Id: 035075 Credits Min: 3 Credits Max: 3

Description

Space Weather is an emerging field of space science focusing on understanding the conditions and processes on the sun, in the interplanetary space, and in the Earth's magnetosphere, ionosphere and thermosphere that can influence the performance and reliability of space-borne and ground-based technological systems and can endanger human life or health. This course is an introduction level course. It applies knowledge learned in Physics I and II in particular in electromagnetics to a real situation: space. The course introduces the present knowledge of space phenomena and the physical understanding of the plasma environment from the sun to the earth's ionosphere and in the heliosphere. Regions in space to be discussed include solar surface, solar wind, bow shock, magnetsheath, magnetosphere, magnetotail, radiation belts, ring currents, and ionosphere. Among space plasma physics theories, single particle theory, kinetic theory, and magnetohydrodynamics, which describe charged particle motion in electromagnetic fields and its consequences, are introduced and applied to space environment.

Prerequisites

Pre-Reqs: MATH 2310 Calculus III, PHYS 1030 General Physics I, and PHYS 1040 General Physics II.

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