Understanding the Energy Pathways of Earth's Magnetosphere

电子设备是我们日常生活的一部分。它们使我们能够相互传递信息，为我们的家庭提供能源，并控制空中交通等关键系统，但它们很脆弱。太空天气描述了地球周围的电场和磁场如何变化。就像正常的天气一样，太空中也有风暴，当太空天气“地磁风暴”发生时，我们的电子设备可能会损坏，所以我们能够预测这些风暴何时发生是非常重要的。我的目标是获得对空间天气事件背后的物理学的新见解。磁层是围绕地球的磁环境，就像一个气泡。它充满了等离子体，一种导电的粒子混合物，在移动时产生电场和磁场。了解等离子体如何运动对于了解空间天气至关重要。来自太阳的粒子可以将能量放入磁层，在那里储存能量，直到可以释放。当能量被释放或卸载时，其中一部分可以通过极光进入大气层，另一部分可以进入磁层的等离子体。当等离子体的能量水平特别高时，就会发生地磁风暴。人们对风暴中能量卸载是如何发生的知之甚少。这是因为它发生在白天加载的延迟，这使得它们难以建模。我的研究结合了来自航天器和地面观测站的数据，以了解投入磁层的能量以及这种能量如何随时间变化。有了时间历程的知识和卸载的测量，我们将能够使用新的方法来模拟磁层对驱动的响应。我的研究旨在了解这些反应的时间尺度，这将使我们能够理解空间天气背后的物理学。这将通过加强预测地磁暴的基础而为社会带来长期利益。

Electronic devices are part of our everyday lives. They allow us to message each other, provide energy for our homes, and control critical systems like air traffic, but they are vulnerable. Space Weather describes how electric and magnetic fields change around Earth. Just like normal weather there are storms in space and when a Space Weather "geomagnetic storm" happens, our electronic devices can be damaged so it is extremely important that we can predict when these storms will happen. I aim to gain new insights into the physics behind Space Weather events. The magnetosphere is the magnetic environment that surrounds Earth like a bubble. It is filled with plasma, an electrically conducting mix of particles, which creates electric and magnetic fields as it moves. Understanding how plasma moves is crucial for understanding Space Weather. Particles from the Sun, can put energy into the magnetosphere where it is stored until it can be released. When the energy is released, or unloaded, some of it can end up in the atmosphere through the aurora and some of it can be put into the plasma in the magnetosphere. When the plasma's energy levels are particularly high, a geomagnetic storm happens. How the energy unloading happens in a storm is poorly understood. This is because it happens with a delay from the dayside loading, which makes them tricky to model. My research uses a combination of data from spacecraft and ground-based observatories to understand the amount of energy that is put into the magnetosphere and how this changes over time. With the knowledge of the time-history, and measurements of the unloading, we will then be able to model the magnetosphere's response to the driving using novel methods. My research aims to understand the timescales of these responses, which will allow us to understand the physics behind Space Weather. This will lead to long-term benefits for society by strengthening the foundations for predicting geomagnetic storms.