Geospace dynamics and the aurora

极光是近地空间发生的有趣物理过程的美丽表现。由于对极光的兴趣(1)作为一种等离子体物理现象，(2)作为遥感地球空间的工具，(3)作为这些动力学的一个组成部分，极光观测已经被视为加拿大空间科学计划的核心重要的四十多年。2000年，卡尔加里大学（University of Calgary）的研究人员制定了一个大胆的计划，要建立一个庞大的高灵敏度、多光谱、覆盖加拿大中部和北部大部分地区的全天空成像仪阵列。在过去的七年里，这个计划已经成为现实，我们现在在加拿大各地使用了近50台仪器，我们用全新的方式来拍摄极光。这项提案是为利用这个新成像阵列的数据进行科学研究提供资金。通过这项研究，我们将探索地球空间动力学以及等离子体物理过程，这不仅对地球空间很重要，而且对天体物理学也很重要。随着我们开发新的成像技术，这些技术正在工业上得到应用，并对近地空间环境有了更好的了解，这也有实际的好处。

The aurora is a beautiful manifestation of interesting physical processes that occur in near-Earth space. Due to interest in the aurora (1) as a 6plasma physics phenomenon, (2) as a tool with which to remote sense geospace, and (3) as an integral part of those dynamics, auroral observations have been seen as centrally important to the Canadian space science program for more than four decades. In 2000, researchers at the University of Calgary developed a bold plan to build a vast array of highly sensitive, multi-spectral All-Sky Imagers with overlapping fields of view spanning much of central and northern Canada. Over the last seven years, this plan has become a reality, and we are now operating almost 50 instruments across Canada with which we image the aurora in fundamentally new ways. This proposal is for funding for carrying out science with the data from this new imaging array. With this research, we will be exploring geospace dynamics as well as plasma physical processes that are important not only on geospace, but also astrophysics. There are practical benefits as well, as we develop new imaging techniques that are being utilized in industry and develop a better understanding of the near-Earth space environment.