GEM: Observational Study of Time-Dependent MI-Coupling During Auroral Formation

极光带是高层大气与地球磁层和太阳风耦合最重要的区域之一。在极光弧内，能量的主要传输形式是加速的带电粒子。数值模型现在能够对所涉及的过程的时间演化做出具体的预测，但仍然缺乏对模型的明确观测测试。该项目将利用三个高纬度设施的光学和雷达仪器(非相干散射雷达)的新能力：Sondrestrom设施(由国家科学基金会资助)和EISCAT(欧洲非相干散射雷达)和ESR(EISCAT Svalbard雷达)设施，由欧洲/日本财团资助。该项目将制定一个系统的观测框架，用于测量电离层的局部电动力学可变性，然后将利用这一能力将关于磁层-电离层电动力学随时间变化的观测结果与各种模型进行比较。该项目将涉及与EISCAT和ESR雷达相关的欧洲调查人员的国际合作，还将包括针对美国研究生的教育部分。

One of the most important regions where the upper atmosphere is coupled to Earth's magnetosphere and the solar wind is the auroral zone. Inside auroral arcs, the primary transport of energy is in the form of accelerated charged particles. Numerical models are now able to make specific predictions about the time-evolution of the processes involved, but definitive observational tests of the models is still lacking. The project will utilize new capabilities from optical and radar instrumentation (Incoherent Scatter Radars) at three high-latitude facilities: the Sondrestrom facility (funded by NSF) and the EISCAT (European Incoherent Scatter radar) and ESR (EISCAT Svalbard Radar) facilities funded by a European/Japanese consortium. The project will develop a systematic observational framework for measuring local electrodynamic variability in the ionosphere and will then utilize that capability to compare observations on the time-dependent nature of magnetosphere-ionosphere electrodynamics with the various models. The project will involve international collaborations with European investigators associated with the EISCAT and ESR radars and will also have an educational component for a U.S. graduate student.