Solar and Space Physics A Science for a Technological Society (2013) / Chapter Skim
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From page 75... ...
Chapter 7 expands further on the applications recommendations by presenting the survey committee's vision for a new national program in space weather and space climatology. TABLE 4.1 Summary of Top-Level Decadal Survey Research Recommendations Priority Recommendation NASA NSF Other 0.0 Complete the current program X X 1.0 Implement the DRIVE initiative X X X Small satellites; midscale NSF projects; vigorous ATST and synoptic program support; science centers and grant programs; instrument development 2.0 Accelerate and expand the Heliophysics Explorer program X Enable MIDEX line and Missions of Opportunity 3.0 Restructure STP as a moderate-scale, PI-led line X 3.1 Implement an IMAP-like mission X 3.2 Implement a DYNAMIC-like mission X 3.3 Implement a MEDICI-like mission X 4.0 Implement a large LWS GDC-like mission X 75
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. The evolving HSO lies at the heart of the field of solar and space physics and provides a rich source of observations that can be used to address increasingly interdisciplinary and long-term scientific questions.
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The success of these activities at NASA and NSF is fundamentally important to long-term scientific progress in solar and space physics. The survey committee concluded that, with prudent management and careful cost-containment, support for and completion of the ongoing program constitute precisely the right first step for the next decadal interval and as such represent the baseline priority.
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From page 78... ...
and develop theoretical and computational models that extract the essential physics from measurements made across multiple observing platforms. The survey committee concluded that a successful solar and space physics scientific program over the next decade is one that balances spaceflight missions of various sizes with supporting programs and infrastructure investments.
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From page 79... ...
The survey committee views the implementation of the DRIVE initiative as crucial to accomplishing the proposed program of research in solar and space physics over the next decade. Diversify: Diversify Observing Platforms with Microsatellites and Midscale Ground-Based Assets Exploration of the complex heliospheric system in the next decade requires the strategic use of diverse assets that range from large missions and facilities, through Explorers and mid-size projects, to small CubeSats and suborbital flights (Figure 4.2)
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Figure 4-2 Recommendation: The National Science Foundation should create a new, competitively selected midscale project funding line in order to enable midscale projects and instrumentation for large projects. Tiny Satellites Since the 2003 solar and space physics decadal survey, a new experimental capability has emerged for very small spacecraft, which can act as stand-alone measurement platforms or be integrated into a greater whole.
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to the current LCAS new-start budget of $4 million per year for all of solar and space physics. Realize: Realize Scientific Potential by Sufficiently Funding Operations and Data Analysis The value of a mission or ground-based investigation is fully realized, and science goals achieved, only if the right measurements are performed over the mission's lifetime and new data are analyzed fully (Figure 4.3)
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The survey committee concluded that a higher level of MO&DA funding is
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As discussed in more detail in Appendix B, such an environment would include: • Coordinated development of a data systems infrastructure that includes data systems software, data analysis tools, and training of personnel; • Community oversight of emerging, integrated data systems and interagency coordination of data policies; • Exploitation of emerging information technologies without investment in their initial development; • Virtual observatories as a specific component of the solar and space physics research-supporting infrastructure, rather than as a direct competitor for research funds; • Community-based development of software tools, including tools for data mining and assimilation; and • Semantic technologies to enable cross-discipline data access. required to exploit the opportunities created by the HSO, especially considering the importance of broad and extended data sets for exploring space weather and space climatology.
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From page 84... ...
The multidisciplinary nature of solar and space physics is reflected in its placement within multiple divisions and directorates at NSF. However, the survey committee concluded that this organizational structure may be limiting in particular for science lying at the interfaces between solar and space physics and research in Earth science and astrophysics.
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Solar and space physics has a clear home in NASA's Heliophysics Division. However, there remain important scientific links between the Heliophysics Division and the Astrophysics, Planetary Sciences, and Earth Sciences divisions.
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In fact, such coordinated investigations are likely to be a crucial ele BOX 4.4 LABORATORY EXPERIMENTS RELEVANT TO HELIOPHYSICS Some important problems in solar and space physics will always be difficult to solve from spacecraft observations alone, where remote sensing introduces observational biases and in situ measurements are limited to a small number of trajectories in a complex, time-variable environment. In contrast, dedicated laboratory experiments offer the advantage of a controlled environment where detailed reproducible measurements are possible.
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Grand Challenge Research The survey committee concluded that a mechanism is needed for bringing together critically sized teams of observers, theorists, modelers, and computer scientists to address the most challenging problems in solar and space physics. The scope of theory and modeling investigations supported by the NSF CEDAR, GEM, and SHINE programs or the NASA Supporting Research and Technology (SR&T)
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From page 88... ...
study, An Enabling Foundation for NASA's Earth and Space Science Missions,6 discussed the importance of advanced technology development in all of the science areas of NASA's Science Mission Directorate, and it recommended that instrument and mission technology activities be managed strategically so as to maximize the opportunities to meet each division's strategic 6 National Research Council, An Enabling Foundation for NASA's Space and Earth Science Missions, The National Academies Press, Washington, D.C, 2010.
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From page 89... ...
Future progress in solar and space physics hinges on new observational capabilities in state-of-the-art instrumentation, access to unique locations in space, and affordable fabrication and operation of large satellite constellations. Some of the DRIVE components already discussed for NSF would promote technology development, i.e., CubeSats and a midscale project line.
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. An analysis conducted under the aegis of the decadal survey (see Appendix D)
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The community endorses NASA and NSF programs that support postdoctoral and graduate student mentoring. Finally, the survey committee endorses ongoing NASA funding for solar and space physics graduate student research.
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program, has an important role to play in maintaining solar and space physics graduate support at historic GSRP levels, and with a strong link between graduate students and NASA mission research. Recommendation: A suitable replacement for the NSF Center for Integrated Space Weather Modeling summer school should be competitively selected, and NSF should enable opportunities for focused community workshops that directly address professional development skills for graduate students.
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The survey committee endorses programs such as NSF's REU and LANL's post-baccalaureate program, which are important recruiting tools for the field. The committee also fully supports the efforts of EPO professionals and physics educators who collaborate with scientists to develop the solar and space physics workforce as well as promote public support and interest.
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These achievements come from the competitive spirit that the Explorer program encourages, and the tight cost-capped implementations that are forced to carry adequate margins from the earliest phases of 8 National Research Council, Solar and Space Physics and Its Role in Space Exploration, The National Academies Press, Washington, D.C., 2003, p.
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From page 95... ...
New Worlds, New Horizons in Astronomy and Astrophysics9 highly recommended an increase in the Astrophysics Explorer budget for many of the same reasons that the present survey committee does. Augmentation of Explorer Line to Restore MIDEX The rate of Explorer satellite development has slowed remarkably since the 2003 solar and space physics decadal survey.10 This decrease in selection rate is due to a major reduction in funding for the Explorer program that occurred in 2004 rather than to any drop in the number of compelling proposals for Explorer missions rated as selectable by NASA.
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for NASA -- Restructure Solar Terrestrial Probes as a Moderate-Scale, Principal-Investigator-Led Line Initially conceived as a program to implement moderate-scale programs, the STP line has evolved into a large-mission program, dominated by NASA centers, with cost growth over the past decade that threatens its future viability. The survey committee concluded that restructuring the STP line is necessary if it is to address heliophysics science goals cost-effectively and offer flight opportunities at an acceptable cadence.
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Recommended STP Science Targets [R3.1, R3.2, and R3.3] Although the new STP program would involve moderate missions being chosen competitively, the survey committee recommends that their science targets be ordered as follows so as to systematically advance understanding of the full coupled solar-terrestrial system.
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The survey committee therefore recommends as a high priority the Interstellar Mapping and Acceleration Probe reference mission. IMAP would orbit the inner Lagrangian point (L1)
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outward by the Sun's magnetic field to the solar wind termination shock.
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for H through ultraheavy ions, 1-min cadence for H and He Solar-wind and interplanetary monitoring Background for ENA observations and SW ions (0.1-20 keV/e) and electrons suite real-time solar wind and cosmic-ray (0.005-2 keV)
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SOURCE: Composite courtesy of Figure 4-8 Thomas Immel, Space Sciences Laboratory, University of California, Berkeley.
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DYNAMIC Mission Concept The above science focus translates to a mission involving instruments that remotely sense the lower and middle thermosphere while also collecting in situ data at higher altitudes. A key mission driver is the need to address atmospheric thermal tides, which demands measurements over all local times.
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In establishing the relative importance of thermal expansion, upwelling, and advection in defining total mass density changes, DYNAMIC will also provide information fundamental to understanding the global IT response to forcing from above. This investigation of the contribution of the lower atmosphere to the mean structure and dynamics of the IT system reflects a scientific appreciation of the importance of these drivers gained since the 2003 solar and space physics decadal survey.
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Each question contains a set of subtopics: 1. How are magnetospheric and ionospheric plasma transported and accelerated by solar wind forcing and magnetosphere-ionosphere (MI)
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MEDICI Contributions to the HSO MEDICI will both benefit from and enhance the science return from almost any geospace mission that flies contemporaneously, such as upstream solar wind monitors, geostationary satellites, and lowEarth-orbit missions. In particular, by providing global context and quantitative estimates for magnetospheric-ionospheric plasma and energy exchange, MEDICI has significant value for missions investigating ionospheric conditions, outflow of ionospheric plasma into the magnetosphere, energy input from the magnetosphere into the ionosphere, and AIM coupling in general.
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From page 106... ...
The survey committee's recommended science target for the next major LWS mission, as demonstrated by the reference mission Geospace Dynamics Constellation, would provide crucial scientific measurements of the extremely variable conditions in near-Earth space. Recommended LWS Science Target The survey committee recommends that, following the launch of RBSP and SPP, the next LWS science target focus on how Earth's atmosphere absorbs solar wind energy.
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From page 107... ...
These phenomena exemplify why a new approach must be taken to advance understanding of the AIM system and how Earth's upper atmosphere and ionosphere regulate the response of geospace to significant solar wind energy inputs. GDC would be a constellation of identical satellites in low Earth orbit providing simultaneous, global observations of the AIM system over roughly the range of local times over which magnetospheric drivers (and thus AIM responses)
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, while the entire globe is sampled every 90 minutes at 12 local times (as is the case for configuration (a)
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The U.S. and international space physics communities are poised to make significant advances in space weather and space climate science.
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AFWA's Space Weather Operations Center collects observations in real time, operates specification and forecast models, and disseminates mission-tailored information to users via Web services, Web pages, and dedicated communications. AFWA, in close collaboration with Air Force Space Command and the Air Force and Naval Research Laboratories, has been a strong proponent of transitioning research to operations, and it routinely leverages sensor data and models provided by NOAA, NASA, and DOD-funded research efforts.
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-- Recharter the National Space Weather Program The survey committee concluded that, in addition to agency-appropriate activities by NASA, NSF, NOAA, and DOD to support space weather model research and development, validation, and transition to operations, a comprehensive plan for space weather and climatology is also needed to fulfill the requirements presented in the June 2010 U.S. National Space Policy15 and envisioned in the 2010 National Space Weather Program Strategic Plan.16 However, implementation of such a program would require funding well above what the survey committee assumes to be currently available; the committee advises that an initiative in space weather and climatology proceed only if its execution does not impinge on the development and timely completion of the other recommended activities that are described in this chapter and shown in Figure 6.1.
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Second Applications Recommendation [A2.0] -- Work in a Multiagency Partnership to Achieve Continuity of Solar and Solar Wind Observations Solar, interplanetary, and near-Earth observations of the space environment are the mainstays of the space weather enterprise.
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The survey committee recommends that NASA, NOAA, and the Department of Defense should work in partnership to plan for continuity of solar and solar wind observations beyond the lifetimes of ACE, SOHO, and STEREO. In particular, • [A2.1]
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Although substantial progress has been made over the past decade in understanding the fundamental physics of space weather, leading to better physics-based, integrated models of the dynamic space environment, users can benefit from this improved understanding only if it is incorporated in operationally useful forecast tools. Transitioning to 18 Acquiring quantitative metrics-based knowledge about the performance of various space physics modeling approaches is central for the space weather community.
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From page 115... ...
It is also important for NOAA to maintain a level of research expertise needed to work together with its partners, to provide professional forecasts and products, to define requirements, to understand possibilities for supporting customer needs, and to make wise and cost-effective choices about new models and data to support space weather customers. On a broader level, the survey committee concluded that distinct funding lines for basic space physics research and for space weather specification and forecasting need to be identified and/or developed.
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