, Prof. Ashot Chilingarian is the official representative of
Armenia in COSPAR. July 23-29 he participated in the congress organized by
the Council of the Committee on Space Research (COSPAR) touching upon the
most “hot” scientific highlights. On July 15-23 Prof. Chilingarian
participated in COSPAR committee meetings. In the course of numerous discussions, director of Russian Space
Research Institute Lev Zelenij offered Prof. Chilingarian to organize mutual grand of Russian
federation and Armenia for joint research in Space Physics. June 26-30, 2006, Armenian Physicists at the First International Symposium on Space Education, Moscow, Russia On June 26 - 30, 2006, the delegation of Yerevan
Physics Institute: A.Chilingarian, V.Ivanov, V.Babayan, K.Arakelyan,
A.Raymers, represented Armenia’s Cosmic Ray Division at the conference organized by the Physical
Department and Institute of Nuclear Physics of Moscow State University named
“Space Education and University Satellites” (UNIVERSAT- 2006). In the course of the conference, CRD’s project on new type
of particle detectors was declared to be one of the 11 project recommended by
UN for implementation in the framework of the International Heliophysical
Year 2007 (IHY2007). A seminar was held at Lebedev Institute of Russian
Academy of Sciences the aim of which was to give new live to multiyear
cooperation of Armenian and Russian physicists on Mt. Aragats. Dr.
Lebedev suggested creating International Armenian-Russian center for the
Cosmic Ray research (ARCR). The legal possibilities of such center would be
investigated in 2006. March 30-April 1, 2006, Prof. Ashot Chilingarian Participated in the IHY Annual Meeting of the Balkans, Black Sea and Caspian Sea Regional Network on Space Weather. The meeting was hosted by Bogazichi University and TUBITAK National Observatory, Antalya, Turkey. The topic of the report presented by Prof. Chlingarian at the meeting “A Middle-to-Low Latitude Particle Detector Network for Space Weather Research” was directly connected with ISTC A1058 project and was recommended by the UN Outer Space Committee for realization in the framework of its small instrument deployment program of IHY-2007. At a special session organized for the regional group
aimed at preparing a joint project according to the INTAS recent
collaborative call for South-Caucasian republics. March 2006, Armenia to Become the Full Member of the
European COST 724 Action Prof. Ashot Chilingarian represented CRD at the “Developing the scientific basis for monitoring and predicting Space Weather” meeting organized by the COST 724 managerial committee in Antalyа (Turkey) from March 27 to March 30. Armenia has been an associate member of the COST action since 2004. It was the first time that a country representative was invited to participate in the managerial committee meeting. At the meeting the chair of the managerial committee, Jean Lilensten, suggested that Armenia should become the full member of the action in order to actively participate in the creation of the European Space Weather site and to attend managerial committee meetings. It was settled that the financial obligations of Armenia would be clarified by Jean Lilensten in COST Brussels office in April. December 2006, University of Utah Commercialization Office
has announced the patent authored by Prof. Ashot Chilingarian of the Cosmic
Ray Division September 2006, CRD's DVIN appeared as the model project for UN's World Summit on Information Society. The UN World Summit on Information Society website is displaying CRD’s Data Visualization Interactive Network (DVIN) project as its high standard for others to follow. In the first WSIS competition in 2003, DVIN took first in the e-science category, our of 800 projects from 136 countries. As a result, the president of Armenia was asked to make the presentation of the awards to Prof. Chilingarian for Armenia , and the other three finalists from Canada , China , and US. The Award ceremony was in Geneva during the WSIS in the presence of 10,000 participants and many heads of state. In January, 2006, CRD's Space Environment Viewing and Analysis Network (SEVAN), was endorsed by the UN/NASA/ESA (European Space Agency) consortium in preparation for the International Heliophysical Year 2007 (IHY-07). SEVAN is a 9 nation network which will host detectors designed by by CRD. The network data acquisition and analysis methods will be managed by the CRD under the leadership of the Head of the CRD and Principal Investigator of SEVAN, Prof. Ashot Chilingarian. The importance of SEVAN was reinforced at the Committee on Space Research (COSPAR) meeting in China in July 2006. Nat Gopalswamy of NASA and the international coordinator IHY-07 mentioned SEVAN in his own presentation as one of the most important projects of IHY-07. Meanwhile, the chairman of the IHY-07 steering committee, Joseph Davila stated, “Space Weather issues are becoming more and more important and the approach advocated by CRD to deploy new type of particle detectors in near-equator countries is very important”. On September 26-30, 2005, CRD hosted the Solar Extreme Events - 2005 international symposium in Armenia. Over 75 scientists from 11 countries participated in the conference sponsored by the international Commission On Space Research (COSPAR) and the International Science and Technology Center (ISTC). The local organizing committee and the international advisory committee were chaired by Prof. Ashot Chilingarian, head of the CRD. The program included presentations by the participants, discussions about the sources of Space Weather and the detection and early warning of events with catastrophic consequences, and a tour of the extensive cosmic ray research facilities on Mt. Aragats. Several key international organizations list this conference on their calendar as an important conferece to attend, among them: NASA, the European Sapce Agency (ESA), the international Committee on Space Research (COSPAR), and others. Participants of the conference elected to make it a bi-annual event, recommending to meet next time again in Armenai because, in the words of one participant from Switzerland, "There is no better place than Armenia". For more details see http://crdlx5.yerphi.am In June 2005, Prof. Chilingarian represented Armenia in two key regional forums, propelling Armenia’s visibility for its contribution to the Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) and Space Weather Forecasting in the world. At the World Summit Contributory Conference on ICT & Creativity in Vienna, Prof. Chilingarian pressed the importance of the ICT on forecasting and alerting on natural disasters and the need for a focused effort in this direction, in particular sighting his efforts in the field of Space Weather forecasting and alerts. This question will be discussed in more detail at the Solar Extreme Events -05 workshop at CRD’s Nor Amberd research station in September. Participants from the US (Naval Research Laboratory, Stanford U., U. of Delaware), Europe, Japan, and Russia will discuss and draw a conclusion which could be presented to the World Summit on Information Society – 05 in Tunis as the Armenian Declaration. The Vienna Declaration focused on e-learning and multimedia. In Bulgaria, At the Balkan and Black Sea regional planning meeting for the International Heliophysical Year in 2007, Prof. Chilingarian represented Armenia as a leading actor in the region for Space Weather forecasting. With its two high altitude research stations, Nor Amberd at 6,500 ft. and Aragats at 10,500 ft., CRD is a world Leader for ground based space weather research. Space weather is the effect of the Solar activity on terrestrial systems, and thus is a very hot topic of consideration for the year dedicated to Heliophysical research. The workshop in Bulgaria included representatives from Armenia, Azerbaijan, Bulgaria, Croatia, Georgia, Greece, Russia, Turkey, Ukraine and others countries of the region. Armenia is clearly the leader on ground based space weather monitoring in the region. Relying on the expertise of the CRD, setting up a regional network of solar monitoring stations in other countries for 24 hours of alert service, was highlighted in the workshop. The new monitors under development at the CRD can be installed in new locations in Croatia and Bulgaria, and initial discussion along these lines show great promise. In May of 2005 The Cosmic Ray Division (CRD) of the Alikhanian Physics Institute won the All Armenia e-Content Contest in the e-science category. The competition, dedicated to the 1600th anniversary of the creation of the Armenian Alphabet, was appropriately named the Mashtots-1600 contest. Winners of this contest will represent Armenia at the World Summit on Information Society’s (WSIS) competition in Tunis in November, 2005. Because the CRD won the 2003 world competition held in Geneva, the second place winner of the All Armenia contest in the e-science category in 2005 will represent Armenia in Tunis this year. As the winner from the previous WSIS contest, CRD’s head, Prof. Ashot Chilingarian, will likely serve as a judge at the Tunis competition. We wish success to all the Armenian entries to the world contest in Tunis this year. In May 2005, the Science Education for New Civic Engagements and Responsibilities (SENCER) conference, organized by the National Science Foundation (NSF) of the United States, was held at CRD’s Nor Amberd research station on Mt. Aragats. SENCER, a flagship program of the NSF, aims to advance important national educational goals by helping students understand the scientific process and the importance of civic responsibility. Prof. Chilingarian, one of four key speakers, spoke about “Space Weather and Solar Physics – Basic Science Influencing Everyday Life”. Prof. Karen Kashmanian Oates, Vice President of Academic and Student Affairs of Harrisburg University of Science and Technology, was the conference chair. About 30 participants from the Georgian State University, Georgian Medical University, Alikhanyan Physics Institute, Yerevan State University, Yerevan Technical University, as well as the chairman of Armenia’s National Foundation for Science and Advanced Technologies (NFSAT), Dr. Harut Karapetyan, were attendees. The next meeting will be in San Jose, California, in August. Four Armenian scientists will join an international group of colleagues involved in science education reform in order to continue the work started at Nor Amberd. Armenia’s participation is funded through a SENCER-Armenia grant sponsored by the International Center for Science and Technology at the National Science Foundation. In February of 2005 NASA Includes Armenia’s Cosmic Ray Stations on its Observatory List In preparation for the International Heliophysical Year (IHY – 2007), NASA has founded a collaboration of international spacecraft and observatories that conduct solar research. The first step of this collaboration is to display the participating observatories and their internet links on the NASA internet site. The Aragats Space Environmental Center of the Cosmic Ray Division of the Alikhanian Physics Institute in Armenia is number two on the NASA site. To see it please visit http://orpheus.nascom.nasa.gov/~zarro/ihy/ , click on “VIEW Participating Observatories List” and scroll down to the second entry on the “ Spacecraft and Observatory” list. CRD
scientists close the summer of 2004 with an impressive presence at
international conferences CRD's head,
Prof. Ashot Chilingarian and scientists Valeri Babayan, Hamlet Martirosyan,
Vitali Ivanov, and Garegin Hosepian attended one or more of the following
international conferences to present their state of the art research on
galactic cosmic rays and space weather: International Symposium on
Solar Extreme Events of Oct. - Nov. 2003, in Moscow, Commission
On SPAce Research (COSPAR), in Paris, European Cosmic
Ray Symposium (ECRS), in Florence.
CRD
signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the European Sapce
Agency (ESA), in March 2004 CRD and ESA have signed a memorandum of understanding for scientific cooperation in space weather forcasting research. CRD's strong participation in European scientific collaborations will be an important feather in Armenia's hat, when Armenia is considered for joining the EU. CRD is accepted into the European COST
Action 724 in January, 2004, to establish a world-Wide Space Weather Alert
Network (SWAN) CRD's
DVIN wins World Summit on Information Society 2003 award More than 20 CRD
Scientific Articles Accepted for Publication in One very valuable electronic engineer returned to Armenia in 2003, with rich experience from German and Swiss physics laboratories to work at the Cosmic Ray Division, thanks to the Diaspora Support. He is implementing a state-of-the-art microprocessor chip data acquisition system for new CRD detectors. He is also training 4 young scientists in this important skill. In 2003, CRD has designed 2 new, innovative types of sub-atomic particle detectors which can measure key details of cosmic ray particle composition and direction of arrival. The CRD has submitted a proposal to the International Science and Technology Center (an office of the US Department of State) for funding to build the detector prototypes. The U. S. National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Agency's Space Operations Division partners with the CRD on the propoposal to build the protype detecotors - April, 2003 In 2003, CRD has developed new analysis methods which improve Cosmic Ray data interpretation. These methods, developed by a young CRD physicist, Ararat Vartanian, are an extension of the methods first developed by Prof. Chilingarian in the 1980’s and used world wide up to now. The application of the new methods by the CRD to the cosmic ray particles gathered at Mt. Aragats reveal discoveries that are a prelude to the discoveries expected from a large, multibillion-dollar physics machine being constructed at CERN in Europe, expected to produce data in 6 years. Prof. Chilingarian was invited to a NATO sponsored Space Weather Workshop in Greece - March 2003, At the NATO-sponsored Space Weather Workshop in Greece, Prof. Chilingarian presented the research conducted by the CRD. The interest sparked by CRD’s research resulted in a suggestion that the next workshop be held in Armenia in October 2004. Prof. Chilingarian taught at the prestigious CERN School On High Energy Physics - September 2003, This annual two-week schoolis geared for young graduate and post graduate level scientists. It includes students from around the world including two from the CRD, was held in Armenia this year. Membership
in International Scientific Collaborations, COSPAR – October, 2002 CRD is part of several world wide collaborations, such as MAGIC and KASCADE, and several institutions in Russia and Europe. As Armenia’s representative to the international COmmission for SPAce Research (COSPAR) International organization, Prof. Chilingarian, will participate in the COSPAR congress in Huston, Texas in October 2002 to plan future international space science research. German Embassy First Secretary, Speyer and Dr. Knaul of the European Commission toured CRD’s research stations. After a briefing by Prof. Chilingarian on the need for more consistent funding for CRD’s projects and the importance of CRD’s research, the visitors promised to assist in the funding process. As a result, at the end of 2002, the first International Technology and Science grant, for essential repairs to the CRD Aragats Research Stations, was approved. U.S.
Ambassador Ordway visits the CRD Research Stations – September 4, 2002 Ambassador Ordway and four his aides visited the CRD Aragats station near at 3200 m. Prof. Chilingarian demonstrated the CRD capabilities and introduced the CRD projects to the delegation. Ambassador Ordway expressed interest in revisiting the stations before the October snow-fall in order to discuss further how the United States might benefit from the research conducted at the CRD. CRD
Invited to Make the Opening Invited Presentations at ECSR – July 8-12, 2002 Eight CRD scientists represented Armenia's Cosmic Ray Division at the 18-th European Cosmic Ray Symposium in Moscow on July 8-12, 2002. In addition to the regular presentations by the Armenian delegation, Prof. Chilingarian delivered the opening invited presentation on the break-through research in Armenia regarding Space Weather Forecasting. CRD
Receives Grant of Equipment – June 2002 The European particle Accelerator center, CERN, contributed data acquisition equipment to the CRD. This equipment is already installed and operating at the high altitude stations. CRD
Director to Publish a Textbook – June 28, 2002 The International Science and Technology Center (ISTC) has awarded Prof. Chilingarian a contract to publish a textbook titled "Multivariate Methods of Data Analysis for High Energy Astrophysics". Young CRD Scientist Receives
Hewlett-Packard Grant – June 24-28, 2002 American Armenians Visit CRD Facilities
on Mt. Aragats – June 22, 2002 ISTC Project Directors Visit CRD
Facilities – June 12-14, 2002 CRD Director Invited to Make Special
Presentation in Japan – June 3-4, 2002 CRD Survives Treacherous Winter Storm -
December 2001 Armenia
is one of the World’s Top 5 Countries in Cosmic Ray Research – August 2001 Thanks to the consistently high quality research conducted by the CRD, Armenia was considered to be one of the top 5 countries engaged in Cosmic Ray Research, along with the United States, Germany, Japan and Russia at the International Cosmic Ray Conference in Hamburg, |
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