Abstract
Exploration of the space environment has revealed a dynamic and complex system of interacting plasmas, magnetic fields, and electrical currents. Plasma physics determines the behavior of matter in space on spatial and temporal scales vastly different from those that can be duplicated in Earth‐based laboratories. The near‐Earth space environment has traditionally been studied as a system of independent component parts in the interplanetary region, the magnetosphere, the ionosphere, and the upper atmosphere. From such early explorations, it was known that “geospace” is a complex system composed of highly interactive parts. While previous programs advanced the understanding of these geospace components individually, an understanding of geospace as a whole required a planned program of simultaneous space and ground‐based observations and theoretical studies keyed to a global assessment of the production, transfer, storage, and dissipation of energy throughout the solar‐terrestrial system. Prior understanding of the various geospace components plus the availability of advanced instrumentation has allowed, for the first time, a comprehensive, quantitative study of the solar‐terrestrial energy chain to be planned: the International Solar Terrestrial Physics (ISTP) Program.
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