Auroral substorm studies, ionosphere studies using superDARN and e-POP satellite instruments, sunspot-cycle-driven space weather and links to meteorological weather

太阳风对地球产生的最强烈影响之一是产生亚暴，在离地面100公里以上的电离层中产生绚丽的极光、强电流和粒子运动。 我们计划使用地面仪器研究显示、电流和运动，然后使用即将发射的加拿大e-POP卫星研究电离层内和电离层上方500-2000公里高度的影响。 太阳风与地球的相互作用发生在磁场的外部区域-磁层-扰动从磁层流向电离层。 亚暴有三个阶段，即增长阶段、膨胀开始阶段（电离层中的极光变亮并向东西两极扩展）和恢复阶段。 人们提出了两种主要的机制来解释爆炸性的开始，即从早晨流向夜晚的磁层（磁尾）的电流部分转向电离层，以及“磁重联”，它将能量从地球磁场转移到引起极光的带电粒子。 本建议的主要目的是发展一个新的亚暴模型的所有方面，我已经建议，其中包括上述两种机制。 虽然这个模型在原理上很简单，但要研究夜侧磁层邻近区域的过程，还需要进一步的发展。 磁尾中扭曲的磁场导致三个相邻的层，其中外两层的粒子运动和电流与中间层相反。 这产生了强烈的波活动，导致驱动起始阶段的磁重联。最后，亚暴只是太阳在11年太阳黑子周期中变化行为的一个方面，如果最近18年太阳黑子磁场的减弱继续下去，亚暴可能很快就会消失。最后一次发生在1645-1711年，当时欧洲的天气变得非常寒冷（小冰河时代）。 这项提议的一部分是揭示与太阳黑子周期有关的“太空天气”是如何导致地球天气变化的。

One of the most energetic effects of the impact upon the Earth of the solar wind is the production of substorms resulting in brilliant displays of auroras and strong currents and particle motions in the ionosphere more than 100 km above ground. We plan to use ground-based instruments to study the displays, currents and motions, and then to use the upcoming Canadian e-POP satellite to study the effects from heights of 500-2000 km in and just above the ionosphere. The interaction of the solar wind with the Earth takes place in the large outer region of magnetic field - the magnetosphere -from which disturbances flow down to the ionosphere. Substorms have three stages, the growth phase, the expansive onset phase in which the auroras in the ionosphere brighten and expand poleward and east-west, and the recovery phase. Two main mechanisms have been proposed to account for the explosive onset, namely partial diversion of currents flowing from the morning to evening side of the nightside magnetosphere (the magnetotail) down to the ionosphere, and "magnetic reconnection" which transfers energy from the Earth's magnetic field to the charged particles that cause the auroras. The main purpose of the present proposal is to develop all aspects of a new substorm model I have proposed which incorporates both the above mechanisms. Although simple in principle, the model requires much development to study the processes in neighbouring regions of the nightside magnetosphere. The distorted magnetic fields in the magnetotail lead to three neighbouring layers in which the particle motions and currents of the outer two layers are opposite to those in the middle. This produces strong wave activity that leads to the magnetic reconnection that drives the onset phase. Finally, substorms are just one aspect of the Sun's changing behavior during 11-year sunspot cycles, which may soon disappear if the recent 18-year weakening of magnetic fields in sunspots continues. This last happened in 1645-1711 when European weather became very cold (the Little Ice Age). Part of this proposal is to reveal how the sunspot- cycle-related "space weather" leads to changes in the Earth's weather.