Three-dimensional studies of the warm ionized medium in the milky way using WHAM

The Wisconsin H-Alpha Mapper (WHAM) is a high throughput Fabry-Perot facility developed specifically to detect and explore the warm, ionized component of the interstellar medium at high spectral resolution. It began operating at Kitt Peak, Arizona in 1997 and has recently completed the WHAM Northern Sky Survey (WHAM-NSS), providing the first global view of the distribution and kinematics of the warm, diffuse H II in the Milky Way. This Ha survey reveals a complex spatial and kinematic structure in the warm ionized medium and provides a foundation for studies of the temperature and ionization state of the gas, the spectrum and strength of the ionizing radiation, and its relationship to other components of the interstellar medium and sources of ionization and heating within the Galactic disk and halo.