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Course, academic year 2023/2024
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Ionosphere and Magnetosphere Physics - NGEO006
Title: Fyzika ionosféry a magnetosféry
Guaranteed by: Department of Geophysics (32-KG)
Faculty: Faculty of Mathematics and Physics
Actual: from 2016
Semester: summer
E-Credits: 3
Hours per week, examination: summer s.:2/0, Ex [HT]
Capacity: unlimited
Min. number of students: unlimited
4EU+: no
Virtual mobility / capacity: no
State of the course: taught
Language: Czech, English
Teaching methods: full-time
Teaching methods: full-time
Guarantor: prof. RNDr. Ondřej Santolík, Dr.
Classification: Physics > Geophysics
Annotation -
Last update: T_KG (02.04.2002)
Introduction to space plasmas. Experimental methods. Solar wind. Magnetosphere. Boundary regions. Bow shock. Magnetopause. Plasmapause. Radiation belts. Ionosphere. Dynamicsof the magnetosphere. Auroral zone. Northern lights. Magnetospheres of planets.
Aim of the course -
Last update: T_KG (01.04.2008)

After an introductory part which contains basic plasma physics and magnetohydrodynamics we will travel from the Sun through the solar wind and magnetosphere down to the ionosphere, with many examples of measurement onboard Earth-orbiting scientific satellites and spacecraft missions to other planets.

Course completion requirements -
Last update: prof. RNDr. František Gallovič, Ph.D. (10.06.2019)

Oral exam

Literature - Czech
Last update: T_KG (17.03.2003)
  • Krall-Trivelpiece: Principles of Plasma Physics
  • Chen: Základy fyziky plazmatu
  • Stix: Waves in plasmas
  • Akasofu-Kamide: The Solar Wind and the Earth
  • Gombosi: Physics of the Space Environment
  • Kallenrode: Space Physics
  • Kievelson-Russell: Introduction to Space Physics

Teaching methods -
Last update: T_KG (11.04.2008)

Lecture

Syllabus -
Last update: T_KG (17.03.2003)

Plasmas in space, characteristic scales. Motion of charged particles in magnetic and electric fields, guiding center, drifts, magnetic mirrors, adiabatic invariants. Plasma distribution function, Debye length,plasma parameter, plasma frequency. Magnetohydrodynamics,consequences for space plasmas, magnetic field pressure.

Waves in plasmas, dispersion relation, characteristic frequencies, wave modes. Cold plasma theory, resonances. Waves in magnetized plasmas, polarization, resonance cone. Alfven waves, whistler mode, and free space modes. Hydromagnetic approximation magnetosonic waves. Kinetic theory.

Experimental methods of space physics, ground-based measurements, sounding rockets and spacecraft. Measurement of electric and magnetic fields, magnetometers, antennas. Measurement of plasma and energetic particles, electrostatic analyzers. Examples of data obtained by scientific spacecraft.

The Sun and solar wind, solar corona. Radio emissions, type II and III. Models of corona, solar wind, its parameters, structure and dynamics. Solar wind magnetic field, heliosphere. Interaction of the solar wind with the magnetosphere. Bow shock, its structure and parameters, magnetosheath. Magnetopause, its position and current system, cusp. Magnetotail, neutral sheet, plasmasheet, and tail lobes.

Plasmasphere, its position and dynamics. Radiation (Van Allen) belts. Ring current. Ionosphere, ionization mechanisms and models, regions, conductivity. Aurorae borealis, discrete and diffuse. Regions of occurrence and time scales. Variations of geomagnetic field, measurement, geomagnetic indices. Magnetospheric dynamics, geomagnetic storms and substorms.

Magnetospheres of other planets, comparison to the Earth. Unmagnetized bodies in the solar wind.

 
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