Physical signatures of magnetospheric boundary layer processes

The Earth's magnetosphere is part of our environment, and physical processes in the magnetosphere and coupling between the solar energy stream, the solar wind, and the magnetosphere are important to our understanding of our environment. Variations in the electromagnetic and particle energy output of the Sun have a significant effect on global changes. The energy transfer mechanisms at the dayside magnetospheric boundary layers and their ionospheric signatures may be even more important to solar--terrestrial research than the nightside processes. The dayside boundary layer and the polar cusps are the Earth's windows to outer space.