Ground-based and additional science support for SMILE

The joint European Space Agency and Chinese Academy of Sciences Solar wind Magnetosphere Ionosphere Link Explorer (SMILE) mission will explore global dynamics of the magnetosphere under varying solar wind and interplanetary magnetic field conditions, and simultaneously monitor the auroral response of the Northern Hemisphere ionosphere. Combining these large-scale responses with medium and fine-scale measurements at a variety of cadences by additional ground-based and space-based instruments will enable a much greater scientific impact beyond the original goals of the SMILE mission. Here, we describe current community efforts to prepare for SMILE, and the benefits and context various experiments that have explicitly expressed support for SMILE can offer. A dedicated group of international scientists representing many different experiment types and geographical locations, the Ground-based and Additional Science Working Group, is facilitating these efforts. Preparations include constructing an online SMILE Data Fusion Facility, the discussion of particular or special modes for experiments such as coherent and incoherent scatter radar, and the consideration of particular observing strategies and spacecraft conjunctions. We anticipate growing interest and community engagement with the SMILE mission, and we welcome novel ideas and insights from the solar-terrestrial community.

conjunctions, ground-based experimentation, ionosphere, magnetosphere, magnetosphere–ionosphere coupling, missions, SMILE

10.26464/epp2023055

2096-3955

275-298

Carter, J.A.

f08f9561-bf83-47f8-b81e-79ce6f6564f9

Dunlop, M.

24ee2688-c0fa-49a7-aace-3c2508fa9c68

Forsyth, C.

f3d464cf-81c5-4647-b85a-bc3634bdf076

Fear, R.C.

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et al.

Carter, J.A.

f08f9561-bf83-47f8-b81e-79ce6f6564f9

Dunlop, M.

24ee2688-c0fa-49a7-aace-3c2508fa9c68

Forsyth, C.

f3d464cf-81c5-4647-b85a-bc3634bdf076

Fear, R.C.

8755b9ed-c7dc-4cbb-ac9b-56235a0431ab

Carter, J.A., Dunlop, M. and Forsyth, C. , et al. (2024) Ground-based and additional science support for SMILE. Earth and Planetary Physics, 8 (1), 275-298. (doi:10.26464/epp2023055). (In Press)

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Accepted/In Press date: 1 January 2024

Additional Information: Funding Information: the European Incoherent Scatter Scientific Association (EISCAT) operates radars in Svalbard and northern Scandinavia. Investments and operational costs are shared between the EISCAT Associates in China, Japan, UK, Norway, Finland and Sweden, with smaller contributions from institutes in Germany, South Korea, Ukraine, and the USA. American radars are funded by the National Science Foundation (NSF) and operated by SRI International (PFISR, RISR-N (Bahcivan et al., 2010)) and the MIT Haystack Observatory (Millstone). The RISR-C radar is operated by the University of Calgary (Gillies et al., 2016). RISR-N and RISR-C are in the central polar cap, the EISCAT Svalbard Radar (ESR) observes the ionospheric footprint of the cusp and the poleward edge of the nighttime auroral oval. PFISR and the mainland EISCAT radars observe the auroral oval; additional coverage of the mid-latitude sub-auroral zone is offered by the Millstone Hill radar. ISR observations also extend from the mid-latitude to the equatorial region. Funding Information: JAC is supported by Royal Society grant DHF\R1\211068. JAC thanks Larry Paxton and Bea Gallardo-Lacourt for helpful discussions. Pre-launch SMILE mission activities in the UK are funded by UKSA and STFC. MD is supported by NERC grant NE/W003309/1 (E-3d), STFC grant ST/M001083/1 and NSFC grants 42174208 and 41821003. KO is supported by the Research Council of Norway grant 223252, and PRODEX arrangement 4000123238 from the European Space Agency. TKY is funded by NERC grant NE/ V000748/1 and, along with MJ, is also funded by STFC grant ST/ W00089X/1. MC acknowledges support of the AUTUMN East−West magnetometer network by the Canadian Space Agency. MPF acknowledges support from NERC grants NE/ V015133/1, NE/R016038/1 (BAS magnetometers), and grants NE/ R01700X/1 and NE/R015848/1 (EISCAT). DGS, SYWH, and BW’s work was supported by NASA’s Heliophysics U. S. Participating Investigator Program. MDH acknowledges support from grant NSF AGS 2027210. TS is supported by grant Dnr: 2020-00106 from the Swedish National Space Agency. EAK is supported by the German Research Foundation (DFG) under number KR 4375/2-1 within SPP "Dynamic Earth". MTW is supported by NERC grant NE/ T000937/1. The authors acknowledge the use of SuperDARN data. SuperDARN is a collection of radars funded by the national scientific funding agencies of Australia, Canada, China, France, Italy, Japan, Norway, South Africa, UK, and United States.

Keywords: conjunctions, ground-based experimentation, ionosphere, magnetosphere, magnetosphere–ionosphere coupling, missions, SMILE