Collaborative Research: Substorm and Storm Injection Studies Using a Coupled Global MHD - RCM Model

研究人员将研究在磁层亚暴和风暴期间等离子体注入内磁层的物理学。该项目将使用一个由UCLA全球磁流体动力学（MHD）模型和Rice对流模型（RCM）组成的新耦合模型。耦合模型将消除目前模型固有的缺点：在MHD代码中缺乏环电流和正确的粒子漂移物理，以及RCM对经验子模型和临时假设的依赖。耦合过程将通过使用一种新的数据结构在计算期间的特定时间在模型之间交换信息来完成，从而允许模型并行运行，而不一定在同一台计算机上运行。数据交换将以协议的形式进行，类似于万维网上使用的协议，这将允许最大的灵活性、可扩展性和开放性。模型的耦合将分六个阶段进行，并逐渐增加复杂性。随着每个耦合阶段的完成，研究人员将模拟一组选定的亚暴和风暴事件，并与现场观测进行全面比较。这种比较将产生关于不同过程的相对重要性的信息。目标是建立一个全球磁层模型，其能力比当前的模型有很大的提高，并对亚暴和风暴时间注入有更深入的了解。

The investigators will study the physics of plasma injections into the inner magnetosphere during magnetospheric substorms and storms. The project will use a newly coupled model consisting of the UCLA global magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) model and the Rice Convection Model (RCM). The coupled model will eliminate the shortcomings that are currently inherent to the models: the lack of a ring current and correct particle drift physics in the MHD code, and the dependence of the RCM on empirical submodels and ad hoc assumptions. The coupling process will be done by using a novel data structure to exchange information between the models at certain times during the calculation, allowing the models to run in parallel, and not necessarily on the same computer. The data exchange will be in the form of a protocol, similar to the protocols that are used on the World Wide Web, which will allow for maximum flexibility, extensibility and openness. Coupling of the models will proceed in six stages of increasing complexity. As each coupling stage is completed the investigators will model a set of selected substorm and storm events and perform comprehensive comparisons with in situ observations. The comparisons will yield information about the relative importance of different processes. The goal is to develop a global magnetosphere model with much improved capabilities compared to contemporary models, and a much more thorough understanding of substorm and storm time injections.