Investigating the Earth's magnetosphere using multi-spacecraft measurements

使用多航天器测量研究地球磁层

• 批准号: 2881734
• 金额: --
• 依托单位: University College London
• 依托单位国家: 英国
• 项目类别: Studentship
• 财政年份: 2023
• 资助国家: 英国
• 起止时间: 2023 至 无数据
• 项目状态: 未结题
• 来源: https://gtr.ukri.org/projects?ref=studentship-2881734
• 关键词: Investigating; Earth; magnetosphere; using; multi

The Earth's magnetosphere is a large dynamic structure whose behaviour remains only partially understood despite study over several decades. In the last decade an unprecedented and growing number of space plasma physics research missions has been collecting data in the magnetosphere, including Cluster, THEMIS, VAP, SWARM and MMS, each a multi-spacecraft mission in its own right. Careful planning has gradually brought the orbits of Cluster, MMS and THEMIS in particular into well coordinated alignments, so that the grand constellation has been able to make simultaneous measurements at key locations across the magnetotail in summer seasons, at the bowshock, magnetosheath and magnetopause in winter seasons and along the magnetopause flanks in spring and autumn seasons. Similarly, in all seasons these many spacecraft have regularly collected data throughout the inner magnetosphere.These newly collected data have as yet received limited attention, but the science operations that produced the data were designed to allow investigations of diverse unresolved or only partially resolved questions such as the nature of the process by which the cold, dense plasmasheet is formed, the nature and origin of north/south asymmetries on the magnetotail and of the cusps, the distribution and scale of reconnection sites through the magnetotail plasmasheet and across the magnetopause, the sequence of events in the magnetotail corresponding to auroral substorms, the fate of plasma populations injected into the inner magnetosphere during substorms and their possible contribution to radiation belt population enhancement and loss, and the physical processes at work in the auroral acceleration regions. The supervisor team has prior experience in all these areas.The aim of the project will be to explore the datasets produced in the planned observations seasons associated with one or more of these science goals, and to identify and analyse data from particularly interesting multi-mission, multi-spacecraft conjunctions, in order to shed new light on these long-standing questions. Magnetotail or magnetopause projects would likely be the most productive areas for initial study.

地球磁层是一个巨大的动态结构，尽管经过数十年的研究，但其行为仍然只有部分被了解。在过去的十年中，空前且数量不断增加的空间等离子体物理研究任务一直在收集磁层中的数据，包括 Cluster、THEMIS、VAP、SWARM 和 MMS，每个任务本身就是一个多航天器任务。经过精心规划，Cluster、MMS 和 THEMIS 的轨道逐渐协调一致，使得大星座能够在夏季对磁尾的关键位置、在夏季的弓震、磁鞘和磁层顶进行同步测量。冬季以及春季和秋季沿磁层顶侧面。同样，在所有季节，这些许多航天器都会定期收集整个内磁层的数据。这些新收集的数据尚未受到有限的关注，但产生这些数据的科学操作旨在允许调查各种未解决或仅部分解决的问题，例如作为形成冷而致密的等离子体片的过程的性质、磁尾和尖点上北/南不对称的性质和起源、通过磁尾等离子体片的重连接位点的分布和规模以及跨越磁层顶、对应于极光亚暴的磁尾事件序列、亚暴期间注入内磁层的等离子体种群的命运及其对辐射带种群增加和损失的可能贡献，以及极光加速中起作用的物理过程地区。主管团队在所有这些领域都有丰富的经验。该项目的目的是探索与一个或多个科学目标相关的计划观测季节中产生的数据集，并识别和分析来自特别有趣的多任务的数据，多航天器结合，以便为这些长期存在的问题提供新的线索。磁尾或磁层顶项目可能是初步研究最有成效的领域。