CAREER: Revealing the Connection between Pulsating Aurora and the Dynamics of the Inner Magnetosphere

脉动的极光出现在天空中的大片区域，开启和关闭它们的发光模式。这种独特类型的极光是通过赤道磁层中的波-粒子散射产生的。关于这个过程是如何发生的，以及它与亚风暴活动的关系，还有许多问题仍然存在，该项目将解决这些问题。该项目将支持对早期职业女性PI的研究，以及旨在留住STEM领域女性和代表性不足的少数族裔的外联方案，主要是通过针对当地高中生的空间物理与天文学研究营(SPARK)，以及通过名为草原国家物理伙伴关系的同行指导和招聘方案。该项目旨在解决与脉动极光有关的三个悬而未决的问题：(1)引起极光脉动的基本过程是什么？(2)脉动极光过程如何与亚风暴活动和辐射带/环流动力学联系在一起？(3)脉动极光事件的空间范围是什么，什么条件影响这种范围？这些问题将通过创造性地使用机器学习、地面成像仪观测和联合时间内的航天器数据来解决。这些问题的成功解决将代表着我们对脉动极光和磁层-电离层耦合的理解的一次飞跃。这一奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的智力优势和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

Pulsating aurora occur in large patches across the sky, turning their lit-up patterns on and off. This distinct type of aurora is produced through wave-particle scattering in the equatorial magnetosphere. There are many questions remaining about how this process occurs and how it is related to substorm activity, which the project will address. The project will support research for an early career female PI and outreach programs targeted at retaining women and under-represented minorities in STEM fields, primarily through a Space Physics & Astronomy Research Kamp (SPARK) for local high school students and through a peer mentorship and recruitment program called Prairie States Partnership in Physics. The project aims to address three open questions related to pulsating aurorae: (1) What is the basic process that causes the pulsations?; (2) How does the pulsating aurora process tie into substorm activity and radiation belt/ring current dynamics?; and (3) What is the spatial extent of pulsating aurora events and what conditions affect that extent? These questions will be addressed through a creative use of machine learning, ground-based imager observations, and spacecraft data during conjunction times. The successful closure of these questions will represent a leap forward in our understanding of pulsating aurora and magnetosphere-ionosphere coupling.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.