Collaborative Research: Investigation of Deep Polar Cap Dynamics Using an Autonomous Instrument Network

该奖项全部或部分由《2021年美国救援计划法案》（公法117-2）资助。地球空间环境是一个复杂的系统，由入射的太阳风等离子体流与地球磁场相互作用，并将其能量和动量转移到磁层。这种相互作用主要发生在地球的阳面，在那里重新连接的地磁力线可能是“开放的”，并直接连接到行星际磁力线，从而为太阳风能量向下转移到电离层和高层大气提供了直接途径。由电离层等离子体对流控制的极帽区域的空间范围划定了所谓的“开闭边界”，在这里太阳风粒子向下到达极地电离层。对该边界的观测在验证地磁场模型和帮助研究空间天气方面发挥着重要作用。受极地地区地球空间研究的推动，该奖项将允许科学家通过在南极极地帽区建立一个新的地面网络，研究磁层-电离层耦合过程和极地帽内电离层的不规则性及其对空间天气的影响。这将由韩国极地研究所（KOPRI）的团队使用三个新的仪器平台（下一代自动地球物理观测站）沿着从韩国南极站Jang Bogo到Dome C的康科迪亚站的雪穿越路线实现。这三个平台收集的地球空间数据将由美国和韩国的研究人员共享，并将提供给其他科学家。这项研究包括早期职业研究人员，以及将建立和操作远程南极平台的培训学生，以及分析收集的数据以调查空间天气事件并验证模型。该项目扩大了美国机构与KOPRI科学家和后勤支持人员的伙伴关系。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。

This award is funded in whole or part under the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 (Public Law 117-2). The Geospace environment comprises a complex system of the incoming solar wind plasma flow interacting with the Earth's magnetic field and transferring its energy and momentum into the magnetosphere. This interaction takes place mainly on the Earth's dayside, where reconnecting geomagnetic field line might be "open" and directly connected to the interplanetary magnetic field lines, thus providing direct pathways for the solar wind energy to be transferred down to the ionosphere and upper atmosphere. The spatial extent of the polar cap areas controlled by the ionospheric plasma convection demarcate the so-called "Open-Closed Boundary" where solar wind particles reach down polar ionospheres. Observations of that boundary serve the important role in validating geomagnetic field modeling and help studying space weather. Motivated by the compelling Geospace research in the polar regions, this award will allow scientists to investigate magnetosphere-ionosphere coupling processes and ionospheric irregularities inside the polar caps and their space weather impacts by establishing a new ground-based network that will be deployed in the Antarctic polar cap region. This will be achieved using three new instrumented platforms (next generation of Automatic Geophysical Observatories) along the snow traverse route from the Korean Antarctic Station Jang Bogo toward to the Concordia Station at Dome C by the Korea Polar Research Institute's (KOPRI) team. Geospace data collected by these three platforms will be shared by the U.S. and Korean researchers, as well as will be made available to other scientists. The research involves early-career researchers, as well as train students who will build and operate remote Antarctic platforms, as well as analyze collected data to investigate space weather events and validate models. This project expands the U.S. institutions partnership with the KOPRI scientists and logistical support personnel.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.