The Link between Solar Wind, Magnetosphere, Ionosphere
OVERVIEW
Context
The aims of this ISSI-BJ FORUM are related to the scientific questions of how the Sun controls the Earth’s magnetic environment and space weather. Recently the European Space Agency (ESA) and the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) selected a joint small mission (SMILE to be launched in 2021) to trace these processes from beginning (the Sun) to end (the Earth's aurora) and investigate how the solar wind interacts with the Earth's magnetic environment in a way unmatched so far.
SMILE is a self-standing mission in a highly elliptical Earth orbit which will observe solar wind-magnetosphere coupling via simultaneous in situ solar wind/magnetosheath plasma and magnetic field measurements, X-ray images of the magnetosheath and magnetic cusps, and UV images of global auroral distributions defining system-level consequences. During this FORUM the participants will discuss the interaction between Earth's protective shield – the magnetosphere – and the supersonic solar wind. SMILE is expected to give an important contribution to our understanding of space weather and, in particular, the physical processes taking place during the continuous interaction between the solar wind and the magnetosphere.
Objectives
CONVENERS
| Wang Chi | NSSC, CAS, China |
| Graziella Branduardi Raymont | UCL, UK |
| Benoit Lavraud | CNRS, France |
| Tony Lui | APL, USA |
| Maurizio Falanga | ISSI-BJ, China |
