Laboratory Simulation of the Solar Wind Interaction with Planetary Atmospheres

1908年，Birkeland首次引入了著名的terrella实验，该实验在受控的实验室环境中模拟了磁层的一些特征。利用电子束，这个第一个陆地实验支持了他的极光研究。本基金用于下列研究的地面实验：1)地球磁尾的全球结构；2)大尺度场向极流；3)磁场的时间变化，重点是波动。一个强烈的球形偶极子场将被用作地球模型。从球体内部注入的高密度冷等离子体将围绕模型地球，模拟电离层。然后，这个地球模型将暴露在由大型等离子体枪产生的中等密度磁化等离子体束中，模拟太阳风。为了实现所提出的目标，将使用各种计算机辅助诊断粒子、场、电流和波来获取和分析综合数据。

Birkeland in 1908 was the first to introduce the famous terrella experiment which simulated some of the features of the magnetosphere in a controlled laboratory environment. Utilizing electron beams, this first terrella experiment supported his auroral investigations. This grant is for terrella experiments of the following studies: 1) global structures of the earth's magnetotail, 2) large scale field-aligned polar currents, and 3) temporal variations of fields with an emphasis on fluctuations. An intense spherical dipole field will be used as a model earth. A high density cold plasma injected from inside the sphere will surround the model earth, simulating the ionosphere. This model earth will then be exposed to a moderate density magnetized plasma beam produced by a large plasma gun, simulating the solar wind. To achieve the proposed objectives, various computer-aided diagnostics for particles, fields, currents, and waves will be used to obtain and analyze the comprehensive data.