NSF East Asia and Pacific Summer Institute (EAPSI) for FY 2013 in Japan

这项行动资助弗吉尼亚理工大学的埃文·托马斯于2013年夏天在东京Chôfu的电子通信大学开展一个地球科学研究项目。该项目的标题是“由全球定位系统（GPS）接收器和超级双极光雷达网络（SuperDARN）测量的电离层等离子体不规则性动力学”。主持的科学家是细川圭介博士。世界各地商业和军事用户所依赖的许多关键技术都直接受到地球上层大气带电成分（即电离层）中发生的事件的影响。强地磁风暴是造成超视距雷达系统中电离层杂波的原因；GPS信号退化（闪烁）；以及配电网中的感应电流。本项目利用superdam空间气象雷达收集的数据，分析电离层总电子含量（TEC）对等离子体结构的同步观测，主要有两个目的。第一个目标是检查小尺度等离子体不规则性在大尺度电离层特征（如亚极光极化流（SAPS）、风暴增强密度（SED）和电离舌（TOI））梯度中发生的程度。第二个目标是更好地理解日本密集的仪器网络用于研究电离层扰动（TIDs）的方法，并将其应用于同样覆盖良好的北美地区。EAPSI奖学金的广泛影响包括为研究员提供美国以外的第一手研究经验；介绍该地区的科学、科学政策和科学基础设施；以及对社会、文化和语言的了解。这些活动符合美国国家科学基金会的目标，即在其科学家、工程师和教育工作者的职业生涯早期培养国际合作，从而确保美国科学劳动力具有全球意识。此外，随着我们继续扩大GPS网络和superdam的全球制图能力，该项目在日本和美国空间科学界之间建立新的合作研究活动方面发挥着重要作用。本项目取得的科学发现将在科学会议上提出，然后提交到适当的同行评议期刊上发表。返回美国后，将向Space@VT系的学生和教员作报告，描述研究员在该计划中的经历。

This action funds Evan Thomas of Virginia Tech to conduct a research project in Geosciences during the summer of 2013 at the University of Electro-Communications in Chôfu, Tokyo. The project title is "Dynamics of Ionospheric Plasma Irregularities as Measured by Global Positioning System (GPS) Receivers and the Super Dual Auroral Radar Network (SuperDARN)." The host scientist is Dr. Keisuke Hosokawa.Many critical technologies relied upon by both commercial and military users around the world are directly impacted by events occurring in the charged component of Earth's upper atmosphere, known as the ionosphere. Strong geomagnetic storms are responsible for causing ionospheric clutter in over-the-horizon radar systems; degradation of GPS signals (scintillations); and induced electrical currents in power distribution networks. This project analyzes simultaneous ionospheric total electron content (TEC) observations of plasma structures with data collected from SuperDARN space weather radars for two main purposes. The first objective is to examine the extent to which small-scale plasma irregularities occur in the gradients of large-scale ionospheric features such as subauroral polarization stream (SAPS), storm enhanced density (SED), and tongue of ionization (TOI). The second objective is to gain a better understanding of the methods used to study travelling ionospheric disturbances (TIDs) with the dense networks of instrumentation in Japan and apply them to the similarly well-covered North American sector.Broader impacts of an EAPSI fellowship include providing the Fellow a first-hand research experience outside the U.S.; an introduction to the science, science policy, and scientific infrastructure of the respective location; and an orientation to the society, culture and language. These activities meet the NSF goal to educate for international collaborations early in the career of its scientists, engineers, and educators, thus ensuring a globally aware U.S. scientific workforce. Furthermore, this project plays an important role in forging new collaborative research activities between the Japanese and American space science communities as we continue to expand the global mapping capabilities of GPS networks and SuperDARN. The scientific findings achieved as a result of this project will be presented at scientific meetings and then submitted for publication to appropriate peer-reviewed journals. Upon return to the United States, a presentation will be made to the students and faculty of the Space@VT department describing the Fellow's experiences in the program.