Global Estimation of Dayside-Merging and Nightside-Reconnection in the Expanding/Contracting Polar Cap Paradigm

极冠中的开放通量是表征磁层状态的一个重要参数。这是一个为期一年的项目，其主要目标是根据超级双极光网络（SuperDARN）的测量结果开发和验证各种技术，以便定期提供高时间分辨率的估计。这种测量将是对磁层动力学进行各种研究的一项重要的新资产。将在一些深入的案例研究中实施和测试所提出的技术。个案研究的目的是调查开放通量的数量和电离层对流状态之间的关系。这些结果将提供扩张-收缩极盖范例的基本测试，这是我们目前对磁层动力学的理解中的核心范例之一。

The amount of open flux in the polar cap is an important parameter characterizing the state of the magnetosphere. This is a one-year project with the main objective to develop and validate techniques based on measurements from the Super Dual Auroral Network (SuperDARN) to provide estimates hereof routinely and with high time resolution. Such measurements would be a great new asset for a variety of studies of magnetospheric dynamics. The proposed techniques will be implemented and tested in a number of in-depth case studies. The case studies are designed to investigate the relation between the amount of open flux and the state of ionospheric convection. These results will provide basic tests of the expanding-contracting polar cap paradigm, which is one of the central paradigms in our current understanding of magnetospheric dynamics.