Facility for Data Analysis and Modeling (FDAM)#

The Earth's magnetic field under distortion by the solar wind. The Sun is on the left outside of view. The figure is produced using output from a Global Circulation Model called BATS-R-US. The model was developed at the University of Michigan and is one of a number of models that FDAM uses.

The Facility for Data Analysis and Modeling (FDAM) provides access to a number of computer models that allow space scientists to understand how hot ionized gas or "solar wind plasma" from the Sun interacts with Earth's magnetic field. The solar wind is supersonic with respect to the Earth frame, producing a bow-shock around the Earth at a distance of several Earth-radii on the dayside. The solar high-speed plasma flow is mainly diverted around the Earth by the bowshock, but in the process it drives very large-scale electric fields and currents within the entrained region called the "magnetosphere". The associated electromagnetic coupling to the polar ionosphere over Canada leads to a variety of effects, some of which have implications for technologies on the ground across Canada. Communications and other satellites over Canada are also affected by "space weather", particularly during intervals of solar activity and geomagnetic storms, when intense fluxes of energetic particles are produced, and energized within the region of near-Earth space where many satellite orbits lie.

Unlike its terrestrial counterpart, "space weather" forecasting is difficult due to the number of processes involved, and the vast range of space and timescales that must be addressed by modelers. Data collected 'in-situ' in space is sparse owing to a lack of adequate spatial coverage, adding further complexity. The trapped plasma environment within the magnetosphere is also influenced by plasma waves that transport energy across very large distances. These waves encompass a very broad range of frequencies and produce a variety of "wave-particle-interactions". Some consequences of this are the formation of the "Van-Allen" radiation belts and the aurora-borealis.

Principal Investigators:#

Dr. Robert Rankin
Professor, Department of Physics, University of Alberta

Dr. Richard Marchand
Professor, Department of Physics, University of Alberta