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

该项目由美国国家科学基金会地球科学理事会（NSF/GEO）和英国国家环境研究委员会（UKRI/NERC）通过NSF/GEO-NERC牵头机构协议共同资助。该协议允许美国/英国提交一份联合提案，并由其调查员拥有最大比例预算的机构进行同行评审。在成功地共同确定一项奖励后，每个机构为预算的比例和与自己的调查人员有关的调查人员和工作的组成部分提供资金。该项目将(1)运行、维护和扩展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来源的研究；(2)开展重点科学调查，以发展对多尺度、全球、太阳风-磁层-电离层-地面（SWMIG）系统中高纬度磁扰动来源的理解；包括在2021年日食期间，以及(3)开展教育和宣传，以促进更广泛地开展极地研究工作。这些目标将通过在南极洲和北半球40度磁子午线附近建立一个无与伦比的紧密间隔磁共轭磁力计网络来实现，其中大部分已经部署。该项目扩展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。研究生和本科生将获得资助，其中包括一项特殊的研究项目，旨在吸引来自少数族裔服务机构的学生。对地表磁场扰动的测量对于遥感和描述影响技术的SWMIG现象——例如地磁感应电流——以及因此开发物理模型和预测空间天气影响是很重要的。然而，了解耦合SWMIG系统中磁扰动的来源是具有挑战性的，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与高纬度地面磁扰动耦合？”当前系统的空间尺度、非均匀电离层电导率和非均匀地面电导率发挥了什么作用？”通过联合英国南极调查局、丹麦技术大学和美国国家科学基金会支持的磁力计，一个新的联合阵列将同时在两个半球提供前所未有的覆盖整个极光带/尖端。这些数据使新的实验能够分离出驱动空间/时间尺度、电离层电导率和局部地面电导率在地面磁扰动产生中的各自贡献。该项目包括在南极的实地工作，由美国南极计划（USAP）和BAS共同支持。USAP和BAS已同意支持对接收设备现场的维护访问，并在项目结束时支持设备的退行。BAS和USAP将协同工作，在后勤可行的地点部署额外的仪器，以最好地为项目服务。USAP和BAS已同意为该计划提供后勤支持，首个实地部署年份将在冠状病毒大流行相关的不确定性解决后确定。该奖项反映了美国国家科学基金会的法定使命，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.