Conductance Effects on Global Magnetosphere-Ionosphere Evolution during Storms and Superstorms
Team PI
Meers Oppenheim
Who Will Do What:
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NASA group will update STET and together with APL group make it a module of MIX.
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NCAR group with NASA and APL groups will modify TIEGCM with inputs from MIX + STET.
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BU group will update E-region turbulence modeling and parameterization of the nonlinear conductivity corrections, as well as study the effect of electron precipitation on the E-region turbulence.
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APL and NCAR groups will perform global MIT simulations using updated codes.
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All groups will identify geophysically interesting events with the results of AMPERE, SuperDarn, etc. observations.
Tasks 1-3 are parallel followed by parallel tasks 4,5. All groups can collaborate on each task, if this seems to be appropriate and justified.
What Are Our Expectations:
All our groups belong to the Space Science modeling/theory community.
All decision making in the project will be based on collective discussions between the team members involved.
What Are Our Objectives:
Using physics-based models, to quantify effects of ionospheric conductance and Joule heating during extreme solar events by including electron precipitation and E-region ionospheric turbulence.
What Are Our Goals:
Parameterize the results from the kinetic precipitation simulator, STET, and incorporate this into the magnetosphere/ring-current/Ionosphere (LFM/MIX/RCM/TIEGCM) simulator. Analyze the feedback of precipitation on ionospheric turbulence to:
1) deliver parameterized nonlinear corrections for the conductance models to be used in any global MHD modeling of extreme Solar activity events;
2) and estimate possible effects of the new conductivity model on Joule heating and thermospheric dynamics. The JHU/APL team is working separately on a full rewrite of LFM (now GAMERA) and MIX (now REMIX). The new codes will be used for the proposed tasks as appropriate.
What Are Our Milestones:
Year 1: Update STET for arbitrary electron distribution functions and make it a subroutine of MIX. Recalibrate the precipitation parameters from LFM to GAMERA and test TIEGCM with inputs from the updated MIX routine. Study interaction between precipitation and E-region turbulence.
Year 2: Incorporate MIX w/ STET parameterization into LFM to calculate electron conductances and energy fluxes; modify TIEGCM to use data from STET; continue studying interaction between precipitation and E-region turbulence.
Year 3: Combine TIEGCM with LFM/MIX/RCM and start self-consistent CMIT simulations; create STET MI coupling module; identify geophysically interesting events with sufficient AMPERE, SuperDARN and other observations.
Year 4: Perform case studies with the fully coupled CMIT model and make final parameterized corrections for conductance models to be used in various global simulations.
COIs
George Khazanov
Slava Merkin
Wenbin Wang
Yakov Dimant
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BU (Oppenheim, Dimant): Theory and simulations of E-region ionospheric turbulence
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NASA Goddard (Khazanov): Kinetic modeling of precipitating electrons (STET)
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APL/JHU (Merkin): Global MHD simulations of magnetosphere/ionosphere (LFM/MIX)
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NCAR/UCAR (Wang): Global simulations of ionosphere/thermosphere (TIEGCM)
