Solar Wind — Magnetosphere Coupling

This monograph is the outgrowth of an AGU (American Geophysical Union) Chapman Conference on Solar Wind-Magnetosphere Coupling, and it contains most of the formal papers presented at the conference including the summary panel.

The conference was held on February 12-15,1985 at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena, California, U.S.A.

It was attended by over 150 scientists from most of the nations active in space research.

The purpose of the conference was to bring together scientists from all areas of solar-terrestrial physics, both theoretical and experimental, in order to focus attention on the solar wind-magnetosphere coupling problem, to provide a timely forum for the exchange of ideas, and to promote interdisciplinary collaboration.

The conference agenda consisted of eight sessions: six topical, one poster, and one summary.

The topical sessions were "Solar Wind and Geomagnetic Activity," "AM PTE Mission," "Solar Wind and Polar Cusp," "Auroral Zone and Polar Cap," "Solar Wind and Magnetotail," and "Theoretical Modeling and Simulations." The conference concluded with a two-hour summary panel discussion which attempted to provide an assessment of the progress that has been made as well as underscore the problems, old and new, which remain unanswered.

Sydney Chapman (1889-1970) was one of the early pioneers in the study of the influence of the sun and magnetosphere on the earth's upper atmosphere, and it was most appropriate that this conference be one in the AGU series named in his honor.