Purchase Order 80NSSC20P1486

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...

This is a $114,653.77 grant award from the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) to the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) to study the role of kinetic ballooning instability in triggering substorm onset in the Earth's magnetosphere. The research aims to determine the properties of pre-onset and onset waves in the near-Earth plasma sheet and their connection to the instability driving substorm onset. The grant leverages data from NASA's THEMIS and GEOTAIL satellite...

Computational Physics, Inc. was awarded a $178,220.18 research grant from the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) to develop the Mesospheric Atmospheric Gravity Wave and Temperature Sensor (MAGWATS). The goal of this instrument is to directly image mesospheric gravity waves and temperatures at an altitude of approximately 90 km to study dynamic forcing and thermal coupling in the upper atmosphere and ionosphere. This work is aligned with NASA's heliophysics research...

This is a $403,176.52 grant awarded by NASA to the University of Colorado for a study on the influence of storm-time neutral winds on Subauroral Polarization Streams (SAPS) in the magnetosphere-ionosphere-thermosphere (MIT) coupling system. The research aims to identify, separate, and quantify the feedback effect of neutral wind-generated electric fields on SAPS electric fields, ring current pressures, and region 2 field-aligned currents in the subauroral ionosphere-inner magnetosphere. The...

This is a research grant awarded by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) to the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) for $695,566.47. The purpose of the grant is to study the impact of geomagnetic storms on the ionosphere, which can affect radio communications and navigation systems. The research will utilize various data sources, including global electron content data, regional ionosphere observations, and in-situ satellite measurements, to better understand the...

This is a $232,620 grant awarded by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) Shared Services Center to the University Corporation for Atmospheric Research (UCAR) on December 1, 2019. The objective is to conduct a comprehensive study of storm-time behavior of mid-latitude and equatorial ionospheric electrodynamics and its interaction with the thermosphere. This will involve analyzing data from multiple satellites and ground-based measurements, as well as running physics-based...

This is a $154,073.43 grant awarded by NASA to the University of Colorado to study the dissipation of magnetospheric energy in the upper atmosphere. The research aims to understand the physical processes that drive temperature inversions observed in the lower thermosphere, such as changes in Joule heating, auroral particle precipitation, and other effects. The work combines lidar observations, satellite data, and a coupled thermosphere-ionosphere-plasmasphere model to address key science...

This is a grant awarded by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) to the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) for research related to the dynamics and coupling of the Earth's magnetosphere, ionosphere, and atmosphere. The $650,474.92 grant does not have a set-aside designation and will run through March 7, 2024. UCLA, through its Office of Research Administration, will use a combination of data from the Fast Auroral Snapshot (FAST) and Time History of Events and...

This is a $263,067 grant awarded by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) to the University of Maryland, College Park to conduct research into the response of the solar wind-magnetosphere-ionosphere system during extreme geomagnetic storms. The project will utilize NASA's 3D multifluid magnetohydrodynamics (MHD) code coupled with other modeling tools to simulate the behavior of the coupled magnetosphere-ionosphere system, with a focus on understanding the fast recovery rate...

This is a $395,773.83 grant awarded by NASA to The Regents of the University of Colorado, doing business as the University of Colorado Office of Contracts and Grants Division, a public research university. The purpose of the grant is to characterize changes in the neutral atmosphere during geomagnetic storms in order to improve the modeling of ion-neutral interactions in the topside ionosphere. This research supports NASA's Living With a Star (LWS) program goals of developing the scientific...