Investigating the Inner-Magnetosphere Hot Zone and the Magnetosphere-Ionosphere (M-I) Conjugate Subauroral Flows
Abstract
In the mid-latitude/subauroral ionosphere, the various types of plasma flow channels (such as Sub-Auroral Ion Drifts (SAID); Sub-Auroral Polarization Streams (SAPS)) develop near the plasmapause. Since SAID/SAPS are magnetosphere-ionosphere (M-I) conjugate, SAID/SAPS development starts in the inner magnetosphere, where the hot zone develops as well. The hot zone is a region of elevated ion and electron temperature located near the plasmapause, is susceptible to various instability mechanisms, and thus impacts the development of SAPS/SAID in various ways that are largely unknown. Furthermore, the hot zone is regarded as the most important region of interest for understanding the development and maintenance of SAID/SAPS, the hot zone itself is poorly understood because of the lack of studies. Moreover, during intense geomagnetic storms, the subauroral region becomes significantly impacted by the poleward expanding equatorial region and by the equatorward expanding polar region. These expanding regions lead to profound changes occurring in the mid-latitude/subauroral region where equatorial plasma bubbles develop in the close vicinity of the mid-latitude trough wherethe subauroral flows of SAID and SAPS develop. The proposed project intends to investigate the hot zone, the SAID and SAPS flows, the equatorial plasma bubbles and their relations in a comprehensive way. By utilizing magnetosphere, ionosphere, and M-I conjugate observations provided by the various satellite missions (https://cdaweb.gsfc.nasa.gov/cdaweb/istp_public/), the underlying geophysical processes will be investigated leading to the better understanding of the underlying driver mechanisms. These mechanisms drive space weather, which severely degrades space-based surveillance and navigation and transionospheric communications by signal scintillations. Therefore, there is a pressing need of employing high accuracy models for orbit determination and spacecraft control and for forecasting satellite signal scintillation. Such models include the Rice Convection Model (RCM) that is coupled electrodynamically to NRL#s SAMI3 model. By requesting model runs, RCM simulations will be obtained from the Community Coordinated Modeling Centre (https://ccmc.gsfc.nasa.gov/results/index.php) in order to test the RCM#s ability of reproducing the SAID/SAPS-related zonal drift and poleward electric field. Findings will benefit current SAID/SAPS studies at the NRL (Dr. Huba) and AFRL (Dr. Mishin), and will add to the #Next Generation Advances in Ionosphere Thermosphere Coupling at Multiple Scales for Environmental Specification and Prediction# MURI (Multidisciplinary University Research Initiative) project focusing on the correlative analyses of in situ satellite and remote sensing measurements led by Prof. Rod Heelis (http://aeronomy.haystack.mit.edu/muri/team/focus-groups/).
Document Details
- Document Type
- DoD Grant Award
- Publication Date
- Jul 24, 2023
- Source ID
- N629092312057
Entities
People
- Ildiko Horvath
Organizations
- Office of Naval Research
- United States Navy
- University of Queensland