Local-Scale Drivers and Responses of Thermospheric Weather above Antarctica

对100公里以上至几百公里高度的地球高层大气的观测受到高度可变的力的影响，这些力来自顶部（太阳风与地磁场相互作用传递下来的能量和动量），也来自底部- - -来自低层大气和中间层，它们主要由太阳辐射驱动的全球大气环流产生重力波。探测卫星轨道以下的上层大气并不容易，因此只能使用远程技术仪器（如地面法布里-佩罗光谱仪，FPS）进行此类研究。这里感兴趣的纬度是极地地区，特别是南极洲，在麦克默多和南极站部署了两个现代fps。该奖项将侧重于从低层大气中的中性流体动力学到电离层和其上方地球空间域的等离子体电动力学的转变的行为和控制物理学。这个过渡区域通常被称为空间-大气相互作用区（SAIR）。SAIR的特性和动力学知识非常重要，因为它们强烈地影响着许多现代技术系统，如无线电波通信、导航和远程雷达应用。这项研究的主要目标是确定波浪和潮汐从下面向上传播和在SAIR中驱动扰动的作用，以及在驱动高纬度热层天气中来自上面的强迫的作用。这项研究的更广泛影响是通过学生的深度参与和对多样性和包容性的积极支持来培养下一代科学家。该奖项反映了美国国家科学基金会的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的知识价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

Observations of the Earth's upper atmosphere at the altitudes from above 100-km to a few hundred kilometers is subjected to highly variable forces as from the top (energy and momentum transferred down from the solar wind interaction with geomagnetic field) as well as from the bottom – from the lower atmosphere and mesosphere which generate gravity waves from the global atmospheric circulation driven mainly by the solar radiation. It is not easy to explore the upper atmosphere which lays below the satellite orbits, so only a remote technique instrumentation (such ground-based Fabry-Perot Spectrometers, FPS) is used for that kind of studies. Latitudes of interests here are polar regions, specifically Antarctica where two modern FPSs are deployed at McMurdo and South Pole stations. This award will focus on the behavior and governing physics of the transition from the neutral fluid-like dynamics in the lower atmosphere to the plasma electrodynamics in the ionosphere and geospace domain above it. This transitional domain is frequently called the Space-Atmosphere Interaction Region (SAIR). Knowledge of SAIR's properties and dynamics are important because they strongly impact many modern technological systems such as radio wave communication, navigation, and long-range radar applications. The primary goals of this research are identifying the role of waves and tides propagating upward from below and driving perturbation within the SAIR, and what is the role of forcing from above in driving high-latitudes thermospheric weather. The broader impact of this research is training the next generation of scientists through deep involvment of students and active support for diversity and inclusion.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.