Plasma Structure, Dynamics and Energization Resulting from the Interaction of the Polar Wind with Inverted-V Structures

电离层与磁层的耦合是理解这些区域能量流动动力学的关键组成部分。该项目将解决极地风与场对齐电势下降的相互作用所产生的耦合，这些电势下降在离子能谱图中产生所谓的“倒V”特征。耦合过程发生在所有空间尺度上，直到离子陀螺半径，这个程序将解决所有这些尺度上的相互作用机制。该程序将确定各种现象的相对重要性，包括镜像力，对流，传导，扩散和波粒相互作用。这项工作将建立在PI在NSF之前的支持下开发的传输模型的基础上。

The coupling of the ionosphere to the magnetosphere is a critical component to the understanding of the dynamics of energy flow in these regions. This project will address the coupling that results from the interaction of the polar wind with the field-aligned electric potential drops that produce the so-called "inverted V" signature in ion energy spectrograms. The coupling process takes place on all spatial scales down to the ion gyroradius and this program will address the interaction mechanisms at all these scales. The program will determine the relative importance of a variety of phenomena, including the mirror force, convection, conduction, diffusion, and wave-particle interactions. This work will build on the transport model developed by the PI under prior NSF support.