Collaborative Research: Impacts of Ion-Neutral Coupling on Ion Upflow and Outflow in the Polar Cusp

Sri International, Menlo Park CA

Investigators

Abstract

Numerical modeling is one of the popular tools of modern space and atmospheric sciences. Computer simulations and numerical experiments allow the investigation various processes in the Earth environment and predict outcomes of these processes. Comparison with actual observational data allows the tuning of numerical models and improving this scientific tool. Many noted institutions are working on creating and constantly improving these models allowing scientists to utilize them for their research. Thus, the objective of the research will allow better understanding of the solar wind - magnetosphere interaction and improving global-scale coupled geospace models. This recommended collaborative effort is to investigate the dynamics and features of the interaction between ions and neutral atoms of the ionosphere and thermosphere during geomagnetic storms. The research focuses on how this interaction affects the upflow and outflow of ions. This investigation will consist of a series of numerical experiments applying global-scale geospace numerical models. Coupled Magnetosphere Ionosphere Thermosphere model (CMIT) will be used in combination with Ionosphere / Polar Wind Model (IPWM) to analyze how thermospheric changes can affect the ion upflow and outflow simulated in the IPWM. CMIT model is a combination of the Lyon-Fedder-Mobarry (LFM) Magnetospheric MHD model, the Magnetosphere Ionosphere Exchange (MIX) model of high-latitude electrodynamics, and the Thermosphere Ionosphere Electrodynamics General Circulation Model (TIEGCM). The research also concentrates on studying how the solar wind features and dynamics affect the ion-neutral interaction in the cusp and cleft and on finding specific distinctive signatures of this coupling, which could be recognized by ground-based instruments, for example, incoherent scatter radars at high latitudes.