M-I Coupling: Ground-based Observations of Ion Dispersion, Electron Energy, and Convection in the Dayside Aurora

本研究的目的是绘制两个观测站在白天极光下观测到的地球大气中质子和电子能量沉积的时空变化图。这张离子和电子能量沉积图将与superdamn雷达网络观测到的对流模式相结合，提供一幅相对完整的电离层日侧磁层过程特征动态图。先前的研究表明，离散极光与与太阳风到电离层的能量转移有关的磁层边界层过程之间有很强的关系。在斯瓦尔巴群岛朗伊尔城磁天顶获得的极光氢发射多普勒谱图已被证明是对入射离子能量的直接测量，这与行星际磁场的变化有关。观测将在斯瓦尔巴群岛朗伊尔城和新奥勒松的日侧极光下，将两台大口径光谱仪对准不同方向（最初在天顶），同时测量磁层顶合并事件电离层不同区域的H发射光谱剖面。从这些光谱和其他支持的光学数据中，研究人员将推断出磁层尖端电离层区域离子和电子能量的色散。从这一点和相关的观测到的对流模式，他们将推断出日侧磁层顶合并事件的位置和范围。在挪威的管辖下，斯瓦尔巴群岛在极地现象的国际科学研究中是独一无二的。来自许多国家的学生和研究人员全年都在进行研究。极光研究通常限于冬至前后的几个月，那时天色足够暗，可以观测北半球独有的白天极光。在每个观测季节，朗伊尔城至少举办一次公众科普讲座。当地学校班级经常访问，天文台被当地斯瓦尔巴群岛大学课程（UNIS）用作培训实验室。斯瓦尔巴群岛也是挪威和美国合作研究的国家科学基金会/极地计划项目的中心。空间天气研究的进展使得对太阳事件引起的太阳风扰动的产生有了更准确的描述。事实上，地球逆风的卫星不断地观察这些变化，但科学家们无法准确地预测这些对电离层的干扰的程度。这样做可以为无线电通信中断、电网故障和卫星子系统故障准备应急计划。在太阳风和地球电离层之间的关系中，两个最重要的未知数是涉及太阳风从日侧磁层顶和夜侧磁层尾向电离层转移的磁层过程。

The objective of this research is to map the spatial and temporal variations of the proton and electron energy deposition in Earth's atmosphere observed from two stations under the dayside aurora. This map of ion and electron energy deposition would be combined with the convection pattern observed by the SuperDARN radar network to provide a relatively complete dynamic picture of the ionospheric signatures of dayside magnetospheric processes. Previous studies have indicated a strong relationship between the discrete aurora and the magnetospheric boundary layer processes associated with the transfer of energy from the solar wind to the ionosphere. Auroral hydrogen emission Doppler spectral profiles obtained in the magnetic zenith at Longyearbyen, Svalbard have been shown to be a direct measure of the incoming ion energy, which is correlated with changes in the interplanetary magnetic field. The observations will be made by aiming two large-aperture spectrometers in different directions (initially in the zenith) under the dayside aurora at Longyearbyen and Ny Aalesund, Svalbard to measure the H emission spectral profile simultaneously in different regions of the ionospheric signature of a merging event at the magnetopause. From these spectra, and other supporting optical data, the investigators will deduce the dispersion of ion and electron energy in the ionospheric region of the magnetospheric cusp. From this and the associated observed convection pattern, they will deduce the location and the extent of a merging event on the dayside magnetopause. Governed by Norway, Svalbard is unique in its relation to international scientific investigations of polar phenomena. Students and investigators from many countries carry out research throughout the year. Auroral research is generally restricted to the months around the solstice when it is dark enough to carry out observations of the daytime aurora unique in the northern hemisphere. During each observing season, at least one public popular science lecture is given in Longyearbyen. Visits by the local school classes occur frequently, and the observatory is used as a training laboratory by the local University Courses on Svalbard (UNIS). Svalbard is also the center of an NSF/Polar Programs program of cooperative research between Norway and the US. Advances in the study of Space Weather have led to more accurate descriptions of the production of disturbances in the solar wind due to events on the Sun. Indeed, satellites upwind of Earth continuously observe these changes, but scientists are at a loss to predict, with any accuracy, the extent of these disturbances on the ionosphere. To do so would allow the preparation of contingency plans for radio communications blackouts, electric power grid failures, and satellite subsystem demise. The two most important unknowns in the relationship between the solar wind and the Earth's ionosphere are the magnetospheric processes involved in the transfer of solar wind power to the ionosphere from the dayside magnetopause and the nightside magnetospheric tail.