SWFX 8: The Big Picture
Copyright 2010, MIT Haystack Observatory
Opening sequence and title.
VOICE-OVER: Space weather is something we experience because we live near
a star — the Sun.
Out in the countryside near Boston Massachusetts, scientists at MIT’s Haystack
Observatory have been studying what happens to Earth’s upper atmosphere
when the Sun stirs up a little space weather.
Phil Erickson with scenes from previous episodes of SWFX.
PHIL: In previous episodes of Space Weather FX, I’ve talked about what
happens during solar outbursts, when material from the Sun impacts Earth’s
ionosphere and magnetosphere. In particular, when the ionosphere gets hit, we
see immediate changes — from the appearance of aurorae over the poles — to
effects on communication signals, navigation systems, and power grids.
Crossfade to animation of Earth, atmosphere and Sun.
The charged part of our atmosphere — the ionosphere — begins roughly 100
kilometers up — high enough that we could consider it the “edge of space.”
Phil fades back in over the scene.
However, this is just one part. The mostly neutral part of the atmosphere —
which we are much more familiar with — begins right here at the ground and
goes up into the ionosphere itself. These two layers overlap.
Crossfade to atmospheric layers graphic/animation.
We live in the very lowest atmospheric layer — the troposphere. Between us and
space are the stratosphere, the mesosphere, and the thermosphere -- which
overlaps the ionosphere. These aren’t separate layers that are somehow
magically divided from each other with very hard boundaries. Instead, the regions
exchange material, motion, and energy with each other. Consider it like a big
cake with layers that touch each other. The bottom level knows about the one
above it. The middle layers know about regions above and below them. The top
atmospheric regions, for example, the ionosphere – know about the ones below
them -- but also know about the even-higher-altitude magnetosphere, the area of
space controlled by Earth's magnetic field. And, the magnetosphere knows about
the solar wind – which fills the Sun-Earth system.
In this way, all the layers of the atmosphere are coupled together, with the action
taking place at the interfaces between each layer.
Crossfade to video of atmospheric scientists meeting; cut to Haystack scientists
meeting. Cut to polar mesospheric clouds video.
For years, different groups of scientists focused on different pieces of the
atmosphere. We here at Haystack specialize in the ionosphere. There are
people who focus on the mesosphere and track such things as polar
mesospheric clouds, studying their linkage to climate change.
Cut to CIRES scientist releasing balloon, then cuts to Phil.
Other scientists look at the stratosphere, or the troposphere, and study the
behavior and mechanisms particular to those regions. This effort has produced a
vast quantity of knowledge about these individual atmospheric layers.
Phil and scenes from previous episodes behind him.
But, in our field, the science is going further and creating a more comprehensive
understanding. Today, the frontier of learning for atmospheric scientists is the
study of how the all the atmospheric regions are coupled together. We know that
if you give the atmosphere a push in one place, eventually something happens in
another place. Space weather caused by solar disturbances is a good example
of that.
Phil with scene from Larisa’s episode.
But, as we learned with Larisa Goncharenko’s study, something happening in the
lower atmosphere can cause a form of space weather in the upper atmosphere.
Phil and graphics of coupled geospace system.
So, perhaps one of the most amazing things we are learning about Earth’s
atmosphere is just how its various layers act — not separately — but together in
what we call a “coupled geospace system.”
Phil in final comments against backdrop of MIT Haystack Observatory.
There is still much to discover about the blanket of gas that surrounds our planet
and its interactions with Earth’s magnetic field, the planet’s surface, and the
interplanetary environment.
We are working towards the day when scientists will put all their models,
observations, and knowledge about our dynamic atmosphere together in a grand
unified picture. Here at Haystack Observatory, we continue to study the
ionosphere and magnetosphere as our contribution to that Big Atmosopheric
Picture.
Closing title and credit sequence.