| NSF Org: |
AGS Division of Atmospheric and Geospace Sciences |
| Recipient: |
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| Initial Amendment Date: | March 2, 2010 |
| Latest Amendment Date: | January 28, 2014 |
| Award Number: | 0955629 |
| Award Instrument: | Continuing Grant |
| Program Manager: |
Janet U. Kozyra
AGS Division of Atmospheric and Geospace Sciences GEO Directorate for Geosciences |
| Start Date: | March 1, 2010 |
| End Date: | February 29, 2016 (Estimated) |
| Total Intended Award Amount: | $463,508.00 |
| Total Awarded Amount to Date: | $463,508.00 |
| Funds Obligated to Date: |
FY 2011 = $90,396.00 FY 2012 = $92,626.00 FY 2013 = $94,934.00 FY 2014 = $97,316.00 |
| History of Investigator: |
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| Recipient Sponsored Research Office: |
701 S NEDDERMAN DR ARLINGTON TX US 76019-9800 (817)272-2105 |
| Sponsor Congressional District: |
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| Primary Place of Performance: |
701 S NEDDERMAN DR ARLINGTON TX US 76019-9800 |
| Primary Place of
Performance Congressional District: |
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| Unique Entity Identifier (UEI): |
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| Parent UEI: |
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| NSF Program(s): |
AERONOMY, MAGNETOSPHERIC PHYSICS |
| Primary Program Source: |
01001112DB NSF RESEARCH & RELATED ACTIVIT 01001213DB NSF RESEARCH & RELATED ACTIVIT 01001314DB NSF RESEARCH & RELATED ACTIVIT 01001415DB NSF RESEARCH & RELATED ACTIVIT |
| Program Reference Code(s): |
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| Program Element Code(s): |
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| Award Agency Code: | 4900 |
| Fund Agency Code: | 4900 |
| Assistance Listing Number(s): | 47.050 |
ABSTRACT
This project will use a variety of simulation and assimilative codes to investigate the accuracy of the energy inputs to the magnetosphere and the resulting response of the ionosphere and thermosphere. In particular the project will assess the significance of non-hydrostatic processes in the thermosphere/ionosphere response to magnetospheric forcing. The data sources that will be used will include neutral wind data from Fabry-Perot interferometers, satellite data from CHAMP, DMSP and NOAA/POES. Scientific questions that will be addressed are (1) how can the uncertainty in the Joule heating in the thermosphere and ionosphere be reduced, (2) what are the global ramifications of non-hydrostatic processes caused by sudden energy inputs and how significant are the processes on thermospheric winds and density, and (3) what are the mechanisms that lead to the enhanced neutral density in the cusp regions.
The educational goals of the project include research activities to be carried out by both graduate students and undergraduate students.
PUBLICATIONS PRODUCED AS A RESULT OF THIS RESEARCH
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PROJECT OUTCOMES REPORT
Disclaimer
This Project Outcomes Report for the General Public is displayed verbatim as submitted by the Principal Investigator (PI) for this award. Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this Report are those of the PI and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Science Foundation; NSF has not approved or endorsed its content.
A. Research Overview:
A series of investigations have been conducted to improve the understanding of solar wind – magnetosphere – ionosphere/thermosphere coupling and the description of the distribution of the energy inputs and their influence on the upper atmosphere. The major outcomes are specifically in the following three topics:
1. Estimation of energy inputs into the upper atmosphere:
(1) To gain an improved quantitative understanding of the solar wind - magnetosphere - ionosphere coupling processes, the capabilities of different models and observations to represent the variations of ionospheric forcing associated with high-speed solar wind streams are compared for year 2005. (2) Anomalously low geomagnetic energy inputs during 2008 solar minimum has been studied. We examined the variation of the energy budget to the Earth's upper atmosphere during last solar cycle from both solar EUV irradiance and geomagnetic energy, including Joule heating and particle precipitation. (3) Height distribution of Joule heating and its influence on the thermosphere have been studied using the National Center for Atmospheric Research Thermosphere-Ionosphere-Electrodynamics General Circulation Model (NCAR TIE-GCM). (4) Wavelength dependence of solar irradiance enhancement during flares and its influence on the upper atmosphere has been investigated using Flare Irradiance Spectral Model (FISM) and NCAR TIE-GCM. (5) Height-integrated Pedersen conductivity in both E and F regions has been estimated from COSMIC observations.
2. Influence of non-hydrostatic processes:
(1) To investigate the source of non-hydrostatic effects and the sensitivity of the vertical wind and neutral density at satellite orbits to the energy deposited at low and high altitudes, Global Ionosphere-Thermosphere Model (GITM) has been run for some idealized cases. (2) Simulation of the influence of non-hydrostatic processes on the gravity wave propagation in the upper atmosphere has been conducted. (3) We have investigated nonlinear IT response to induced acoustic-gravity waves (AGWs) resulting from various types of time-varying lower atmospheric wave forcing, including a traveling wave packet (TWP) and stochastic gravity wave (SGW) fields under relatively extreme circumstances using GITM with high-resolution settings.
3. Heating in the cusp and influence on the upper atmosphere:
(1) Simulations with the global ionosphere-thermosphere model (GITM) show that both Poynting flux and soft electron precipitation are important in producing neutral density enhancements near 400 km altitude in the cusp that have been observed by the CHAMP satellite. (2) GITM has been run in different cases and under different resolutions to investigate the neutral dynamics around the cusp region, especially the equatorward wind on the equatorward side of the cusp near the local noon observed by the balloon-borne Fabry-Perot interferometer called HIWIND (High altitude Interferometer WIND Observation). (3) Correlation between Poynting flux and soft electron precipitation in the cusp has been analyzed using the Defense Meteorological Satellite Program (DMSP) satellite data. It reveals a complex correlation between Poynting flux and soft particle precipitation. They are coincident in some cases (match cases), but a clear displacement between them can also be identified in others (non-match cases).
B. Education:
a) I have taught 2 senior level undergraduate classes and 1 graduate class.
b) 1 Post-doc (female), 5<...
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