NSWP: Understanding Ionospheric Response to Storm-induced Thermospheric Neutral Composition Change

研究人员将研究热层组成在F区电离层变化中的作用。在F区产生O+密度增加(正电离层风暴)或减少(负电离层风暴)的机制尚不清楚。热层和电离层的许多信息要么局限于某一特定点的垂直剖面，要么局限于柱状积分量。在这项研究中，研究人员将使用顶部电离层的垂直剖面、中性成分的同步公共体积测定和现场测量来测试对决定F区电子密度的过程的理解。将使用简单的模型计算来指导调查并帮助解释结果。将获得几个精心挑选的事件的地面和空间测量结果。通过将测量结果与计算模型的输出相结合，研究人员将了解在中低纬度F区的热层组成和电离层等离子体密度中产生风暴扰动的机制。研究结果将有助于提高对空间天气风暴对社会影响程度和严重程度的预测。韩国天文学和空间科学研究所(KASI)的两名女性研究人员将参与该项目。卡西在韩国管理着一个新创建的国家空间气象项目。除了教授和培训性别和族裔背景不足的年轻研究人员外，该项目还促进了在调查全球空间气象现象方面重要的国际合作。

The investigators will study the role of thermospheric composition in producing changes in the F-region ionosphere. The mechanism for producing an increase in the O+ density in the F-region (a positive ionospheric storm) or a decrease (a negative ionospheric storm) is not well understood. Much of the information of thermosphere and ionosphere is either confined to vertical profiles at a particular point or column integrated quantities. For this study, the investigators will use vertical profiles of the topside ionosphere, simultaneous common-volume determinations of neutral composition, and in situ measurements to test understanding of the processes that determine F region electron density. Simple model calculations will be used to guide the investigation and aid in the interpretation of the results. The ground-based and space-based measurements will be obtained for several carefully selected events. By combining the measurements with the output of computation models, the investigators will the understanding of the mechanisms that create stormtime disturbances in thermospheric composition and ionospheric plasma density in low-middle latitude F region. The results will be valuable in improving the prediction of the extent and severity of space weather storm impacts to society. Two female researchers at the Korea Astronomy and Space science Institute (KASI) will participate in the project. KASI manages a newly created national space weather program in Korea. As well as teaching and training young researchers from an under-represented gender and ethnic background, this project promotes essential international collaboration in the investigation of global space weather phenomena.