Indo-US Bilateral Cooperation Program in Heliophysics and Space Weather Dibyendu Nandy ~~ Indian Institute of Science Education and Research, Kolkata
What is Heliophysics? Solar variability forces space environment and planetary atmospheres Characterize space weather and climate System-wide studies defines the science of Heliophysics http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/heliophysics http://science.nasa.gov/heliophysics/
Why heliophysics?
Sun Creates Space Weather Hinode Sunspots are strongly magnetized regions Solar storms originate within sunspots and travel to Earth in few days Solar flares and coronal mass ejections (CMEs) biggest explosions in the solar system eject magnetized plasma and charged particles (m ~ 10 12 Kg, v ~ 500-2000 km/s, E ~ 10 24 Joules, 10 12 atom bombs)
Space Weather Effects: Satellite Operations, Telecommunications Satellite operations (charging: interferes with electronic circuitry) Space walks (exposes astronauts to high radiation) Disrupts telecommunication systems (GPS, Satellite TV broadcasts)
Space Weather: Radio Communications & Flights HF Communication only Solar plasma and magnetic fields get through the Earth s polar (open magnetic field) regions; auroras are caused by geomagnetic stomrs Affects air-traffic over polar routes
Space Weather Effects: Geomagnetic Storms, Electric Facilities Effect of solar storms felt at ground level at high latitudes Induces large voltages in northern oil pipelines, fire hazards Trips electric power grids
Space Weather Affects Critical Technologies that you Depend on! Hinode US Nodal Agency: NOAA-Space Weather Prediction Center Forecasting industry worth multiple billion US$ /year US National Academy of Sciences Report, 2009
The Cycle of Sunspots and its Relevance for Climate Usoskin et al. 2003, PRL Number of sunspots observed on the Sun varies cyclically Modulates the solar radiative energy output Primary natural causes energy input of to climate the change system Maunder Minimum and the Little Ice Age Segregating natural and anthropogenic
Understanding, forecasting, mitigating space weather important Magnetic Fields Solar Storms Solar Wind Conditions Solar Radiation Spectrum Impact on Space Environment Impact on Planetary Atmospheres & Climate
Heliophysics Phenomena Large Range of Physical Scales Convection and Granulation ( 1000 Km at surface) Sunspot magnetic fields ( 10,000 Km) Coronal structures: Prominences, CMEs ( 100,000 Km) Sun-Earth Distance: 1 AU = 1.5 10 8 Km Development and propagation of solar storms: Hours to days Solar cycle timescale: 11 years Modulation of Planetary Atmospheres, Climate: Centuries to Millennia
Heliophysics is challenging Range of length-scales and multiple Timescales Coupling of multiple, distinct physical processes Interdisciplinary approaches necessary
Theoretical Investigations in Heliophysics (Just two examples ) Nandy et al. Mackay et al. Understanding solar magnetic field generation Development and propagation of solar storms Heliospheric modulation Ionospheric, atmospheric and climate response
Observations in Heliophysics Aditya NASA has multiple satellites observing the heliophysical system India s first solar space mission Aditya to study solar storms Launch around 2014
US has a mature heliophysics program Driven by NASA-NSF, Multiple Satellites and University Programs
India is poised for rapid advances Aditya Coronagraph Mission Multi-Application Solar Telescope National Large Solar Telescope (proposed)
Solar Physics & Space Weather Research in Indian Institutions Aryabhatta Research Institute of Experimental Sciences, Nainital Indian Institute of Astrophysics, Bangalore Indian Institute of Geomagnetism, Navi Mumbai Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore Indian Institute of Science Education and Research, Kolkata Indian Institute of Science Education and Research, Pune Indian Space Research Organization, Bangalore Institute of Technology, Banaras Hindu University, Varanasi Inter University Center for Astronomy and Astrophysics, Pune Madurai Kamaraj University, Madurai Mahatma Gandhi University, Kottayam Mohanlal Sukhadia University, Udaipur National Center for Radio Astronomy, Pune Regional Warning Center, National Physical Laboratory, New Dellhi Osmania University, Hyderabad Physical Research Laboratory, Ahmedabad Tata Institute of Fundamental Research, Mumbai Udaipur Solar Observatory, Udaipur University College, Trivandrum
Why cooperate? Enable a science discipline that affects our technology and lives Leverage expertise and resources Build a lasting relationship in the space sciences Mutually beneficial for both nations scope National Large Solar Telescope (proposed)
The Envisaged Indo-US Bilateral Program in Heliophysics Grass-roots level, science driven collaboration between scientists Cover all aspects of Heliophysics Involve Universities and Institutions, both private and public Student involvement and exchange Sharing of resources, data and facilities Planning of future joint endeavors, including missions Funded by the Governments and hopefully the private sector
Who are involved in the Planning? IISER, Kolkata (India Coordinator) Harvard Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics (US Co-coordinator) Montana State University (US Co-coordinator) IISER, Pune, India Indian Institute of Astrophysics IUCAA, India Indian Institute of Geomagnetism Udaipur Solar Observatory, India IUCAA, India ISRO, India National Center for Radio Astronomy, India National Atmospheric Research Laboratory, India
Who are involved in the Planning? Stanford University, USA Cornell University, USA University of Maryland, USA University of California, San Diego Southwest Research Institute, USA NASA, USA University of Texas-Dallas, USA Utah State University Boston University, Boston College, USA University of Alabama University of Michigan George-Mason University, USA Helio Research, USA University of Hawaii, USA National Solar Observatory, USA MIT Haystack Observatory (To be confirmed)
Will such a large-scale collaboration work? Somewhat similar models exists in both countries scope National Large Solar Telescope (proposed)
A Model of Multi-Institutional Cooperation Driven by NASA Developing automated solar feature recognition techniques to deal with petabyte data volumes Led by Piet Martens (Montana State University, USA) Institutions Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics Montana State University Johns Hopkins-APL Boston University Southwest Research Institute Royal Observatory of Belgium New Mexico State University Academy of Athens Max Planck Institute, Lindau University of Hawaii Trinity College, Dublin Bradford University and Mullard Space Sciences Laboratory
An Example of a Multi-Institutional Indian Collaboration Dibyendu Nandi (PI, IISER-K) Dipankar Banerjee (Co-I, IIA) Rajesh Nayak (Co-I, IISER-K) Paul Rajaguru (Co-I, IIA) Nandita Srivastava (Co-I, USO-PRL) K Sankarasubramanian (Co-I, ISRO) Prasad Subramanian (Co-I, IISER-P) High-Performance Computing, NKN Grid Data Analysis and Modeling Student Training Workshops, EPO Mandate: Heliophysics and Fundamental Astrophysics Generate understanding necessary for space weather forecasting Space mission support Indigo and LIGO-India support
Many common personnel and institutions Proven collaborative expertise and experiences suggestive of a potentially successful collaboration scope National Large Solar Telescope (proposed)
Summary Heliophysics is a rapidly emerging, interdisciplinary science Heliophysics important for a modern, technology based society Impacts public and private sectors (Space, communications, airlines ) US and India have interests and relevant expertise in this science Cooperation provides leveraging, is mutually beneficial
Contact Dibyendu Nandi: dnandi@iiserkol.ac.in Indian Institute of Science Education and Research, Kolkata Mohanpur 741252 West Bengal India http://www.iiserkol.ac.in/~dnandi/