RUI/CMG: Multiscale Approach to Wave Propagation through Turbulent Regions of Earth's Space Environment

Augsburg University, Minneapolis MN

Investigators

Abstract

This is an award under the CMG program (Collaborations Between the Mathematical Sciences and the Geosciences) to support mathematical modeling of processes in the magnetosphere. It is jointly funded by the Physical Meteorology program in the Division of Atmospheric Sciences and the Research in Undergraduate Institutions (RUI) program of the Division of Mathematical Sciences. Phenomena originating in the solar wind cause magnetic pulsations upstream from the earth and inside the magnetosphere. They propagate through the magnetosheath but their source and means of propagation are not understood. The broad range of spatial scales and complex dynamics of the plasma regions affected by the pulsations have posed major obstacles to modeling the phenomenon. A new mathematical tool, called multiresolution homogenization, circumvents some of the difficulties. The method constructs mathematical models that implicitly account for a wide range of scales while requiring explicit modeling of only selected scales. It will be applied to modeling waves in the turbulent magnetosheath with the objectives of (1) understanding wave propagation in the magnetosheath and (2) gaining insight on properties of the magnetosheath itself. As society becomes more dependent on satellite communications, it is increasingly important to understand phenomena in the magnetosphere that affect electromagnetic signal propagation.