Charles Tahan '96 : Gonzaga College High School : 19 Eye Street, Washington, D.C. 20001

http://circles.org/tahan/archive.html: Science Projects/Geospace

(1A) Research Plan

Solar Wind, the Global Electrical Circuit, and Cosmic Rays:

Exploring how variations in stellar output effect climate on the earth through the global electrical circuit.
or
Have the mysteries behind the relation of solar output and climate variability finally been solved?


Sponsor: Dr. Mahootian, Mr. Pakenham
Continuation of previous project?: No
Starting Date: 12/5/95
Lab work completed: Home, School
Topic: Solar Physics, Geospace, Earth System Science


What is the problem or question you intend to investigate?

In what way does solar output (the solar wind) effect the global electrical circuit and how does this affect result in a change in weather.

Describe in detail the method or procedure you intend to use.

Data will be collected via the Internet and other sources (CD-ROMs if available) to find a correlation between solar output and the climate's reaction. This will be accompanied by a backround report listing the main other causes of climate variability (axial tilt change, rotation wobble, a change in the orbit around the sun, etc.) and a review of the current understanding of the global electrical circuit. Additionally, a model of this circuit will be presented, illustrating quantitatively (hopefully) exactly how a change in the solar wind flux effects the circuit. A preliminary list of data needed includes: Atmospheric electric potential energy (evidently scarce), cosmic ray flux, thunderstorm quantity (thunderstorms drive the circuit), solar wind flux, and precipitation data (maybe magnetic storm data). Satellites: SOHO, WIND, POLAR, GEOTAIL, YOHKOH, SAMPEX, Ulysses.

Bibliography

Tinsley, Brian. As the Solar Wind Blows, So Goes the Weather. Earth in Space, March, 1995

Frazier, Kendrick. Our Tubulent Sun. Prentice Hall Inc., Englewood Cliffs N.J., 1980

AN IMPLEMENTATION PLAN FOR PRIORITIES IN SOLAR-SYSTEM SPACE PHYSICS. Committee on Solar and Space Physics, National Academy Press, Washington, D.C. 1985

INTERNATIONAL SOLAR-TERRESTRIAL PHYSICS PROGRAM: A Plan for the Core Spaceflight Missions. NASA, 4/85

NSSDC COHOWeb: http://nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov/cohoweb/cw.html