FDSS: Physics of the Ionosphere and Magnetosphere - Bridging the Gap between Solar and Terrestrial Research and Education

This project will provide for the addition of a junior, tenure-track faculty position in experimental ground-based ionosphere/magnetosphere research and education in the Center for Solar-Terrestrial Research (CSTR) in the Department of Physics at the New Jersey Institute of Technology. The New Jersey Institute of Technology (NJIT) is a comprehensive, public, technological university in an urban setting in the center of Newark, New Jersey. By virtue of its setting and of the population of New Jersey, NJIT has a diverse student body, making for a stimulating educational environment. CSTR is an leader in ground-based solar physics, operating the Big Bear Solar Observatory and the Owens Valley Solar Array in California. The CSTR is led by four faculty members who concentrate on experimental ground-based solar physics research and education, and by a distinguished research professor with wide experience in solar-terrestrial physics. To further enhance space plasma physics within the Center the university will also add a new position in computational modeling of space plasmas.

The recent (2003) Decadal Survey of Solar and Space Physics (National Research Council, 2003) gives high priority to a recommended NSF program, the 'Small Instrument Distributed Ground-Based Network' (hereafter called DASI, for 'Distributed Array of Small Instruments'). There are numerous frontier areas in space plasma research that can be addressed with appropriate networks of ground-based instrumentation. It is expected that the junior faculty person selected for this position at NJIT will become a leading educator and participant in this national program.