M-I Coupling: Ground-based Observations of Ion Dispersion, Electron Energy, and Convection in the Dayside Aurora

这项研究的目的是绘制从白天极光下的两个站观测到的地球大气中质子和电子能量沉积的空间和时间变化。这张离子和电子能量沉积图将与SuperDARN雷达网观测到的对流模式相结合，以提供相对完整的日侧磁层过程的电离层特征的动态图像。以往的研究表明，离散极光与与太阳风向电离层的能量转移有关的磁层边界层过程之间有很强的联系。在斯瓦尔巴特群岛朗伊尔宾的磁天顶获得的极光氢发射多普勒谱轮廓已被证明是入射离子能量的直接测量，这与行星际磁场的变化有关。将通过将两个大口径光谱仪对准位于斯瓦尔巴特群岛朗伊尔宾和NY Aalesund的日侧极光下不同方向的两个大口径光谱仪进行观测，以同时测量磁层顶合并事件电离层特征不同区域的氢发射光谱轮廓。从这些光谱和其他辅助光学数据，研究人员将推断离子和电子能量在磁层尖点的电离层区域的色散。从这个和相关的观测到的对流模式，他们将推断出日侧磁层顶上合并事件的位置和范围。在挪威的管辖下，斯瓦尔巴群岛在极地现象的国际科学调查方面是独一无二的。来自多个国家的学生和研究人员全年开展研究。极光研究一般局限于冬至前后的几个月，此时天色足够暗，可以观察到北半球独有的日间极光。在每个观测季，朗伊尔宾至少会举办一场公众科普讲座。当地学校班级经常到访，天文台被当地大学的斯瓦尔巴群岛课程(UNIS)用作培训实验室。斯瓦尔巴群岛也是挪威和美国之间NSF/Polar计划合作研究计划的中心。空间气象研究的进展使人们能够更准确地描述太阳上发生的事件造成的太阳风扰动。事实上，地球上风向的卫星一直在观察这些变化，但科学家们无法准确地预测这些扰动对电离层的影响程度。这样做将允许为无线电通信中断、电网故障和卫星子系统崩溃准备应急计划。太阳风和地球电离层之间关系中最重要的两个未知数是太阳风能从白天磁层顶和夜间磁层尾部向电离层转移所涉及的磁层过程。

The objective of this research is to map the spatial and temporal variations of the proton and electron energy deposition in Earth's atmosphere observed from two stations under the dayside aurora. This map of ion and electron energy deposition would be combined with the convection pattern observed by the SuperDARN radar network to provide a relatively complete dynamic picture of the ionospheric signatures of dayside magnetospheric processes. Previous studies have indicated a strong relationship between the discrete aurora and the magnetospheric boundary layer processes associated with the transfer of energy from the solar wind to the ionosphere. Auroral hydrogen emission Doppler spectral profiles obtained in the magnetic zenith at Longyearbyen, Svalbard have been shown to be a direct measure of the incoming ion energy, which is correlated with changes in the interplanetary magnetic field. The observations will be made by aiming two large-aperture spectrometers in different directions (initially in the zenith) under the dayside aurora at Longyearbyen and Ny Aalesund, Svalbard to measure the H emission spectral profile simultaneously in different regions of the ionospheric signature of a merging event at the magnetopause. From these spectra, and other supporting optical data, the investigators will deduce the dispersion of ion and electron energy in the ionospheric region of the magnetospheric cusp. From this and the associated observed convection pattern, they will deduce the location and the extent of a merging event on the dayside magnetopause. Governed by Norway, Svalbard is unique in its relation to international scientific investigations of polar phenomena. Students and investigators from many countries carry out research throughout the year. Auroral research is generally restricted to the months around the solstice when it is dark enough to carry out observations of the daytime aurora unique in the northern hemisphere. During each observing season, at least one public popular science lecture is given in Longyearbyen. Visits by the local school classes occur frequently, and the observatory is used as a training laboratory by the local University Courses on Svalbard (UNIS). Svalbard is also the center of an NSF/Polar Programs program of cooperative research between Norway and the US. Advances in the study of Space Weather have led to more accurate descriptions of the production of disturbances in the solar wind due to events on the Sun. Indeed, satellites upwind of Earth continuously observe these changes, but scientists are at a loss to predict, with any accuracy, the extent of these disturbances on the ionosphere. To do so would allow the preparation of contingency plans for radio communications blackouts, electric power grid failures, and satellite subsystem demise. The two most important unknowns in the relationship between the solar wind and the Earth's ionosphere are the magnetospheric processes involved in the transfer of solar wind power to the ionosphere from the dayside magnetopause and the nightside magnetospheric tail.