Solar Wind Magnetosphere Coupling Functions: Practicalities and Physicalities

Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore MD

Investigators

Abstract

Recently a mathematical function was discovered that predicts how the solar wind couples to the magnetosphere for a wide variety of near-Earth space conditions and for a wide variety of phenomena in the magnetosphere and ionosphere. Several questions of significant geophysical interest and practical consequence arise from this discovery. One is to determine the absolute dayside magnetic merging rate (instead of a proportionality) by examining instances of unbalanced (rapid) dayside merging in two different ways. One method uses the latitude of the ionospheric cusp compared to appropriate magnetic field models, and the other examines changes in polar cap flux over an interval of rapid growth. These two predictors of solar wind driving allow the development of improved geomagnetic activity predictors. This will make it possible to produce a more physics based, operational predictor of important magnetic indices such as Kp and AE. The sensitivity of the global merging rate to the interplanetary magnetic field (IMF) cone angle will also be more fully explored. Part of this funding will support a young,post-doctoral scientist. The project will also involve a collaboration between scientists at the Virginia Tech and JHU/APL. This will also provide partial funding for the distribution of particle precipitation data from the Defense Meteorological Satellite Program (DMSP) to the general space science community. The DMSP data, from raw data to time-energy spectrograms to various high-level data abstractions, are used by researchers around the world. Young scientists are particularly heavy users of this NSF-funded data distribution system.