I. A brief introduction to the space weather storms

  1. What is the space weather storm?       

        The space weather storms are sudden outbreaks that occur in critical space areas such as the solar atmosphere, interplanetary space, and the Earth’s magnetosphere and ionosphere. The space weather s torms often trigger catastrophic space weather events, and cause violent disturbances to the electromagnetic and plasma environments of the solar-terrestrial systems, therefore leads to potential catast rophe to the operations of high-tech systems, aerospace, and human health.

        The physics of the space weather storm aims to study the origin and evolution of the space weather storms, establish the prediction model of catastrophic space weather events caused by the space wea ther storms, and clarify the vital influences of the space weather storms in different areas including communications, navigations, space-based and ground-based high-technology systems, as well as the human health.

2. Significant scientific issues:

What causes solar storms? How do solar storms propagate in interplanetary space? How does the Earth's space system respond to solar storms?

What are the physical mechanisms and evolutions of geomagnetic storms, substorms, and particle storms in the magnetosphere, and ionospheric and thermospheric storms?

What are the effects of space weather storms on communications, navigations, space-based and ground-based high-tech systems, aerospace, etc.?

3. Research goals:

Understanding the physical nature of space weather storms: Explore the basic physical mechanisms, propagation processes, and evolutions of the space weather storms to improve the understanding of the disastrous space environment.

Building a space weather knowledge system: Develop the knowledge and ability to forecast extreme space weather events to escort the exploration and development of human space and to protect human life and space assets.

II. Research work

1. Research direction:

        Orientated toward the international frontiers and the national demand for space weather application services, researches are conducted in the basic physical processes of the space weather storms and the process and laws of changes in disastrous space environments, as well as corresponding the space weather model are constructed. The main points contain:

Basic research: Research on the basic physical processes and laws of the space weather storms

Applied Basic Research: Research on disastrous space weather modeling and forecasting methods

2. Research content:

        Based on space-based and ground-based detection, researches are conducted to reveal the basic physical processes of space weather storms, clarify the basic physical laws of disastrous space weather         processes, form an overall theoretical framework for the space weather storm-sun-earth connection, and achieve the original and international influenced academic achievements in the frontier field of         space weather.

        Using modern information technology including big data and cloud computing, a comprehensive space weather forecasting method is established based on physical laws, to provide a scientific basis for the development and needs of high-tech fields such as aerospace, communications, and navigations.

III. Laboratory construction

1. Laboratory mission:

        Expanding human cognition of space weather storms; Providing an advanced scientific cognition basis for mitigating or avoiding space weather disasters caused by space weather storms; Establishing         a space weather forecast system to protect human space exploration and development and utilization activities.

2. Development Goals:

        Standing at the forefront of the development of international space weather science and making a world-class contribution to effectively cope with space catastrophic weather events. Gradually developing the laboratory to be a famous science center with important international influence in the field of space weather and a training base for innovative talents in space weather.

3. Compositions of the Laboratory:

       Three relatively independent but organically connected research group has been built, based on different research interests in the space weather storm physics:

Research on Physical Processes and the Modeling of the Space Weather Storms

       Research on the origin and trigger mechanism of solar eruptions, the formation process and effectiveness of coronal mass ejection, the dynamic process of the interaction between the interplanetary solar storm and solar wind, the theory and modeling of acceleration and transport of high-energy particles in the heliosphere, the basic physical processes of the space environment from the sun to the earth to the entire solar system.

Research on the Response Process and Modeling of the Earth Space System

       Research on the study of the physical process of near-Earth space weather storms (including magnetic storms, magnetospheric substorms, magnetospheric particle storms, ionospheric storms, and thermospheric storms, etc.), and the global dynamics of the Earth’s magnetosphere and ionospheric spheres on solar storms Learn to respond to physical processes and modeling research.

Research on Digital Forecasts of the Space Weather Storms

       Research on the development of the numerical model of the causal chain of disastrous space weather and the research of forecasting methods, the development of the numerical model of space weather storms driven by observation data, and the visualization of the space weather integrated forecasting model.