9600340 Bargatze The award supports for a 12-month Japan Society for the Promotion of Science (JSPS) Postdoctoral Fellowship for Dr. Lee F. Bargatze at the Solar-Terrestrial Environment Laboratory (STELAB), Toyokawa, Japan. Dr. Bargatze will work with Dr. Tatsuki Ogino, Researcher at STELAB and Associate Professmr at Nagoya University, on the research project entitled: "Global Magnetohydrodynamic Simulations of the Magneto-sphere's Response to Variations in Upstream Solar Wind Conditions." The proposed research entails the use of computer simulations to study the interactions between the solar wind and the Earth's magnetic field on a global scale. The simulations will be compared with empirical data to study the structure and dynamics of the Earth's magnetospheric system. In particular, the work will focus on the dynamical response of the magnetosphere to sudden changes in the upstream solar wind conditions such as interplanetary magnetic field rotations. The solar wind-magnetosphere interaction, which generates the aurorae and produces magnetic storms and substorms, is an area of common interest for Drs. Bargatze and Ogino. In collaboration with scientists from Japan, Dr. Bargatze will utilize the results of the proposed research to further the international understanding of the coupling between the solar wind and the terrestrial magnetosphere and to improve models describing the global system response to time variations of solar wind input parameters that define the upstream interplanetary conditions. ***
