Antarctic and Conjugate Research using SuperDARN

超级双极光雷达网(SuperDARN)由高频雷达组成，可以观测地球电离层的遥远区域、其特征和不规则性，并监测其动态。电离层是高层大气(海拔约110公里)中的一个电离层，电流可以在那里流动，以响应地球磁层和地球附近(地球空间)的太阳风等离子体流之间的耦合。许多地球空间现象是由太阳耀斑和日冕物质抛射引起的，它们的影响传递到电离层，而电离层在极地地区尤为强烈。在地磁风暴期间，电离层等离子体对流(携带电离层电流)在两个极冠上从白天移动到晚上，然后通过各自的极光区返回白天时，会变得很强。极地电离层也通过地球磁力线在共轭点上电连接。电离层连接在磁层顶和两极之间的电流和电场传输中起着非常重要的作用，但对这些过程的研究还不够充分。SuperDARN雷达的大型网络已经定期观测到北极和南极地区的电离层对流。这些雷达的数据被用来研究电离层对流对太阳风和行星际磁场变化的响应，中央极冠对流与尖点和午夜区域对流的关系，以及与磁层-电离层耦合系统的状态。由NSF资助的麦克默多和南极的南极SuperDARN雷达有助于研究太阳风中观测到的波结构与极冠中各自的响应之间的关系、等离子体密度结构的运动、离子-中性耦合和热层风。这项研究工作将继续开发NSF资助的雷达，帮助解决尚未彻底检查的地球空间研究的基本问题。

The Super Dual Auroral Radar Network (SuperDARN) is composed of high-frequency radars that can observe far reaches of the Earth's ionosphere, its features and irregularities, and monitor its dynamics. The ionosphere is an ionized layer in the upper atmosphere (at and above ~110-km altitude) where electrical currents can flow in response to the coupling between the Earth's magnetosphere and solar wind plasma flow in the Earth's neighborhood (geospace). Many geospace phenomena are caused by solar flares and coronal mass ejections that have their effects transmitted to ionospheric layers, which are especially strong in the polar regions. The ionospheric plasma convection (that carries ionospheric currents) becomes strong during geomagnetic storms when it moves as a whole over both polar caps from dayside to nightside and then returns to the dayside via respective auroral zones. Polar ionospheres are also electrically connected via the Earth's magnetic field lines in conjugate points. The ionospheric connection plays a very important role in transporting currents and electric fields between the magnetopause and both polar regions, but these processes are still insufficiently studied. The large network of SuperDARN radars already observe ionospheric convection in the northern and southern polar regions on a regular basis. Data from these radars are used to study responses of ionospheric convection to solar wind and interplanetary magnetic field changes, the relation of central polar cap convection to that of the cusp and midnight regions, and to the state of the coupled magnetosphere-ionosphere system. The NSF-funded Antarctic SuperDARN radars at McMurdo and South Pole contribute to the studies such as relationships between wave structures observed in the solar wind and respective responses in the polar caps, motion of plasma density structures, ion-neutral coupling, and thermospheric winds. This research effort will continue developing the NSF-funded radars, help addressing fundamental questions of the Geospace research that have not yet thoroughly examined.