Studies in Geospace Dynamics

拟议研究的目的是了解磁层的动力学。磁层物理学正处于一个关键时刻；未来几年进行的研究应该能在短短几分钟的时间尺度上揭示电离高层大气与太阳风耦合的主要机制。所涉及的科学不仅仅是要回答的地球物理问题；人们正在研究宇宙等离子体系统的行为。其他不太容易接近的例子是脉冲星、射电星系和太阳大气层。研究人员有一个长期的磁流体动力学过程的研究计划，该过程将来自太阳风的能量、动量和质量耦合到磁层、电离层和高层大气中。为了实现这一目标，学生和pi都将承担理论，数据分析和计算机模拟解释的混合。除了有助于理解控制磁层的基本过程外，这项工作还将在监测和预测地球轨道航天器自然发生的危害等应用中发挥作用。

The objective of the proposed research is to understand the dynamics of the magnetosphere. Magnetospheric physics is at a critical juncture; research to be carried out in the next few years should lay bared the dominant mechanisms for coupling the ionized upper atmosphere to the solar wind on time scale as short as a few minutes. The science involved concerns more than the geophysical questions to be answered; the behavior of a cosmical plasma system is being investigated. Other less accessible examples of such systems are pulsars, radio galaxies and the solar atmosphere. The Investigators have a long term program of investigation of the magnetohydrodynamic processes that couple energy, momentum, and mass from the solar wind into the magnetosphere, ionosphere, and upper atmosphere. Towards this objective, both students and P.I.s will undertake a mix of theory, data analysis, and interpretation of computer simulations. In addition to contributing to understanding the fundamental processes that govern the magnetosphere, the work will be useful in such applications as monitoring and predicting naturally occuring hazards to earth orbiting spacecraft.