CAREER: Quantification of Ionosphere/Thermosphere System Drivers, State Parameters, and Fundamental Coupling Mechanisms

职业：电离层/热层系统驱动因素、状态参数和基本耦合机制的量化

• 批准号: 1454839
• 负责人: Lara Waldrop
• 金额: $ 50万
• 依托单位: University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Continuing Grant
• 财政年份: 2015
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2015-09-01 至 2022-08-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=1454839&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: CAREER; Quantification; Ionosphere; Thermosphere; System

The goal of this project is to obtain the first unambiguous quantification of the temperature-dependent cross section for charge exchange between neutral and ionized atomic oxygen which mediates momentum and energy exchange between the terrestrial ionosphere and thermosphere (IT system). Historical uncertainty in these parameters has limited the quantitative accuracy of numerous aeronomical calculations, such as ionospheric temperatures and density distributions, diffusion coefficients, and plasma drift speeds, effectively precluding reliable prediction of both steady-state and dynamic behavior of the coupled IT system. The research program will involve hardware development and deployment, inverse and tomographic analysis development, physics-based model development, and scientific data analysis and interpretation. The methodology to obtain the crucial quantification of these parameters will utilize a nested configuration of passive optical and incoherent scatter radar (ISR) instrumentation at Arecibo Observatory in Puerto Rico, including a novel photometric imaging system (Photometer Array for Tomographic Hydrogen Sensing; PATHS) that will be designed and built by undergraduate students at the University of Illinois through a capstone project course. The resulting data, together with the development of realistic radiative transport models of optical emissions and advances in the estimation of light ion velocity from ISR spectra, will enable the height- and time-dependent quantification of neutral, ion, and electron temperatures; distinct proton and oxygen ion velocities; neutral meridional wind speed; ionized oxygen, hydrogen, and helium density; and, for the first time, the neutral oxygen and hydrogen density distributions throughout the upper thermosphere. Quantification of the charge exchange coupling between the ionosphere and thermosphere (via parametric momentum balance) as well as between the exosphere and plasmasphere (via parametric continuity balance) will enable advances in understanding how mass, energy and momentum are transported throughout the coupled regions. The project will involve graduate and undergraduate students, and include outreach activities targeting pre-college girls in order to promote the future gender diversity in this discipline.

该项目的目的是获得对温度依赖性横截面的第一个明确定量，以在中性和电离原子氧之间进行电荷交换，从而介导陆地电离层和热层（IT系统）之间的动量和能量交换。这些参数的历史不确定性限制了许多空气计算的定量准确性，例如电离层温度和密度分布，扩散系数以及血浆漂移速度，有效地排除了耦合IT系统的稳态和动态行为的可靠预测。该研究计划将涉及硬件开发和部署，逆向和断层分析开发，基于物理的模型开发以及科学数据分析和解释。 The methodology to obtain the crucial quantification of these parameters will utilize a nested configuration of passive optical and incoherent scatter radar (ISR) instrumentation at Arecibo Observatory in Puerto Rico, including a novel photometric imaging system (Photometer Array for Tomographic Hydrogen Sensing; PATHS) that will be designed and built by undergraduate students at the University of Illinois through a capstone project course.最终的数据，以及在ISR光谱中估算光离子速度时的现实辐射转运模型的发展，将实现中性，离子和电子温度的高度和时间依赖性定量。独特的质子和氧离子速度；中性子午风速；离子氧，氢和氦密度；并且，这是整个上部热层的中性氧和氢密度分布。电离层和热层之间的电荷交换耦合（通过参数动量平衡）以及外层和等离子体球场（通过参数连续性平衡）之间的量化将有助于理解整个耦合区域的质量，能量和动量如何运输。该项目将涉及研究生和本科生，并包括针对大学前女孩的推广活动，以促进该学科中未来的性别多样性。