Opportunity Overview
This proposal addresses two key questions in space plasma physics:
How is the three dimensional heliosphere controlled by the solar magnetic field?
What is the structure of the near-Earth interplanetary magnetic field on the scale of the magnetosphere?
For the first question, we will use new measurements from the Solar Orbiter spacecraft as it moves out of the solar equatorial plane from February 2025. No such measurements have been made within Earth orbit, but Orbiter will make scans between 18 degrees North and South, taking a month, every 5 months from April 2025. We will use these to map the latitudinal structure of the heliospheric magnetic field as it evolves and compare it to remote measurements and models. We will constrain these models, since there are major unresolved discrepancies in the existing data. We will combine our data with those of other spacecraft such as Parker Solar Probe and BepiColombo to show how the low latitude wind, including that near the Earth, is affected by that at higher latitudes.
For the second question, we will again use new data: from the NASA IMAP mission launching in mid-2025, as well as others, which will give us for the first time six spacecraft measuring the solar wind and magnetic field in the upstream L1 halo orbit. By combining measurements from this constellation we will be able to measure the 3D structure of the magnetic field on the driving scale of the solar wind turbulence, around 100 Earth radii: this is vital for understanding how turbulence evolves in the solar wind since plasma turbulence is, unlike in hydrodynamics, greatly affected by how it is driven. We will also develop methods to combine data from all the spacecraft to make better predictions of the solar wind and magnetic field arriving at the Earth and its spatial variability, which is important as an input for understanding the dynamics of the magnetosphere.
This work is timely given the spacecraft orbits and launches. We are ideally placed to...
How is the three dimensional heliosphere controlled by the solar magnetic field?
What is the structure of the near-Earth interplanetary magnetic field on the scale of the magnetosphere?
For the first question, we will use new measurements from the Solar Orbiter spacecraft as it moves out of the solar equatorial plane from February 2025. No such measurements have been made within Earth orbit, but Orbiter will make scans between 18 degrees North and South, taking a month, every 5 months from April 2025. We will use these to map the latitudinal structure of the heliospheric magnetic field as it evolves and compare it to remote measurements and models. We will constrain these models, since there are major unresolved discrepancies in the existing data. We will combine our data with those of other spacecraft such as Parker Solar Probe and BepiColombo to show how the low latitude wind, including that near the Earth, is affected by that at higher latitudes.
For the second question, we will again use new data: from the NASA IMAP mission launching in mid-2025, as well as others, which will give us for the first time six spacecraft measuring the solar wind and magnetic field in the upstream L1 halo orbit. By combining measurements from this constellation we will be able to measure the 3D structure of the magnetic field on the driving scale of the solar wind turbulence, around 100 Earth radii: this is vital for understanding how turbulence evolves in the solar wind since plasma turbulence is, unlike in hydrodynamics, greatly affected by how it is driven. We will also develop methods to combine data from all the spacecraft to make better predictions of the solar wind and magnetic field arriving at the Earth and its spatial variability, which is important as an input for understanding the dynamics of the magnetosphere.
This work is timely given the spacecraft orbits and launches. We are ideally placed to...
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Start FreeSolicitation Details
| Issuing agency | STFC |
|---|---|
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Category | Building Construction |
| Published | June 30, 2025 |
| Procurement stage | Active solicitation |
| Response due | June 30, 2028 |
| Status | Open — accepting responses |
| Official source | View original notice |
| Last verified | August 10, 2026 |
Source: UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) — Open Government Licence v3.0.
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