OUR PROPOSAL COMBINES MMS OBSERVATIONS AND MHD NUMERICAL SIMULATIONS FROM OPEN-GGCM TO STUDY THE FORMATION AND EVOLUTION OF FLUX TRANSFER EVENTS (FTES) OBSERVED AT THE EARTH'S MAGNETOPAUSE. IN PARTICULAR WE WILL DETERMINE WHICH CONDITIONS FAVOR THE OCCURRENCE OF BURSTY RECONNECTION AND FTE GENERATION ON THE DAYSIDE MAGNETOPAUSE AND WHICH (IF ANY) ON THE MAGNETOPAUSE FLANKS. FURTHERMORE WE WILL DETERMINE THE DIRECTION AND SPEED OF FTE MOTION AND HOW THE EVENTS EVOLVE OR DISINTEGRATE AS THEY MOVE DOWNSTREAM. WE WILL BE ABLE TO COMPARE FTES EVENT UNDER DIFFERENT SOLAR WIND CONDITIONS DURING MMS PHASES 1A (SEPTEMBER 2015 - MARCH 2016) FOR WHICH WE HAVE ALREADY STARTED COMPILING A PRELIMINARY LIST AND 1B (SEPTEMBER 2016 - JANUARY 2017). MHD SIMULATIONS WILL BE IMPORTANT TO INVESTIGATE HOW SOLAR WIND PARAMETERS E.G. THE SOLAR WIND SPEED INFLUENCE THE FTES OCCURRENCE.

$249,091FY2020National Aeronautics and Space AdministrationNASA

Catholic University Of America (The)

Investigators

View source on USAspending →

OUR PROPOSAL COMBINES MMS OBSERVATIONS AND MHD NUMERICAL SIMULATIONS FROM OPEN-GGCM TO STUDY THE FORMATION AND EVOLUTION OF FLUX TRANSFER EVENTS (FTES) OBSERVED AT THE EARTH'S MAGNETOPAUSE. IN PARTICULAR WE WILL DETERMINE WHICH CONDITIONS FAVOR THE OCCURRENCE OF BURSTY RECONNECTION AND FTE GENERATION ON THE DAYSIDE MAGNETOPAUSE AND WHICH (IF ANY) ON THE MAGNETOPAUSE FLANKS. FURTHERMORE WE WILL DETERMINE THE DIRECTION AND SPEED OF FTE MOTION AND HOW THE EVENTS EVOLVE OR DISINTEGRATE AS THEY MOVE DOWNSTREAM. WE WILL BE ABLE TO COMPARE FTES EVENT UNDER DIFFERENT SOLAR WIND CONDITIONS DURING MMS PHASES 1A (SEPTEMBER 2015 - MARCH 2016) FOR WHICH WE HAVE ALREADY STARTED COMPILING A PRELIMINARY LIST AND 1B (SEPTEMBER 2016 - JANUARY 2017). MHD SIMULATIONS WILL BE IMPORTANT TO INVESTIGATE HOW SOLAR WIND PARAMETERS E.G. THE SOLAR WIND SPEED INFLUENCE THE FTES OCCURRENCE. · GrantIndex