Collaborative Research: Coordinated Radar and Optical Analysis of Flow Channel Disturbances within the Nightside Auroral Oval/Plasma Sheet

太阳风与地球磁场的耦合在地球--S--近空间环境中产生了一系列扰动效应。通信、导航以及能源生产和分配都受到这种空间天气的重大影响。预测可能影响这些技术的扰动的能力取决于对相互关联的日地系统的详细知识和了解，包括磁层和电离层之间的复杂耦合过程。后者在夜间极光中的一个特殊方面是最近发现的中尺度流动通道，据信在电离层空间天气扰动的产生和动力学方面发挥了重要作用。确定流动通道的确切性质及其与磁层-电离层系统大尺度动力学的关系是该项目的主要目标。将通过对来自各种来源的同时观察到的这一现象进行全面和仔细的协调分析来尝试这一点。由此达成的谅解是朝着能够将这种影响纳入电离层空间气象规范和预报模式迈出的关键一步。该项目将结合来自北美地区极光区域的各种大型仪器和设施的观测，包括非相干和相干的散射雷达、光谱极光成像仪和地面磁强计，以调查夜间极光椭圆形的中尺度流动通道事件。研究工作的具体项目目标包括：1)确定流道和极光流光的相对位置；2)确定流道和流光轨迹与大尺度对流之间的关系；3)确定流道事件和其他等离子体片扰动之间的联系，包括亚暴和欧米伽带。

The coupling of the solar wind with Earth's magnetic field gives rise to a range of disturbance effects in Earth?s near-space environment. Communications, navigation and energy production and distribution are significantly affected by this space weather. The ability to forecast disturbances that may impact these technologies hinges upon detailed knowledge and understanding of the connected Sun-Earth system, including complicated coupling processes between the magnetosphere and ionosphere. A particular aspect of the latter within the nightside aurora are meso-scale flow channels that have been discovered recently and are believed to play a significant role in the creation and dynamics of space weather disturbances in the ionosphere. Determining the precise nature of the flow-channels and their relation to the large-scale dynamics of the magnetosphere-ionosphere system is the main objective of this project. It will be attempted through a comprehensive and carefully coordinated analysis of simultaneous observations of the phenomenon from a variety of sources. The resulting understanding constitutes a critical step towards being able to include this effect in ionospheric space weather specification and forecast models. This project will combine observations from a large and diverse set of instruments and facilities across the auroral region in the North American sector, including incoherent and coherent scatter radars, spectral auroral imagers, and ground-based magnetometers, to investigate meso-scale flow channel events in the nightside auroral oval. Specific project goals for the research effort include: 1) establishing the relative location of flow channels and auroral streamers; 2) establishing the relation between flow channel and streamer trajectories and large-scale convection; and 3) determining the connection between flow channel events and other plasma sheet disturbances, including substorms and omega bands.