Collaborative Research: NSFGEO-NERC:Conjugate Experiment to Investigate Sources of High-Latitude Magnetic Perturbations in Coupled Solar Wind-Magnetosphere-Ionosphere-Ground System

这是一个由国家科学基金会地球科学理事会（NSF/GEO）和联合王国国家环境研究理事会（UKRI/NERC）通过NSF/GEO-NERC牵头机构协议共同资助的项目。该协议允许美国/英国提交一份联合提案，并由研究者拥有最大预算比例的机构进行同行评审。在成功联合确定授标后，每个机构为与本机构调查员和工作组成部分有关的预算和调查员提供资金。该项目的目标是：（1）运行、维护和扩大一个高纬度自主仪器阵列，以支持更广泛的地球空间研究界对半球间不对称性来源的研究;（2）进行有重点的科学调查，以加深对多尺度、全球太阳风-磁层-电离层-地面系统中高纬度磁扰动来源的了解，包括在2021年日食期间，以及（3）开展教育和宣传，以促进更广泛地参与极地研究工作。这些目标将通过在南极洲和北方半球磁子午线40度附近建立一个无与伦比的密集磁共轭磁强计网络来实现，其中大部分已经部署。该项目扩大了现有的弗吉尼亚理工大学/丹麦技术大学的合作伙伴关系，包括英国南极调查局（BAS），空间科学研究所和加州大学洛杉矶分校。研究生和本科生将得到支助，包括一个吸引少数群体服务机构学生参与的特别研究方案，对表面磁场扰动的测量对于遥感影响技术的短波现象（如地磁感应电流）并确定其特征，从而开发物理模型和预测空间气象影响十分重要。然而，了解源的磁扰动在耦合SWEARS系统是具有挑战性的，因为它们同时依赖于驱动条件，电离层电导率和地面电导率。我们试图解决以下科学问题，“磁层-电离层电流系统如何耦合到高纬度地面磁扰动？电流系统的空间尺度、不均匀的电离层电导率和不均匀的地面电导率扮演什么角色？“通过将英国南极调查局、丹麦技术大学和国家科学基金会支持的磁强计相结合，一个新的组合阵列将同时在两个半球的极光区/尖端提供前所未有的覆盖范围。这些数据使新的实验，以隔离各自的贡献的驱动程序的空间/时间尺度，电离层电导率，和当地的地面电导率在地面磁扰动的产生。该项目包括在南极的实地工作，由美国南极计划（USAP）和BAS支持。 USAP和BAS已同意支持对接收器现场位置的维护访问，并在计划结束时支持设备的逆行。 BAS和USAP将协同工作，将额外的仪器部署到后勤可行的位置，最好地服务于项目。 USAP和BAS已同意为该项目提供后勤支持，第一个实地部署年度将在冠状病毒大流行的不确定性得到解决后确定。该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的知识价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

This is a project that is jointly funded by the National Science Foundation’s Directorate of Geosciences (NSF/GEO) and the National Environment Research Council (UKRI/NERC) of the United Kingdom (UK) via the NSF/GEO-NERC Lead Agency Agreement. This Agreement allows a single joint US/UK proposal to be submitted and peer-reviewed by the Agency whose investigator has the largest proportion of the budget. Upon successful joint determination of an award, each Agency funds the proportion of the budget and the investigators associated with its own investigators and component of the work. This project is to (1) operate, maintain, and expand a high-latitude array of autonomous instruments to support research of the wider geospace research community into the sources of inter-hemispheric asymmetries, (2) conduct focused science investigations to develop understanding of the sources of high-latitude magnetic perturbations in the multi-scale, global, solar wind - magnetosphere – ionosphere – ground (SWMIG) system, including during the 2021 solar eclipse and (3) conduct education and outreach to facilitate broader access to polar research efforts. These objectives will be achieved through an unsurpassed network of closely-spaced magnetically-conjugate magnetometers in Antarctica and in the Northern Hemisphere near the 40 degree magnetic meridian, most of which have already been deployed. This project expands an existing Virginia Tech/Technical University of Denmark partnership to include the British Antarctic Survey (BAS), Space Science Institute, and UCLA. Graduate and undergraduate students will be supported, including a special research program to engage students from minority-serving institutions.Measurements of surface magnetic field perturbations are important to remotely sense and characterize the SWMIG phenomena that affect technology – such as geomagnetically induced currents – and thereby to develop physical models and forecast space weather impacts. However, understanding the sources of magnetic perturbations in the coupled SWMIG system is challenging due to their simultaneous dependence on driving conditions, ionospheric conductivity and ground conductivity. We seek to address the following science questions, "How do magnetosphere-ionosphere current systems couple to high-latitude ground magnetic perturbations? What roles do current system spatial scale, inhomogeneous ionospheric conductivity, and inhomogeneous ground conductivity play?" By combining British Antarctic Survey, Technical University of Denmark, and NSF-supported magnetometers, a new combined array will provide unprecedented coverage throughout the auroral zone/cusp in both hemispheres simultaneously. These data enable novel experiments to isolate the respective contributions of driver spatial/temporal scale, ionospheric conductivity, and local ground conductivity in the generation of ground magnetic perturbations. This project includes field work in the Antarctic, supported by both the U.S. Antarctic Program (USAP) and the BAS. USAP and BAS have agreed to support maintenance visits to receiver site locations and to support the retrograde of equipment at the end of the program. BAS and USAP will work collaboratively to deploy an additional instrument to a logistically feasible location that best serves the project. The USAP and BAS have agreed to support this program logistically, with the first field deployment year to be determined after the uncertainties related to the coronavirus pandemic are resolved.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.