System Science and the ITM lab

The Ionosphere-Thermosphere-Mesosphere (ITM) region extends from ~50-400 km above s surface and it is inaccessible to sustained study from in situ satellites due to large atmospheric drag. This ITM system responds to energy input derived from the solar wind-magnetosphere coupling. Our lab utilizes a full suite of techniques to study this interaction, including ground-based radar, auroral imagers, magnetometers, meteor radars, space based in situ (e.g., including cubesats and rockets) and remote measurements (e.g., ICON, GOLD), as well as numerical modeling

The work of our lab focuses on the neutral and ionized plasma responses to energy input from the solar-wind/magnetosphere interaction and also the feedback of the ITM system back out to the near-Earth space environment, which modifies this two-way coupling. Plasma from s magnetosphere deposits energy into the ITM system, ionizing previously neutral particles creating a plasma. These neutral and plasma populations operate under different governing physics, with the plasma tightly coupled to the magnetic field while the neutrals are not. This leads to a complex interplay between ions and neutrals that is the heart of the ITM system response.

Energy input into the ITM system is focused on key regions, including the cusp and auroral zone. Once deposited, this energy propagates across the entire ITM system in complex and currently poorly understood ways. EarthEarth