SM018-0001
A Novel and Global Way to Explore Solar-Terrestrial Interactions: SMILE
Thursday, 10 December 2020
Poster
Graziella Branduardi-Raymont1, Chi Wang2, C Philippe Escoubet3, Steven Sembay4, Eric Donovan5, Lei Dai6, Lei Li7, Jing Li7, David Agnolon3, Walfried Raab8, Colin Forsyth9, Andrew Read4, Emma Spanswick5, Jennifer Alyson Carter4, Hyunju KIM Connor10, Tianran Sun7, Andrey Samsonov11 and David G Sibeck12, (1)Mullard Space Science Laboratory, Dorking, RH5, United Kingdom, (2)CSSAR, CAS, Beijing, China, (3)ESTEC/ESA, Noordwijk, Netherlands, (4)University of Leicester, Leicester, United Kingdom, (5)University of Calgary, Calgary, AB, Canada, (6)Center for Space Science and Applied Research (CSSAR), CAS, Beijing, China, (7)NSSC National Space Science Center, CAS, Beijing, China, (8)European Space Research and Technology Centre, Noordwijk Zh, Netherlands, (9)Mullard Space Science Lab., Dorking, United Kingdom, (10)University of Alaska Fairbanks, Fairbanks, AK, United States, (11)Mullard Space Science Laboratory, University College London, Dorking, United Kingdom, (12)NASA/GSFC, Greenbelt, MD, United States
Abstract:
The coupling between the solar wind and the Earth's magnetosphere-ionosphere system, and the geospace dynamics that result, comprise some of the key questions in space plasma physics. In situ measurements by a fleet of solar wind and magnetospheric missions, current and planned, can provide the most detailed observations of the Sun-Earth connections. However, we are still unable to quantify the global effects of the drivers of the solar wind-magnetosphere-ionosphere coupling, and to monitor their evolution with time. This information is the key missing link for developing a comprehensive understanding of how the Sun gives rise to and controls the Earth's plasma environment and space weather.
SMILE (Solar wind Magnetosphere Ionosphere Link Explorer) is a novel self-standing mission dedicated to observing the solar wind - magnetosphere coupling via simultaneous X-ray imaging of the magnetosheath and polar cusps (large spatial scales at the magnetopause), UV imaging of global auroral distributions (mesoscale structures in the ionosphere) and in situ solar wind/magnetosheath plasma and magnetic field measurements. X-ray imaging of the magnetosheath and cusps is made possible by the X-ray emission produced in the process of solar wind charge exchange (SWCX), first observed at comets, and subsequently recognized as a ubiquitous phenomenon arising from the encounter of the solar wind with planetary exospheres and magnetospheres. One of the science aims of SMILE, operating in a highly elliptical Earth polar orbit, is to track the geomagnetic substorm cycle via SWCX X-ray imaging of the dayside magnetosheath, by monitoring the location of the magnetopause and by following the substorm consequences on the aurora with UV imaging.
SMILE is a collaborative mission between ESA and the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) that was selected in November 2015, adopted into ESA’s Cosmic Vision Programme in March 2019, and is due for launch in 2024. The science that SMILE will deliver, as well as the ongoing technical developments and scientific preparations, and the latest update on the mission status, will be presented.
