Grant For Research NNX16AG64G

This is a $592,566.71 grant awarded by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) to the University of Colorado (CU) to conduct research on the dynamics and coupling of the Earth's magnetosphere, ionosphere, and atmosphere. The research aims to delineate and understand how complexity in the form of time-varying longitude structures is introduced into the ionosphere through lower atmosphere coupling, the longitude-dependent magnetic field, and time-varying solar flux. The data to be utilized includes CINDI measurements of oxygen densities and plasma drifts in the equatorial region during 2009 to 2014, as well as CHAMP measurements of electron densities covering 2002 to 2010. Numerical experiments using the NCAR physics-based Thermosphere Ionosphere Electrodynamics General Circulation Model will be used to isolate and explore the relative importance of various mechanisms driving the observed ionospheric complexity. This research supports NASA's science goals to determine the dynamics and coupling of the Earth's magnetosphere, ionosphere, and atmosphere, and to discover and characterize fundamental processes that occur within the heliosphere and throughout the universe. The contract was awarded on May 15, 2016 and has a completion date of May 14, 2020. No set-aside designation was used for this award.