Interactions of space processes with the atmosphere

From ElectricStorms

Contents 1 Comets and meteors in the atmosphere 2 Solar particle and UV radiation affecting NOx concentrations 3 The interplay of the ionosphere, magnetosphere and thunderstorms 4 Aurora

Comets and meteors in the atmosphere

Comets can be compared to dirty snowballs. We do not know much about comets with dimensions below 10 m, because they are difficult to observe. But it is possible that small comets supply water to the upper atmosphere as they evaporate.

Meteors are small pebbles which light up as shooting stars when they impact the upper atmosphere. Most are small and burn up in the atmosphere, but some reach the earth's surface. Little is known about meteors of dimensions smaller than 1 m.

ASIM will observe precipitation of meteors and small comets and their effect on the atmosphere. The measurements will give new insights into the formation of the solar system and how the atmosphere is affected by space.

Solar particle and UV radiation affecting NO_x concentrations

NO and NO2 are often referred to as NO_x. In the stratosphere, where the protecting ozone layer is formed, NO_x destroys ozone. It is important then to understand how NO_x is formed in the upper atmosphere. One of the sources of NO_x is solar UV-radiation which forms NO_x from oxygen and nitrogen. Another source is energetic particles ejected in violent eruptions on the sun and traveling through space to bombard the earth's magnetosphere and atmosphere. Both sources of NO_x are high in the atmosphere. The NO_x formed here is transported downwards affecting ozone concentrations in the stratosphere.

ASIM måler NO direkte, samtidigt med målinger af indfald af energetisk partikelstråling - gennem dets excitation af atmosfæren (nordlys) og udstråling af røntgenstråling. Med ASIM kan vi for første gang undersøge direkte dannelsen af NO_x samtidigt med vi kender den energetiske partikelstråling.

The interplay of the ionosphere, magnetosphere and thunderstorms

Normal lightning are electrical discharges carrying high currents between different regions of a thundercloud or between thunderclouds and the ground. Giant lightning high above thunderstorms, on the other hand, carry currents between the clouds and the ionosphere. In both cases, lightning currents act as large antennas that emit a short but powerful electromagnetic signal. This impulse can propagate to the ionosphere causing severe heating and excitation and leading to optical emissions known as Elves. The heating of the lower edge of the ionosphere above thunderstorms can lead to absorption and drop-out of radio transmitter signals, which propagate in the earth-ionosphere wave guide through the affected region.

The pulse can travel further through the ionosphere and into the magnetosphere, where interactions with energetic electrons cause these to be dumped into the atmosphere. In this process, the ionosphere experiences heating and enhanced ionization.

The perturbation to the ionosphere degrades the precision of GPS systems. With the ASIM instruments, both the source of the perturbations (lightning and energetic particle radiation) and changes in GPS signal characteristics measured by other instruments on the International Space Stations are measured allowing accurate modeling of the effects.

Aurora

Streams of plasma are continuously ejected from the sun into space. This plasma makes up the solar wind. The solar wind interacts with the magnetosphere compressing it on the front towards the sun and extending the magnetic into a tail directed away from the sun. When particularly violent eruptions eject large amounts of energetic plasma into space, the particles when they reach the magnetosphere, compress the magnetosphere, creating showers of energetic particles precipitating into the atmosphere. When they hit the atmosphere, the atmospheric constituents are excited, emitting photons of different colours. This is aurora.

Aurora is usually created at relatively high magnetic latitudes. However, during large solar storms, the aurora is moving to lower latitudes where it comes into reach of the ASIM instruments on the International Space Station.

There are still unanswered questions about aurora and how aurora affects the upper atmosphere. ASIM will be able to study the energetics of aurora both looking horizontally towards the limb, and downwards as the ISS passes over the aurora.