| NSF Org: |
AGS Division of Atmospheric and Geospace Sciences |
| Recipient: |
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| Initial Amendment Date: | August 22, 2023 |
| Latest Amendment Date: | August 22, 2023 |
| Award Number: | 2247758 |
| Award Instrument: | Standard Grant |
| Program Manager: |
Chia-Lin Huang
chihuang@nsf.gov (703)292-7544 AGS Division of Atmospheric and Geospace Sciences GEO Directorate for Geosciences |
| Start Date: | August 15, 2023 |
| End Date: | March 31, 2024 (Estimated) |
| Total Intended Award Amount: | $271,096.00 |
| Total Awarded Amount to Date: | $271,096.00 |
| Funds Obligated to Date: |
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| History of Investigator: |
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| Recipient Sponsored Research Office: |
4765 WALNUT ST STE B BOULDER CO US 80301-2575 (720)974-5888 |
| Sponsor Congressional District: |
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| Primary Place of Performance: |
4765 WALNUT ST STE B Bouder CO US 80301-2575 |
| 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): |
MAGNETOSPHERIC PHYSICS, Space Weather Research |
| Primary Program Source: |
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| 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
The interaction of the solar wind and the Earth's magnetic field created a collisionless shock called a bow shock in front of the Earth's magnetosphere. The incident particles can be accelerated and reflected at the bow shock, resulting in their counter-streaming along field lines and interacting with the local plasma. Earth's bow shock is a natural laboratory to study the complex interactions between the incident solar wind and the counter-streaming foreshock populations. This study aims to build a predictive model of the foreshock backstreaming ions, which can be integrated into a space weather prediction model to help accurately forecast and mitigate space weather hazards. An early-career female scientist leads this project and involves the participation of multiple early-career scientists. The related science materials will be presented to k-12 students, parents, and the general public audience through various outreach events to promote STEM education.
This study focuses on the foreshock ion properties and addresses the following questions: (1) What are the properties of the freshly reflected ions near the bow shock, including reflection rate, velocity, perpendicular and parallel temperatures and Velocity Distribution Function (VDF) types (e.g., field-aligned beam, ring distributions, etc), as a function of upstream solar wind conditions (e.g., speed, interplanetary magnetic field (IMF), Mach number, beta, etc) and shock normal angles? (2) How do the properties of the freshly reflected ions evolve spatially and temporally as they travel away from the bow shock as suggested by global simulations? (3) Can the obtained properties be explained by existing acceleration and reflection theories, such as adiabatic and specular reflections? The project combines analysis of satellite measurements and numerical simulations to reveal how the ion distributions are determined by the upstream solar wind conditions. This project will improve our understanding of the properties of the bow shock reflected ions and the related reflection, acceleration, and scattering processes.
This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.
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