Studies of Magnetosphere-Ionosphere Coupling and Space Weather using the Magnetometer Array for Cusp and Clust Studies (MACCS-west)

Augsburg University, Minneapolis MN

Investigators

Abstract

The investigators will continue the operation of, and analysis of data from, the western half of the Magnetometer Array for Cusp and Cleft Studies (MACCS) located in Arctic Canada. For the past eight years, the MACCS array of twelve magnetometers has provided critical information in support of studies of Earth's space environment. Because of the interaction of the solar wind with Earth's magnetic field, magnetic field lines at the boundary between interplanetary space and the magnetosphere map to the polar cusps, small regions near 75 degrees magnetic latitude at local noon in the northern and southern hemispheres. These cusp regions are the focus of much ground-based research because of their potential to provide diagnostics of plasma interactions along this remote and invisible boundary. Future scientific efforts using MACCS data will emphasize long-period ULF waves, dayside-nightside coupling, and transients such as sudden commencements, sudden impulses, traveling convection vortices, and magnetic impulse events, all of which appear to be driven by the solar wind and interplanetary magnetic field. The data reduction and analysis efforts associated with this project are highly suitable for undergraduate research participation, and it will build on currently strong programs of faculty and undergraduate student research. The study will benefit through collaboration with visiting scientists from Russia.