Collaborative Research: Fe and Na Lidar Investigations of Geospace-Atmosphere Temperature, Composition, Chemistry, and Dynamics at McMurdo, Antarctica

This award is funded in whole or part under the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 (Public Law 117-2).

The Geospace coupling system consists of multiple domains transferring solar wind energy and momentum through the Earth's magnetosphere down to the polar ionosphere and thermosphere (neutral upper atmosphere). The 100-200 km altitude region is one of the most important domains where the magnetospheric energy dissipates by precipitating charged particles and respective Joule heating of the upper atmosphere.

However, this plasma-neutral coupling in this domain is the lees understood one because it is located well below satellite-observing altitudes, so only remote sensing techniques from the Earth's surface are available here - and observations of neutral winds and temperatures in this range of altitudes are rare. The observations that have been acquired by the LIDAR instrumentation at the McMurdo Station in Antarctica over the last decade have already enabled compelling new science.

Studies of plasma-neutral coupling significantly advanced understanding of these complex space-atmosphere interactions.

This award will advance a new concept of multistep vertical wave coupling from ground to the thermosphere that was develop from discoveries made by McMurdo lidars. This concept helps advancing the space weather modeling by better assessing the impact of the lower atmosphere forcing on the ionosphere and thermosphere dynamics. Gravity wave forcing on the polar upper atmosphere via wave drag and mixing is important to a wide range of research problems, including general circulation modeling, atmospheric chemistry modeling, thermal balance calculations, studies of airglow and metal layers, and the estimates of the cosmic dust influx.

The development of the absolute temperature climatology is crucial for calibrating satellite observations of the polar thermosphere and its connections with the mesosphere and lower atmosphere – they are needed to validate global climate models, and decades from now will serve as the baseline against which long-term temperature trends in the changing Antarctic climate are assessed. The sodium and Fe-Boltzmann lidars that have been operated at McMurdo acquire vertical profiles of neutral atmospheric parameters, including temperature from 30 to ~200 km, vertical winds, and iron & sodium densities in the mesosphere and lower thermosphere region.

This will provide answers on new science questions related to the complex physics, chemistry, and dynamics of the polar atmosphere and Geospace that are inspired by McMurdo lidar discoveries. These studies provided unique opportunities to train a new generation of scientists and engineers.

This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.