Scientific Misconduct: Why Is Science Such Fertile Ground For Harassment And What Can Be Done About It?

When I was in graduate school, a highly successful female scientist and close mentor told me about sexual harassment in our field: \u27Don\u27t ever tolerate it, and don\u27t ever report it.\u27 Her implication: reporting it could lead to a one-way road out of science

Geoeffectiveness of CIR and CME Events: Factors Contributing to Their Differences

Recent work has shown that solar wind-magnetosphere coupling is more efficient for CIR-driven events than for CME-driven events. The study herein looks into the individual physical parameters of Corotating Interaction Regions (CIRs) and Coronal Mass Ejections (CMEs) and looks to isolate particular characteristics that leads to greater coupling of energy from the solar wind into the magnetosphere for certain classes of magnetic storms. While it is clear that these two types of events are distinct in their outcome, it is not known what in the nature of the events leads to these different results. The variation level in the z-component of the Interplanetary Magnetic field (IMF) and the Alfvénic Mach number one hour prior to the onset of a CIR or CME event are investigated as possibly related to the coupling efficiency. While there was no significant correlation between any particular characteristic and energy coupling efficiency, the most promising result came from the Alfvénic Mach number and its effect on the energy efficiency of the storm main phase. The Alfvénic Mach numbers of CIR and CME events had the strongest connection to the main phase energy efficiency. More study is needed on the connection between the Alfvénic Mach number as it relates to energy efficiency. Different or combinations of characteristics of these storms may also shed more light on the necessary conditions for a more geoeffective event

Timing of Substorm-Associated Auroral Oscillations

Previous studies have shown that auroral luminosity oscillations are often associated with substorms. Here we examine photometer data for the magnetospheric substorm on April 1, 2000 (expansive phase onset at 0525 UT) to study the detailed timing of the auroral oscillations relative to onset. Accurate timing information for the periodicities in the photometer data were determined using the wavelet transform. We find that the oscillations occur primarily during the recovery phase. Copyright © The Society of Geomagnetism and Eart

A New Method to Describe Image Theory for an Imperfect Conductor

Problem statement: Modify the equations associated with image theory in order to account for perfect and imperfect conductors. Approach: A novel approach for describing the application of image theory for an imperfect conductive surface was presented. The method presented here purposely downplays the physics of how image theory was employed to account for a charge which is in the presence of an imperfect conductive surface. In turn, it adopted an approach which focused on the geometry that existed between the charged particle and surface ground. In doing so, the proposed method formulated a solution that had minimized the complexity of the original problem while providing an approximation founded upon a geometric relationship. Results: The equations derived had elicited the concept of using plane geometry to augment image theory. Conclusion: A method for evaluating image theory for the imperfect conductor had been presented. As the results had shown, the equations derived had provided an augmented approach to account for surfaces which were both perfect and imperfect

The Horizontal Electric Field Induced by a Lightning Return Stroke

Problem statement: Develop a new formula which describes the horizontal electric field induced by a lightning return stroke in contact with an imperfect conductive surface. Approach: A new method for describing the horizontal electric field induced by a lightning return stroke will be presented. The method presented here had utilized an approach which purposely downplayed the physics of how image theory was employed in the presence of an imperfect conductive surface. It did so by adopting a technique which had focused on the geometry that existed between the lightning channel and surface ground. In doing so, new expressions for surface currents had been derived. This study presented the derivation of these currents along with the horizontal electric field which transpired as a result of their usage. Results: The equation derived had elicited the concept that the channel\u27s image varies with surface conductivity. Conclusion: A method for deriving the horizontal electric field induced by a lightning return stroke had been presented. As the results had shown, once the surface conductivity began to decrease, the horizontal electric field played an increasingly more significant role

Supporting neurodivergent talent: ADHD, autism, and dyslexia in physics and space sciences

Diversity, equity, inclusion, and belonging efforts must include disability and neurodivergence. While there is a long history of famous scientists being identified or speculatively indicated to be neurodivergent, identification on an individual basis has been limited until fairly recently. Definitions have changed and broadened, and people are being identified or are identifying themselves as neurodivergent and are learning about their paths and their brains in a way that was unavailable to people two decades ago. In the contemporary physics or space science classroom or workplace, we have both a responsibility to include and support our neurodivergent learners and scientists, as well as an opportunity to use insights from the neurodiversity movement to better support our teams and students. Herein we explain the language used to describe neurodivergent traits and offer strategies and ideas to support our neurodivergent community members. These strategies include ideas for supporting executive function as well as tips in the areas of physical comfort and sensory considerations

Energetics of Magnetic Storms Driven by Corotating Interaction Regions: A Study of Geoeffectiveness

We investigate the energetics of magnetic storms associated with corotating interaction regions (CIRs). We analyze 24 storms driven by CIRs and compare to 18 driven by ejecta-related events to determine how they differ in overall properties and in particular in their distribution of energy. To compare these different types of events, we look at events with comparable input parameters such as the epsilon parameter and note the properties of the resulting storms. We estimate the energy output by looking at the ring current energy along with ionospheric Joule heating derived from the PC and Dst indices. We also include the energy of auroral precipitation, estimated from NOAA/TIROS and DMSP observations. In general, ejecta-driven storms produce more intense events, as parameterized by Dst*, but they are usually not as long lasting, and in most cases deposit less energy. This is observed even for events that have similar input quantities, such as epsilon. This may be related to the high speed of the solar wind, in that an increased magnetosonic Mach number may influence the reconnection rate and therefore the coupling. Additionally, we find the efficiency of the coupling varies greatly from CIR-driven to ejecta-driven storms, with the CIRdriven storms coupling substantially more efficiently, particularly in the recovery phase. The efficiency of coupling (output energy divided by input energy) for CIRdriven storms in recovery phase was double that of ejecta-driven storms

Effects of Different Geomagnetic Storm Drivers on the Ring Current: CRCM Results

The storm-time magnetic disturbance at the Earth\u27s equator, as commonly measured by the Dst index, is induced by currents in the near-Earth magnetosphere. The ring current is generally considered the most important contributor, but other magnetospheric currents have also been found to have significant effects. Of the two main types of solar geomagnetic storm drivers, Coronal Mass Ejections (CMEs) tend to have a much greater impact on Dst than Corotating Interaction Regions (CIRs). Ring current models have been found to underestimate Dst, particularly during storms driven by CIRs. One possible explanation is that the models neglect to handle some aspect of ring current physics that is particularly important for CIRs. This study uses the Comprehensive Ring Current Model (CRCM) to estimate the ring current contribution to Dst for a selection of storms of various strengths and different drivers (CMEs and CIRs) that have solar wind parameters that fit a typical profile. The model boundary is set to 10 RE at the equator, encompassing the entire ring current region. The magnetic field is held fixed, based on average storm parameters, which limits our model results to the effects of convection and plasma sheet density at the model boundary. Our model results generally show good agreement with the size and timing of fluctuations in Dst, which indicates that convection and boundary conditions play an important role in shaping Dst. We also find excellent agreement with the magnitude of Dst for CME-driven storms. For CIR-drivenstorms, however, the magnitude at the peak of the storm frequently deviates from actual Dst. In general, we agree with the results of previous research that CIR-driven storms are more underpredicted. However, this study includes some weaker CIR-driven stormsfor which Dst is actually overpredicted. Overall, when examining the dependence of modeled Dst* on actual Dst* at storm peak, we find that there is a statistically significant difference between CME- and CIR-driven storms. We also find that approximately half of the total ring current energy lies beyond an L-value of 6.6. However, this figure could be overestimated due to the use of a static magnetic field, which limits radial transport. Key Points Modeled vs actual Dst at storm peak is significantly different for CMEs and CIRs Convection and plasma sheet density are important for ring current energization Model shows half of total ring current energy lies beyond an L-value of 6.6

The Magnetic Field Induced by a Lightning Strikes Indirect Effect Double Exponential Current Waveform

Problem statement: Develop a new formula which describes the magnetic field induced by a lightning strike\u27s indirect effect double exponential current waveform. Approach: A novel approach for developing a closed-form solution for the magnetic field from the indirect effect double exponential current waveform will be presented. In the literature, models typically employ the pulse waveform to derive the corresponding electromagnetic fields. However, given the Department of Defense (DoD) has incorporated the double exponential current waveform as part of their Electromagnetic Environmental Effects Requirements For Systems , we felt it important to develop a solution for the magnetic field which utilized this waveform. In order to facilitate the integration required for deriving the field, Taylor series expansion was used for all variable dependent exponential terms. In many publications, the dipole and monopole techniques have been used when solving for the magnetic field. However, for this study the dipole technique was deemed the preferred method for evaluating the field. A derivation of the magnetic field will be presented along with a graphical illustration of the field\u27s distribution over time. Results: The equation presented utilized Taylor series to augment the integration required to solve for the magnetic field. Conclusion: A new method for deriving the magnetic field induced by a lightning strike\u27s indirect effect double exponential has been presented. By approximating the variable dependent exponential terms, we were able to minimize the complexity of the mathematics required to solve for the magnetic field in closed-form