This program will utilize a combination of two computational techniques to investigate the penetration of high energy particles from the solar wind into the Earth's magnetosphere. Magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) simulations will be used to determine the general interior structure and dynamics of the magnetosphere and a large-scale kinetic (LSK) code will be used to trace test particles to determine where, how, and when energetic particles penetrate the magnetopause and enter the magnetosphere. Particle tracing will then also be used to determine how these energetic particles are transported within the magnetosphere
