Copyright © National Academy of Sciences. All rights reserved.
Solar and Space Physics: A Science for a Technological Society
REPORT OF THE PANEL ON ATMOSPHERE-IONOSPHERE-MAGNETOSPHERE INTERACTIONS
163
and the boundary conditions for AIM efforts. These include NASA’s ACE, SDO, and STEREO missions for
studying the Sun and solar wind, and NASA’s RBSP (renamed the Van Allen Probes) for studying Earth’s
radiation belts. The NASA TIMED mission continues to provide valuable IT science, as does the USAF
C/NOFS satellite, which was placed in a unique, low-inclination orbit where its instruments gather data
related to the unstable equatorial ionosphere. NASA’s Sounding Rocket Program supports a variety of
cutting-edge investigations in the ionosphere, thermosphere, and mesosphere focused on solving outstanding science questions at high, middle, and low latitudes. International programs such as ESA’s SWARM
and GOCE missions and Canada Space Agency’s e-POP payload on its CASSIOPE satellite will further
contribute to AIM science and enrich international collaboration. The NSF AMISR-class incoherent scatter
radars are currently deployed near Poker Flat, Alaska (PFISR), and Resolute Bay, Canada (RISR), the latter
consisting of two full radar faces, one funded through an international collaboration with Canada. Plans
are being developed to deploy an additional radar in Antarctica and to relocate the PFISR facility to La
Plata, Argentina, a location magnetically conjugate to Arecibo. NSF also supports the AMPERE project,
which utilizes the engineering magnetometers aboard the Iridium communications network to resolve
field-aligned magnetospheric currents in the auroral zone.
8.4 SCIENCE GOALS AND PRIORITIES FOR THE 2013-2022 DECADE
The range of intellectually stimulating science questions that arise within the purview of atmosphereionosphere-magnetosphere interactions is enormous. However, there are a subset whose connections to
the needs of a 21st-century society make them compelling; it is on this basis that the panel defined the
science challenges articulated in this section. Moreover, they also form an integral part of the key science
goals (see Chapter 1) that this solar and space physics decadal survey has set forth as its prime agenda.
Before proceeding, it is useful to consider the ionosphere-thermosphere from a systems perspective
and to describe what aspects of the system behavior need to be understood in order to advance toward a
predictive capability. Figure 8.1 provides a useful reference. First, it must be understood how energy and
momentum inputs from the magnetosphere are spatially and temporally distributed in the polar and auroral
regions, and how the global IT system responds to these inputs. Equally important, it must be understood
how energy and momentum are transferred from the lower atmosphere into the IT system, and what this
means in terms of IT spatial and temporal variability. Key to the above, it must further be understood how
internal processes transform and transfer energy and momentum within the system, regulate responses to
external forcing, and control the formation of regional and local structures in both neutral and ionized
constituents. The consequences of two-way interactions between the IT system and the magnetosphere
must also be considered. In this context, it must be understood how the high-latitude IT system moderates the transfer of energy from the solar wind and magnetosphere and how the inner magnetosphere and
plasmasphere interact with the mid-latitude ionosphere and drive its variability.
Achieving the above level of understanding is a multidecade task. The AIMI panel has, however, narrowed the scope of aspirations to five AIMI science goals that have the potential to be comprehensively
addressed with current technologies or those under development, and within the 2013-2022 decade. These
are enumerated in Figure 8.6 and are expanded on throughout the remainder of this section. In addition,
Figure 8.6 maps AIMI science goals into the decadal survey’s key science goals 1-4, and the text below
explains these mappings further. Finally, the following section sets forth a prioritized set of strategies to
address these challenges.
Solar and Space Physics: A Science for a Technological Society
REPORT OF THE PANEL ON ATMOSPHERE-IONOSPHERE-MAGNETOSPHERE INTERACTIONS
163
and the boundary conditions for AIM efforts. These include NASA’s ACE, SDO, and STEREO missions for
studying the Sun and solar wind, and NASA’s RBSP (renamed the Van Allen Probes) for studying Earth’s
radiation belts. The NASA TIMED mission continues to provide valuable IT science, as does the USAF
C/NOFS satellite, which was placed in a unique, low-inclination orbit where its instruments gather data
related to the unstable equatorial ionosphere. NASA’s Sounding Rocket Program supports a variety of
cutting-edge investigations in the ionosphere, thermosphere, and mesosphere focused on solving outstanding science questions at high, middle, and low latitudes. International programs such as ESA’s SWARM
and GOCE missions and Canada Space Agency’s e-POP payload on its CASSIOPE satellite will further
contribute to AIM science and enrich international collaboration. The NSF AMISR-class incoherent scatter
radars are currently deployed near Poker Flat, Alaska (PFISR), and Resolute Bay, Canada (RISR), the latter
consisting of two full radar faces, one funded through an international collaboration with Canada. Plans
are being developed to deploy an additional radar in Antarctica and to relocate the PFISR facility to La
Plata, Argentina, a location magnetically conjugate to Arecibo. NSF also supports the AMPERE project,
which utilizes the engineering magnetometers aboard the Iridium communications network to resolve
field-aligned magnetospheric currents in the auroral zone.
8.4 SCIENCE GOALS AND PRIORITIES FOR THE 2013-2022 DECADE
The range of intellectually stimulating science questions that arise within the purview of atmosphereionosphere-magnetosphere interactions is enormous. However, there are a subset whose connections to
the needs of a 21st-century society make them compelling; it is on this basis that the panel defined the
science challenges articulated in this section. Moreover, they also form an integral part of the key science
goals (see Chapter 1) that this solar and space physics decadal survey has set forth as its prime agenda.
Before proceeding, it is useful to consider the ionosphere-thermosphere from a systems perspective
and to describe what aspects of the system behavior need to be understood in order to advance toward a
predictive capability. Figure 8.1 provides a useful reference. First, it must be understood how energy and
momentum inputs from the magnetosphere are spatially and temporally distributed in the polar and auroral
regions, and how the global IT system responds to these inputs. Equally important, it must be understood
how energy and momentum are transferred from the lower atmosphere into the IT system, and what this
means in terms of IT spatial and temporal variability. Key to the above, it must further be understood how
internal processes transform and transfer energy and momentum within the system, regulate responses to
external forcing, and control the formation of regional and local structures in both neutral and ionized
constituents. The consequences of two-way interactions between the IT system and the magnetosphere
must also be considered. In this context, it must be understood how the high-latitude IT system moderates the transfer of energy from the solar wind and magnetosphere and how the inner magnetosphere and
plasmasphere interact with the mid-latitude ionosphere and drive its variability.
Achieving the above level of understanding is a multidecade task. The AIMI panel has, however, narrowed the scope of aspirations to five AIMI science goals that have the potential to be comprehensively
addressed with current technologies or those under development, and within the 2013-2022 decade. These
are enumerated in Figure 8.6 and are expanded on throughout the remainder of this section. In addition,
Figure 8.6 maps AIMI science goals into the decadal survey’s key science goals 1-4, and the text below
explains these mappings further. Finally, the following section sets forth a prioritized set of strategies to
address these challenges.