Aeronomy

The Aeronomy Program supports research from the mesosphere to the outer reaches of the thermosphere and all regions of the Earth’s ionosphere. The Aeronomy Program seeks to understand phenomena of ionization, recombination, chemical reaction, photo emission, and the transport of energy, and momentum within and between these regions.The program also supports research into the coupling of this global system to the stratosphere below and magnetosphere above and the plasma physics of phenomena manifested in the coupled ionosphere-magnetosphere system, including the effects of high-power radio wave modification. The Coupling, Energetics, and Dynamics of Atmospheric Regions (CEDAR) Program aims to understand changes in the atmosphere over short and long time scales. CEDAR is consistent with the recommendations and goals of the NAS Decadal Survey "Solar and Space Physics: A Science for a Technological Society". A primary goal of CEDAR is to explain how energy is transferred between atmospheric regions by combining a comprehensive observational program with theoretical and empirical modeling efforts. A data base of CEDAR observations is maintained for community use. The annual CEDAR Workshop attracts over 300 scientists including a large number of graduate students and as well as many international collaborators.