Collaborative Research: Multi-Spacecraft Investigation of Hot Flow Anomalies

热流异常(HFA)是在地球弓激波附近观察到的现象，其特征是强烈加热的等离子体和沿等离子体流动方向的大幅偏转。拟议研究的目的是确定氢氟烷烃的特性，了解氢氟烷烃内部的粒子加热是如何发生的，并确定它们对磁层和电离层的影响。第一年将对热流异常事件进行系统调查，以确定在弓激波上游和磁鞘中观测到的HFA的特征。在第二年，该项目将确定电子和离子是如何被加热的，以及高能粒子(25keV)是如何在HFA中加速的。在第三年，将确定氢氟烷烃对磁层和电离层的影响。该项目将使用各种数据集，包括THEMIS、星系团和GeoTail航天器在弓形激波附近的数据。拟议工作的意义在于它将提供关于HFA的基本信息，这些信息可以显著改变太阳风-磁层相互作用，产生冲击，并有效地为粒子提供能量。这项研究将促进我们对HFA的结构和特性、HFA内部粒子加热的物理基础以及它们对磁层和电离层的影响的理解。太阳风和磁层之间的相互作用是空间物理中的一个关键因素。这项研究将成为马萨诸塞大学洛厄尔分校大气研究中心一名来自少数族裔的研究生博士论文的核心。科学成果将在THEMIS科学金块网站上突出显示，该网站是为对THEMIS科学成果感兴趣但可能没有空间物理背景的公众开发的。

Hot Flow Anomalies (HFAs) are phenomena observed near the Earth's bow shock that are marked by strongly heated plasmas and substantial deflections in the plasma flow direction. The objective of the proposed research is to determine the characteristics of HFAs, understand how particle heating occurs inside HFAs, and determine their impact on the magnetosphere and ionosphere. The first year will be a systematic survey of hot flow anomaly events to determine the characteristics of HFAs observed upstream of the bow shock and in the magnetosheath. During the second year, the project will determine how the electrons and ions are heated and how the energetic particles (25 keV) are accelerated inside HFAs. During the third year, the impact of HFAs on the magnetosphere and ionosphere will be determined. The project will use a variety of data sets including data from the THEMIS, Cluster and Geotail spacecraft when they were located near the bow shock.The significance of the proposed work lies in the fundamental information it will provide about HFAs, which can significantly modify the solar wind-magnetosphere interaction, generate shocks, and energize particles efficiently. The study will advance our understanding of the structure and characteristics of HFAs, the physics underlying particle heating inside HFAs, and their impact on the magnetosphere and ionosphere. The interaction between the solar wind and the magnetosphere is a key element in space physics. This study will form the core of the Ph.D. thesis for a graduate student from an underrepresented minority at the Center for Atmospheric Research, University of Massachusetts, Lowell. The scientific results will be highlighted on the THEMIS science nugget website which was developed for members of the public who are interested in THEMIS science results but may not have space physics backgrounds.