Understanding Van Allen Radiation Belt loss processes and their impact on the upper atmosphere

了解范艾伦辐射带损失过程及其对高层大气的影响

• 批准号: 1910915
• 金额: --
• 依托单位: University College London
• 依托单位国家: 英国
• 项目类别: Studentship
• 财政年份: 2017
• 资助国家: 英国
• 起止时间: 2017 至 无数据
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://gtr.ukri.org/projects?ref=studentship-1910915
• 关键词: Understanding; Van; Allen; Radiation; Belt

As an astrophysical object, the Earth's magnetosphere appears a rather quiescent body dominated by slow dynamical processes and small magnetic fields. However, within our environment are the Van Allen Radiation Belts - torus-shaped regions of relativistic plasma whose origins and behaviour are subjects of fierce scientific debate.Modern society is increasingly reliant on the space-based infrastructure that inhabit this region for critical services such as Earth observation, defence, telecommunications, GPS navigation, and electronic banking and energetic particle precipitation affects upper atmospheric chemistry in ways that we are only now beginning to explore.The Radiation Belts are governed by a complex interplay between acceleration, transport and loss processes. We are starting to understand acceleration and transport, but understanding relativistic electron loss is the big unknown in Radiation Belt physics. Electrons can be lost directly through the outer boundary of the magnetosphere, or via particle precipitation into the ionosphere contributing to chemistry changes and upper atmospheric dynamical changes.This project will make the first quantifications of loss processes during heightened geomagnetic activity, such as CMEs. We will study energetic particle data from international satellite missions such as the NASA Van Allen Probes, and a worldwide ground-based ionospheric network to validate the bedrock of our theoretical understanding of the Radiation Belts.

作为一个天体物理物体，地球磁层看起来是一个相当静止的物体，由缓慢的动态过程和小磁场主导。然而，在我们的环境中存在范艾伦辐射带 - 相对论等离子体的圆环形状区域，其起源和行为是激烈的科学争论的主题。现代社会越来越依赖于该区域的天基基础设施来提供关键服务，例如地球观测、国防、电信、GPS 导航和电子银行，而高能粒子降水以我们现在才刚刚开始的方式影响高层大气化学。 辐射带受加速、传输和损失过程之间复杂的相互作用的控制。我们开始了解加速和输运，但了解相对论性电子损失是辐射带物理学中的一大未知数。电子可以直接通过磁层外边界丢失，或者通过粒子沉淀进入电离层，从而导致化学变化和高层大气动力学变化。该项目将首次量化地​​磁活动增强期间的丢失过程，例如日冕物质抛射。我们将研究来自美国宇航局范艾伦探测器等国际卫星任务和全球地面电离层网络的高能粒子数据，以验证我们对辐射带理论理解的基础。

项目成果

Do Statistical Models Capture the Dynamics of the Magnetopause During Sudden Magnetospheric Compressions?

• DOI: 10.1029/2019ja027289
• 发表时间: 2020-04
• 期刊: Journal of Geophysical Research: Space Physics
• 作者: F. Staples;I. J. Rae;Colin Forsyth;A. Smith;K. Murphy;Katie Raymer;F. Plaschke;Nathan Case