Magnetospheric Current Sheets and Boundary Layers
{'Code': '06020202', 'Directorate': {'Abbreviation': 'GEO', 'LongName': 'Directorate For Geosciences'}, 'Division': {'Abbreviation': 'AGS', 'LongName': 'Div Atmospheric & Geospace Sciences'}}
{'SignBlockName': 'Kenneth H. Schatten', 'PO_EMAI': None, 'PO_PHON': None}
This research program is concerned with some of the physical               processes that occur in thin electrical current sheets and                      plasma boundary layers in the Earth's magnetosphere.  Special                   emphasis is placed on the magnetopause current layer, which forms               the outer boundary of the magnetosphere and separates it from the               rapidly streaming solar wind, and the adjacent boundary layers                  which contain plasma of solar-wind origin that has penetrated the               magnetopause.  These boundary layers are magnetically connected                 to the auroral-zone ionosphere and thus provide an important                    channel for the transport of solar-wind energy from the outer                   reaches of the magnetosphere to the ionosphere where it is                      dissipated.  A second area of emphasis is the current sheet in                  the geomagnetic tail and the adjacent plasma sheet boundary                     layers which play an important role in magnetic storms and                      substorms.  In both of these locations the magnetic-field                       reconnection process is believed to occur and to be of dominant                 importance.  For this reason, the primary focus of the research                 is to study reconnection, both at the magnetopause and in the                   magnetotail.  Steady and nonsteady reconnection will be examined                by use of spacecraft data, analytical modeling, and computer                    simulation.  A secondary focus of the project is a study of the                 structure and stability of the low-latitude boundary layer,                     located just inside the equatorial magnetopause, and its coupling               to the auroral ionosphere via field-aligned currents and                        associated field-aligned potential drops in which particles may                 be accelerated to kilovolt energies.
{'FirstName': 'Bengt', 'LastName': 'Sonnerup', 'PI_MID_INIT': 'U', 'PI_SUFX_NAME': None, 'PI_FULL_NAME': 'Bengt U Sonnerup', 'EmailAddress': 'bengt.u.o.sonnerup@dartmouth.edu', 'PI_PHON': '6036462883', 'NSF_ID': '000155479', 'StartDate': '08/01/1988', 'EndDate': None, 'RoleCode': 'Principal Investigator'}
{'Name': 'Dartmouth College', 'CityName': 'HANOVER', 'ZipCode': '037552170', 'PhoneNumber': '6036463007', 'StreetAddress': '7 LEBANON ST', 'StreetAddress2': None, 'CountryName': 'United States', 'StateName': 'New Hampshire', 'StateCode': 'NH', 'CONGRESSDISTRICT': '02', 'CONGRESS_DISTRICT_ORG': 'NH02', 'ORG_UEI_NUM': 'EB8ASJBCFER9', 'ORG_LGL_BUS_NAME': 'TRUSTEES OF DARTMOUTH COLLEGE', 'ORG_PRNT_UEI_NUM': 'EB8ASJBCFER9'}
{'Name': 'Dartmouth College Thayer School of Engineering', 'CityName': 'HANOVER', 'StateCode': 'NH', 'ZipCode': '037552170', 'StreetAddress': '7 LEBANON ST', 'CountryCode': 'US', 'CountryName': 'United States', 'StateName': 'New Hampshire', 'CountryFlag': '1', 'CONGRESSDISTRICT': '02', 'CONGRESS_DISTRICT_PERF': 'NH02'}
{'Code': '5750', 'Text': 'MAGNETOSPHERIC PHYSICS'}
{'url': 'https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/download?DownloadFileName=1988&All=true', 'xml': '8807645.xml'}