Controlled Whistler Mode Wave Injection Experiments with the High Altitude Auroral Research Program (HAARP) Facility

利用高空极光研究计划 (HAARP) 设施进行受控惠斯勒模式波注入实验

• 批准号: 2312282
• 负责人: Mark Golkowski
• 金额: $ 37.8万
• 依托单位: University of Colorado at Denver
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 2023
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2023-08-01 至 2026-07-31
• 项目状态: 未结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=2312282&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: Controlled; Whistler; Mode; Wave; Injection

Space weather processes, driven in complicated ways by activity on the sun, can adversely affect our infrastructure in space and on the ground. This project funds the use of the HAARP facility in Alaska for space science experiments that can help us understand space weather dynamics. Specifically, the project seeks to understand how some radio waves launched into space come back stronger after they are amplified by energetic particles. The HAARP facility in Alaska is a unique research facility and the only one worldwide to perform such experiments. This project will support undergraduate and graduate students learning about space sciences and traveling to Alaska to perform pioneering experiments. High school students will also be involved in building hardware to conduct field experiments. The project promotes the progress of science in key areas of national interest and supports education and diversity in science and engineering fields. The project seeks to quantify and understand the process of whistler mode waves generating additional waves in nonlinear interactions. Since whistler mode waves of all types are a critical driver of radiation belt dynamics in the magnetosphere, knowing when, where, and how new waves are generated is necessary for assuring that models of radiation belt fluxes and space weather phenomena are accurate. The project involves ELF/VLF magnetospheric wave injection experiments to be performed at the NSF-supported High Altitude Auroral Research Program (HAARP) facility in Gakona, Alaska. The HAARP HF heater is currently the only available source of controlled ELF/VLF waves available to scientists for magnetospheric wave injection. Ground observations in the ELF/VLF band within 100 km of the HAARP facility will be used to rigorously investigate nonlinear whistler mode phenomena in the inner magnetosphere, and valuable D-region diagnostic data will also be obtained. The principal investigator (PI) has direct experience with these types of experiments going back to his doctoral thesis and has participated in previous HAARP facility campaigns. The experiments leverage the unique capabilities of the HAARP facility and knowledge gained from past experiments to test and expand recent theories on nonlinear whistler mode wave interactions.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.

由太阳活动以复杂方式驱动的空间天气过程可能会对我们在空间和地面的基础设施产生不利影响。该项目资助使用阿拉斯加的HAARP设施进行空间科学实验，以帮助我们了解空间天气动力学。具体地说，该项目试图了解一些发射到太空的无线电波在被高能粒子放大后是如何变得更强的。位于阿拉斯加的HAARP设施是一个独特的研究设施，也是世界上唯一进行此类实验的设施。该项目将支持本科生和研究生学习空间科学，并前往阿拉斯加进行开创性实验。高中生还将参与构建硬件来进行实地实验。该项目促进了国家利益关键领域的科学进步，并支持科学和工程领域的教育和多样性。该项目致力于量化和理解哨声模波在非线性相互作用中产生额外波的过程。由于所有类型的哨声模波都是磁层辐射带动力学的关键驱动因素，因此需要知道何时、何地以及如何产生新波，以确保辐射带通量和空间天气现象的模型是准确的。该项目包括将在美国国家科学基金会支持的阿拉斯加加科纳的高海拔极光研究计划(HAARP)设施中进行的ELF/VLF磁层波注入实验。HAARP高频加热器目前是科学家可用于磁层波注入的唯一可控ELF/VLF波源。在HAARP设施100公里范围内的ELF/VLF波段的地面观测将被用来严格研究内磁层中的非线性哨声模现象，还将获得有价值的D区诊断数据。首席研究员(PI)对这些类型的实验有着直接的经验，这可以追溯到他的博士论文，并参与了之前的HAARP设施活动。这些实验利用HAARP设施的独特能力和从过去实验中获得的知识来测试和扩展最近关于非线性哨声模波相互作用的理论。这一奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的智力优势和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。