Improved Understanding of Thermosphere-Mesosphere-Stratosphere-Troposphere Coupling Using Lidar Measurements

日地关系是研究太阳光和粒子能量如何进入地球的大气层-电离层-磁层系统并在其中分布。电离层是高层大气（地球表面上方80至500公里）的带电区域，而磁层是太阳磁场与地球磁场相互作用产生的地球周围空间的延伸区域。大气部分传统上强调太阳能与低层大气的相互作用。在过去的20年里，人们已经认识到，低层大气与高层大气和电离层的耦合对于理解该系统至关重要。因此，需要在大范围高度上同时进行测量，以提供了解影响天气和气候的过程所需的投入，无论是在地表附近还是在地表以上数百公里处。

Solar-terrestrial relations is the study of how solar light and particle energy enters and is distributed through Earth's atmosphere-ionosphere-magnetosphere system. The ionosphere is the electrically charged region of the upper atmosphere (80 to 500 km above Earth's surface) while the magnetosphere is the extended region of space around Earth resulting from the Sun's magnetic field interacting with Earth's magnetic field. The atmospheric component traditionally emphasizes the interaction of solar energy with the lower atmosphere. Over the last 20 years it has been realized that the coupling of the lower atmosphere with the upper atmosphere and ionosphere is critical to understanding the system. Thus, simultaneous measurements over a wide range of heights are necessary to provide the inputs needed to understand processes which affect weather and climate, both near the surface and 100s of km above the surface.