Collaborative Research: Investigating Deep Polar Cap Dynamics Using an Autonomous Instrument Network

该奖项全部或部分根据2021年美国救援计划法案（公法117-2）资助。地球空间环境是一个复杂的系统，由入射的太阳风等离子体流与地球磁场相互作用，并将其能量和动量转移到磁层。这种相互作用主要发生在地球的昼面，在那里重连的地磁场线可能是“开放的”，并直接连接到行星际磁场线，从而为太阳风能量向下传递到电离层和高层大气提供直接路径。受电离层等离子体对流控制的极冠区的空间范围划分了所谓的“开闭边界”，太阳风粒子在此到达极地电离层。对该边界的观测在验证地磁场建模方面发挥着重要作用，并有助于研究空间天气。受极地地区引人注目的地球空间研究的推动，该奖项将使科学家能够通过建立一个新的地面网络来研究极盖内的磁层-电离层耦合过程和电离层不规则性及其对空间天气的影响。部署在南极极盖地区。韩国极地研究所（KOPRI）团队将利用三个新的仪器化平台（下一代自动地球物理观测台），沿从韩国南极站Jang Bogo到Dome C Concordia站的雪地穿越路线沿着进行观测。这三个平台收集的地球空间数据将由美国和韩国研究人员共享，并将提供给其他科学家。该研究涉及早期职业研究人员，以及培训学生谁将建立和操作远程南极平台，以及分析收集的数据，以调查空间天气事件和验证模型。该项目扩大了美国机构与KOPRI科学家和后勤支持人员的伙伴关系。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 award is funded in whole or part under the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 (Public Law 117-2). The Geospace environment comprises a complex system of the incoming solar wind plasma flow interacting with the Earth's magnetic field and transferring its energy and momentum into the magnetosphere. This interaction takes place mainly on the Earth's dayside, where reconnecting geomagnetic field line might be "open" and directly connected to the interplanetary magnetic field lines, thus providing direct pathways for the solar wind energy to be transferred down to the ionosphere and upper atmosphere. The spatial extent of the polar cap areas controlled by the ionospheric plasma convection demarcate the so-called "Open-Closed Boundary" where solar wind particles reach down polar ionospheres. Observations of that boundary serve the important role in validating geomagnetic field modeling and help studying space weather. Motivated by the compelling Geospace research in the polar regions, this award will allow scientists to investigate magnetosphere-ionosphere coupling processes and ionospheric irregularities inside the polar caps and their space weather impacts by establishing a new ground-based network that will be deployed in the Antarctic polar cap region. This will be achieved using three new instrumented platforms (next generation of Automatic Geophysical Observatories) along the snow traverse route from the Korean Antarctic Station Jang Bogo toward to the Concordia Station at Dome C by the Korea Polar Research Institute's (KOPRI) team. Geospace data collected by these three platforms will be shared by the U.S. and Korean researchers, as well as will be made available to other scientists. The research involves early-career researchers, as well as train students who will build and operate remote Antarctic platforms, as well as analyze collected data to investigate space weather events and validate models. This project expands the U.S. institutions partnership with the KOPRI scientists and logistical support personnel.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.