How interplanetary shocks and coronal mass ejections evolve and interact with magnetospheres

This project aims to: (1) significantly advance knowledge of the early structure of Interplanetary Shocks (IPSs) and Interplanetary Coronal Mass Ejections (ICMEs), (2) determine how their electromagnetic structures and plasma environments evolve with distance from the Sun, and (3) connect this evolution to space weather.

The project is particularly timely since we are now entering a golden era of inner heliospheric observations.

We can take advantage of measurements from the recently launched Solar Orbiter (SolO) and Parker Solar Probe (PSP) missions, which will provide observations of the previously unexplored plasma environment close to the Sun and across other helio distances.

When observed at 1 AU, IPSs and ICMEs are already significantly evolved and are a complex combination of preceding and existing physical processes. Using SolO/PSP, we can analyse the governing physics of IPSs and ICMEs extremely close to the Sun. These can then be compared to those which have been observed at 1 AU.

Advancing our understanding of ICMEs is of high scientific importance since they drive the most extreme space weather.

Current thinking suggests that features such as the leading shock geometry, internal small-scale flux rope configuration, and dynamic pressure variations may be possible triggers for substorms, which drive strong geomagnetic activity at high latitudes.

Now, for the first time, we will be able to determine if geoeffective structures are present early in ICMEs, arise due to multiple interacting ICMEs, or develop due to internal ICME dynamics during the radial evolution.