Science
Unresolved Questions for the CAWSES Program
There are many unresolved questions about the sun-earth system, and its contribution to global change and space weather. Some are related to shorter-term variation (space storms), others to longer time scale modulations (space environment and climate). The CAWSES program will provide significant progress in scientific understanding of processes to resolve fundamental questions. Among them are:
- Can we link the end-to-end processes that produce geoeffective coronal mass ejections, facilitate their transfer through the heliosphere, their interaction with the magnetosphere, and the production of geomagnetic storms that affect the atmosphere?
- Can we identify evidence for long-term variations of solar luminosity related to solar activity and resultant impacts on global change, compared with other climate change mechanisms?
- To what extent are the magnetosphere and ionosphere-thermosphere systems modulated by solar activity on long time scales, including the solar cycle, and how do variations driven by different processes interact with dynamical and radiative forcing processes from below?
- Can we reconcile apparent responses of the middle and lower atmosphere to solar activity, identify the physical mechanisms, in comparison with anthropogenic influences, and estimate future ozone changes ?
CONTACT US:
CAWSES Office, Center for Space Physics, Boston University, 725 Commonwealth Ave. Boston, MA 02215 USA; Phone: 617/353-5990; FAX: 617/353-6463;