Investigating the Earth's Upper Atmosphere with the EISCAT_3D radar

点击翻译按钮获取中文摘要

EISCAT_3D is a new, eagerly anticipated, multi-national all-sky incoherent scatter radar programme which is scheduled to start operating in Autumn 2023, following many years of development. Building on existing expertise within the Planetary Science Group the student will exploit the new radar data set in conjunction with measurements from other ground-based instruments (including our own new HF coherent radar) and satellites. They will investigate the impact of Space Weather events on the high-latitude upper and lower atmosphere and the energy flow from the solar wind into the Earth's environment on a variety of time and spatial scales. This will involve the student working on international research programmes in conjunction with other researchers in other countries and presenting their findings at international meetings. Following on from over 40 years of EISCAT auroral science, EISCAT_3D represents a step-change in our ability to make measurements in the Earth's atmosphere and investigate processes of huge societal importance. A number of phenomena will be studied including geomagnetic storms, substorms and MHD waves, all of which are dynamic processes which transfer energy and momentum from near-Earth space into the Earth's atmosphere. During these processes energetic particle precipitation (EPP) are observed to occur which drive associated aurorae and cause lower atmospheric changes (e.g. to the local chemistry). EPP are now considered to have influence on the existence of chemical species (including 'odd' nitrogen, NOx) which have impact on the destruction of atmospheric ozone. The project will explore links between solar variability, atmospheric chemistry and climate.