Arctic Communications is a compilation of the proceedings of the Eighth Meeting of the Ionospheric Research Committee of NATO's Advisory Group for Aeronautical Research and Development, held in Athens, Greece in July 1963. The meeting provided a forum for discussing advances in communications equipment used to conduct research in the Arctic and covered a wide range of topics such as the physical properties of the Arctic ionosphere; Arctic high-frequency communications; soundings and field strength measurements; and observations in the Arctic during nuclear tests. This book is comprised of 25 chapters and begins with a discussion on experimental studies of high latitude absorption phenomena, including auroral absorption, polar cap absorption, and sudden commencement absorption. Direct measurements of D-region electron densities during the absorption periods are also presented. Subsequent chapters focus on the ionospheric absorption of cosmic noise observed at geomagnetically conjugate points; ionospheric ionization produced by solar flares; military communication facilities in the Canadian Arctic; and radio noise problems in Arctic regions. Phase instabilities on a very-low-frequency transmission path passing through the auroral zone are also considered. This monograph will be of particular value to scientists and researchers with interest in the Arctic.

Lists citations with abstracts for aerospace related reports obtained from world wide sources and announces documents that have recently been entered into the NASA Scientific and Technical Information Database.

An examination of how technological failures defined nature and national identity in Cold War Canada. Throughout the modern period, nations defined themselves through the relationship between nature and machines. Many cast themselves as a triumph of technology over the forces of climate, geography, and environment. Some, however, crafted a powerful alternative identity: they defined themselves not through the triumph of machines over nature, but through technological failures and the distinctive natural orders that caused them. In The Unreliable Nation, Edward Jones-Imhotep examines one instance in this larger history: the Cold War–era project to extend reliable radio communications to the remote and strategically sensitive Canadian North. He argues that, particularly at moments when countries viewed themselves as marginal or threatened, the identity of the modern nation emerged as a scientifically articulated relationship between distinctive natural phenomena and the problematic behaviors of complex groups of machines. Drawing on previously unpublished archival documents and recently declassified materials, Jones-Imhotep shows how Canadian defense scientists elaborated a distinctive “Northern” natural order of violent ionospheric storms and auroral displays, and linked it to a “machinic order” of severe and widespread radio disruptions throughout the country. Tracking their efforts through scientific images, experimental satellites, clandestine maps, and machine architectures, he argues that these scientists naturalized Canada's technological vulnerabilities as part of a program to reimagine the postwar nation. The real and potential failures of machines came to define Canada, its hostile Northern nature, its cultural anxieties, and its geo-political vulnerabilities during the early Cold War. Jones-Imhotep's study illustrates the surprising role of technological failures in shaping contemporary understandings of both nature and nation.

“Alaska is now open to civilization.” With those six words in 1900, the northernmost territory finally had a connection with the rest of the country. The telegraph system put in place by the US Army Signal Corps heralded the start of Alaska’s communication network. Yet, as hopeful as that message was, Alaska faced decades of infrastructure challenges as remote locations, extreme weather, and massive distances all contributed to less-than-ideal conditions for establishing reliable telecommunications. Connecting Alaskans tells the unique history of providing radio, television, phone, and Internet services to more than six hundred thousand square miles. It is a history of a place where military needs often trumped civilian ones, where ham radios offered better connections than telephone lines, and where television shows aired an entire day later than in the rest of the country. Heather E. Hudson covers more than a century of successes while clearly explaining the connection problems still faced by remote communities today. Her comprehensive history is perfect for anyone interested in telecommunications technology and history, and she provides an important template for policy makers, rural communities, and developing countries struggling to develop their own twenty-first-century infrastructure.