Collaborative Research: GEM--Global Propagation Characteristics of Electromagnetic Ion Cyclotron Waves

本计画的重点是研究近地太空环境中电磁离子回旋波（EMIC）的产生、传播与消散。 EMIC波是由等离子体与地球磁场相互作用产生的。 这些波在货车艾伦辐射带中粒子的散射和损失中起着重要的作用。 由于辐射带与卫星运行区域重叠，了解可能改变其强度的因素是预测空间气象影响的一个重要方面。 该项目将使用观测和数值模拟的组合来解决EMIC波动动力学。 这一领域以前的大多数建模都使用了光线跟踪方法。 本计画采用新颖的方法，利用全波模式来模拟波浪动力学。 该项目将支持担任首席研究员的年轻女科学家的努力。 它还将为博士研究生提供支持。 研究人员还计划通过与等离子体物理和聚变能源科学项目的国家本科生奖学金计划合作，为本科生提供参与研究的机会。更具体地说，该项目解决了以下问题：（a）赤道产生的EMIC波如何到达地面？(b)电磁干扰波的传播如何受地磁活动的影响？以及（c）磁层/电离层参数和波法向角对EMIC波从磁层到电离层传播的相对贡献是什么？为了实现这一目标，研究人员计划使用最近开发的具有真实等离子体参数的2D全波代码进行全波模拟。我们还将分析最近由货车艾伦探测器、THEMIS和GOES卫星对这些波的观测，并将它们与地面磁强计网络的观测进行比较。

The focus of project is to investigate the creation, propagation, and dissipation electromagnetic ion cyclotron waves (EMIC) in the near-Earth space environment. EMIC waves are created by the interaction of plasma with the Earth's magnetic field. These waves play an important role in both the energization and loss of particles in the Van Allen radiation belts. Since the radiation belts overlap the region where satellites operate understanding the factors that can change their intensity is an important aspect of predicting space weather impacts. This project will use a combination of observations and numerical modeling to address EMIC wave dynamics. Most previous modeling in this area has used ray-tracing methods. This project takes the novel approach of using a full wave model to simulate the wave dynamics. The project will support the efforts of young female scientist who is serving as the PI. It will also provide support to PhD graduate student. The investigators will also plan to provide opportunities for undergraduates to participate in the research through partnership with National Undergraduate Fellowship Program in Plasma Physics and Fusion Energy Sciences program. More specifically this project addresses the following questions; (a) How do equatorially generated EMIC waves reach the ground?; (b) How is EMIC wave propagation affected by geomagnetic activity?; and (c) What are the relative contributions of magnetospheric/ionospheric parameters and wave normal angle to EMIC wave propagation from the magnetosphere to the ionosphere? To achieve this goal, the investigators plan to perform full-wave simulations employing recently developed 2D full-wave code with realistic plasma parameters. We will also analyze recent observations of these waves by Van Allen Probes, THEMIS and GOES satellites and compare them with observations from the ground magnetometer network.