Solar initiative at Oukaimeden Observatory

Benkhaldoun Zouhair, zouhair@ucam.ac.ma, Oukaimeden Observatory, Cadi Ayyad University, Morocco
Makela Jonathan, jmakela@illinois.edu, Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering University of Illinois
Meriwether John W., meriwether@ces.clemson.edu, Clemson University, Clemson, SC (USA)

Abstract
Content: The solar research program at Oukaimeden Observatory started in 1988 with the helioseimological IRIS network. The Moroccan researchers involved in this research have analyzed solar observations in order to detect and characterize the solar sphere modes of oscillations. In the coming year, the researchers at the Oukaimeden Observatory will add new research capabilities by joining the International Space Weather Initiative (ISWI), installing a suite of optical instruments, comprising a Remote Equatorial Nighttime Observatory of Ionospheric Regions (RENOIR). The scope and objectives to be achieved in this proposed project are to: 1. deploy a Fabry-Perot interferometer and wide-angle imaging system to the Observatoire Astronomique Universitaire de L'Oukaimden; 2. train students and researchers from Cadi Ayyad University on the operation of the equipment and related analysis techniques; 3. collect and analyze data from the equipment to study properties of upper-atmospheric winds and temperatures and how they relate to the occurrence of space weather; and 4. develop an international collaboration network with other researchers using similar instrumentation in Brazil and Peru. We will present here the plan we intend to develop for the Moroccan solar program in connection with ISWI.