Plasma flows, electric fields and currents in the Earth's ionosphere

当太阳风和嵌入的行星际磁场（IMF）流过地球时，地球磁层（地球周围的磁场区域）中的带电粒子等离子体被驱动成连续运动。这种运动产生的磁层电压产生的电流沿着磁力线流向距离地球仅100公里的电离层。然后，电流在电离层中水平流动，然后向上返回磁层。从磁层加速进入电离层的电流、电压和高能粒子不仅对宇航员和卫星电子设备（如太空中的GPS系统）造成危险，而且还会造成停电，导致地面上的管道腐蚀和破裂。拟议的研究计划旨在研究太空和地面上的电压模式和电流。这将通过仔细分析以下方面收集的数据来完成：(a)国际超级双极光雷达网（superdamn）；(b)雷索雷特湾（包括加拿大和美国部分）的多功能和强大的非相干散射雷达；(c)加拿大积极参与的正在进行的国际卫星任务、e-POP和Swarm。将讨论空间物理学中的几个关键问题：(1)电离层电压对太阳风和IMF条件变化的依赖；(2)与一种特殊类型的北极光有关的等离子体流模式，即极帽弧；(3)等离子体密度斑从昼侧向夜侧穿越极地；(4)电压和电流对加拿大北极高地无线电通信系统运行的影响。本研究计划的重点是培养本科生和研究生从事卫星、航天及相关行业的工作，以及从事环境监测和保护的机构

As the solar wind and the embedded interplanetary magnetic field (IMF) stream past the Earth, the charged-particle plasma in the Earth's magnetosphere (the magnetic field region surrounding the Earth) is driven into continuous motion. The magnetospheric voltage generated by such motion produces currents that flow along magnetic field lines to the ionosphere only ~100 km above the Earth. The current then flows horizontally in the ionosphere before returning upward to the magnetosphere. The currents, voltages, and high-energy particles accelerated from the magnetosphere into the ionosphere not only are hazardous to astronauts and satellite electronics such as GPS systems in space, but also cause power blackouts and lead to pipeline corrosion and rupture on the ground. ***The proposed research program is aimed at studying the voltage patterns and currents in space and on the ground. This will be done by careful analysis of data collected by: (a) the international Super Dual Auroral Radar Network of radars (SuperDARN); (b) the versatile and powerful incoherent scatter radar at Resolute Bay (including both the Canadian and US portions); (c) the ongoing international satellite missions with strong Canadian participation, e-POP and Swarm. Several key topics in space physics will be addressed: (1) the dependence of the ionospheric voltages upon variations in the solar wind and IMF conditions; (2) the patterns of plasma flows related to a special type of aurora borealis, namely polar cap arcs; (3) plasma density patches travelling across the polar regions from dayside to nightside; (4) the effects of voltages and currents on the operation of radio communication systems in the Canadian High Arctic. This research program focuses on training both undergraduate and graduate students for work in satellite, aerospace and related industries, as well as for agencies performing environmental monitoring and protection.**