The PI proposes to develop a concept that will improve the possibility of observing the impact of space weather on the magnetosphere-ionosphere system, and that will address fundamental physical processes related to space weather phenomena. This will be done by focusing operations of sensitive ground based equipment to occur during potentially disruptive space weather conditions. By analyzing these observations in conjunction with spacecraft observations, SRI can develop an improved understanding of the coupling between the solar wind and magnetosphere and between the magnetosphere and ionosphere (generally termed space weather "geoeffectiveness"). Thus, the overall objective of the proposal is to observe and analyze space weather geoeffectiveness by implementing an operational phase and a basic research phase to the program. The operational phase of the program is designed to provide a space weather alert system that notifies observers of solar and space conditions during times of activity so that appropriate planning of ground-based operations can be established. The development and implementation of such an alert protocol for the incoherent-scatter radar community was established under past NSWP funding. The basic research phase of the program is designed to study the geoeffectiveness of the space weather event by analyzing data in the form of substorms, storms, and convection bays. As the acquired data sets will benefit all of these topics, it is anticipated that the results will contribute to a number of space weather research programs, present and future.
