Renewal of Understanding the effects of energy input from the solar wind to the magnetosphere-ionosphere-thermosphere system
Abstract
We propose to continue our study of energy deposition and dissipation in theionosphere-thermosphere (IT) system due to forcing by the solar wind. In our previous award weinvestigated energy deposition via Poynting flux and particle precipitation, demonstrating thatsignificant energy enters the IT system at polar latitudes.The electric and magnetic fields at high-latitude regions fluctuate on a variety of spatialand temporal scales. We propose to investigate these fluctuations and their contributions to theenergy input estimation into Earth’s IT system using a large data set of Defense MeteorologicalSatellite Program (DMSP) observations. We will characterize the variability of electric andmagnetic fields on different scales and explore their contribution on the estimation of Poyntingflux and Joule heating in the high-latitude regions for both hemispheres. The results of thisproposed study will be used to validate the specification of electromagnetic energy depositionand dissipation in the General Circulation Models (GCMs).A second focus of this proposal is the contribution of particle precipitation to the totalionization and heating. The precipitating electrons and ions significantly impact the conductivityprofile, which determines the distribution of energy input. The particle precipitation is normallyspecified in the GCMs by empirical models or simple parameterizations. We propose to use theconductivity calculated
Document Details
- Document Type
- DoD Grant Award
- Publication Date
- Jun 11, 2018
- Source ID
- FA95501810400
Entities
People
- Christos G. Christodoulou
Organizations
- Air Force Office of Scientific Research
- United States Air Force
- University of New Mexico