British Antarctic Survey Consolidated Grant

在延伸到太空的行星磁场中，高能带电粒子被捕获，形成了对航天器和人类有害的区域。这些辐射带增长和下降的方式是空间科学科学努力的一个主要焦点。了解太空中这些危险区域的基本原理，对于预测它们对航天器构成的危害程度至关重要。在过去的三年里，在土星上发现了一种新的、非常快速的电子向行星传输的机制。这与几十年前的理论相比是一个重大的变化，该理论一直被认为是电子向行星或远离行星运动的基础。这个项目的目标是测试这种新机制对土星辐射带行为的影响，并结合我们在过去几年里发现的波对土星高能电子的影响。结果将向我们展示土星空间环境的独特条件是如何将局部加速和损失过程与这种向行星传输电子的新模式结合起来的。这也将有助于确定共振波加速和电子损失是否是一个普遍的过程，这一过程更广泛地适用于太阳和其他天体物理对象，例如在我们太阳系外发现的越来越多的行星。该项目将有助于为未来的行星航天器任务和太阳系外行星的调查设定新的研究目标，为年轻科学家提供研究培训，开发将用于空间工业规划未来的外行星任务的计算机模型，并在项目完成后留下将持续很长时间的理解遗产。

Within the magnetic fields of planets that extend into space, energetic charged particles are trapped creating regions that are hazardous to spacecraft and humans. The way these radiation belts grow and decline is a major focus of scientific endeavour in space science. Understanding the fundamental principles of how these dangerous regions in space behave is vital for predicting the level of hazard they pose to spacecraft.In the last three years a new and very rapid mechanism for transporting electrons towards the planet has been discovered at Saturn. This is a significant change from the decades old theory that has been assumed to underlie the motion of electrons towards or away from the planet. The goal of this project is to test the effects of this new mechanism on the behaviour of Saturn's radiation belt in conjunction with what we have also discovered in the past few years about the effects of waves on energetic electrons at Saturn.The results will show us how the unique conditions in Saturn's space environment combine local acceleration and loss processes with this new mode of transporting electrons towards the planet. This will also help to determine whether resonant wave acceleration and loss of electrons is a universal process that is more widely applicable to the Sun and other astrophysical objects such as the increasing number of planets discovered outside our Solar System.This project will aid with setting new research goals for future spacecraft missions to the planets and investigations of planets beyond our Solar system, provide research training for young scientists, develop computer models that will be of use to the space industry in planning future missions to the outer planets, and leave a legacy of understanding that will last long after the completion of the project.