Solar and Space Physics


Book Description

In 2010, NASA and the National Science Foundation asked the National Research Council to assemble a committee of experts to develop an integrated national strategy that would guide agency investments in solar and space physics for the years 2013-2022. That strategy, the result of nearly 2 years of effort by the survey committee, which worked with more than 100 scientists and engineers on eight supporting study panels, is presented in the 2013 publication, Solar and Space Physics: A Science for a Technological Society. This booklet, designed to be accessible to a broader audience of policymakers and the interested public, summarizes the content of that report.




3rd IAGA/ICMA Workshop on Vertical Coupling in the Atmosphere/Ionosphere System/ Abstract


Book Description

The Final Proceedings for 3rd IAGA/ICMA Workshop on Vertical Coupling in the Atmosphere/Ionosphere 18 September 2006 - 22 September 2006. The 3rd IAGA/ICMA Workshop will focus primarily on those forcing mechanisms that originate in the lower atmosphere on their transmission into the atmosphere-ionosphere system and the ways in which these are influenced by changing solar geomagnetic and anthropogenic drivers. The workshop will address recent studies on atmospheric coupling with special emphasis on the following topics: (i) coupling by mean circulation atmospheric tides and planetary and gravity waves; (ii) coupling by transport of atmospheric constituents and feedback of chemistry on dynamics; (iii) electrodynamic coupling and atmospheric electricity; (iv) modelling utilized for understanding the coupling processes. The workshop aims to stimulate the integration of observations and models to provide physical explanations for and new insights into the range of phenomena that result from coupling and feedbacks in the atmosphere-ionosphere system. The symposium will provide the next opportunity for the international research community to review the progress made so far and suggest some future directions in the investigation of all significant couplings (dynamic and electrodynamic radiative transport and chemistry of atmospheric constituents) trigger mechanisms and feedback processes.




Magnetosphere-Ionosphere Coupling


Book Description

In the past two decades a succession of direct observations by satellites, and of extensive computer simulations, has led to the realization that the polar ionosphere plays a principal role in large-scale magnetospheric processes - a manifestation of the physics linkage involved in solar-terrestrial interactions. Spatial/temporal variations in high-latitude electromagnetic phenomena, such as dynamic aurorae, electric fields and currents, have proved to be extremely complex. Now the challenge is to comprehend the vast amount of complicated measurements made in this magnetosphere-ionosphere sysstem of the Earth. This book addresses the electrical coupling between the hot, but dilute, magnetospheric plasma and the cold, but dense, plasma in the ionosphere. In five major chapters, this book presents: - basic properties of magnetosphere-ionosphere coupling; - morphology of electric fields and currents at high latitudes; - global modeling of magnetosphere-ionosphere coupling; - modeling of ionospheric electrodynamics; - current issues, such as auroral particle acceleration, substorms, penetration of high-latitude fields into low latitudes.




Magnetosphere-Ionosphere Coupling in the Solar System


Book Description

Over a half century of exploration of the Earth’s space environment, it has become evident that the interaction between the ionosphere and the magnetosphere plays a dominant role in the evolution and dynamics of magnetospheric plasmas and fields. Interestingly, it was recently discovered that this same interaction is of fundamental importance at other planets and moons throughout the solar system. Based on papers presented at an interdisciplinary AGU Chapman Conference at Yosemite National Park in February 2014, this volume provides an intellectual and visual journey through our exploration and discovery of the paradigm-changing role that the ionosphere plays in determining the filling and dynamics of Earth and planetary environments. The 2014 Chapman conference marks the 40th anniversary of the initial magnetosphere-ionosphere coupling conference at Yosemite in 1974, and thus gives a four decade perspective of the progress of space science research in understanding these fundamental coupling processes. Digital video links to an online archive containing both the 1974 and 2014 meetings are presented throughout this volume for use as an historical resource by the international heliophysics and planetary science communities. Topics covered in this volume include: Ionosphere as a source of magnetospheric plasma Effects of the low energy ionospheric plasma on the stability and creation of the more energetic plasmas The unified global modeling of the ionosphere and magnetosphere at the Earth and other planets New knowledge of these coupled interactions for heliophysicists and planetary scientists, with a cross-disciplinary approach involving advanced measurement and modeling techniques Magnetosphere-Ionosphere Coupling in the Solar System is a valuable resource for researchers in the fields of space and planetary science, atmospheric science, space physics, astronomy, and geophysics. Read an interview with the editors to find out more: https://eos.org/editors-vox/filling-earths-space-environment-from-the-sun-or-the-earth




Vertical Coupling and Variability in the Tropical Atmosphere/Ionosphere System


Book Description

The main objective of this research was to understand the processes that dynamically couple the troposphere at equatorial tropical latitudes with the overlying thermosphere-ionosphere. and identify those aspects of ionospheric variability which may be directly attributable to these processes. Using a combination of data analyses and numerical simulations, a new understanding of the excitation mechanisms, propagation characteristics, and lower thermosphere perturbations relating to tropospherically-excited Kelvin waves and nonmigrating tides has been developed. In addition. an analyses of ionospheric data was completed that provides an estimate of the "meteorological" contributions to ionospheric space weather.




Cross-Scale Coupling and Energy Transfer in the Magnetosphere-Ionosphere-Thermosphere System


Book Description

Cross-Scale Coupling and Energy Transfer in the Magnetosphere-Ionosphere-Thermosphere System provides a systematic understanding of Magnetosphere-Ionosphere-Thermosphere dynamics. Cross-scale coupling has become increasingly important in the Space Physics community. Although large-scale processes can specify the averaged state of the system reasonably well, they cannot accurately describe localized and rapidly varying structures in space in actual events. Such localized and variable structures can be as intense as the large-scale features. This book covers observations on quantifying coupling and energetics and simulation on evaluating impacts of cross-scale processes. It includes an in-depth review and summary of the current status of multi-scale coupling processes, fundamental physics, and concise illustrations and plots that are usable in tutorial presentations and classrooms. Organized by physical quantities in the system, Cross-Scale Coupling and Energy Transfer in the Magnetosphere-Ionosphere-Thermosphere System reviews recent advances in cross-scale coupling and energy transfer processes, making it an important resource for space physicists and researchers working on the magnetosphere, ionosphere, and thermosphere. Describes frontier science and major science around M-I-T coupling, allowing for foundational understanding of this emerging field in space physics Reviews recent and key findings in the cutting-edge of the science Discusses open questions and pathways for understanding how the field is evolving