David G. Sibeck
NASA Goddard Space Flight Center
STORM: The Solar-Terrestrial Observer for the Response of the Magnetosphere
The Solar-Terrestrial Observer for the Response of the Magnetosphere (or STORM) mission was proposed to the 2019 Heliophysics Medium-Class Explorer opportunity. This self-standing mission would take its own observations of the solar wind input whilst imaging the response of the magnetopause location, auroral oval, ring current, plasma sheet, and exosphere in soft X-rays, far-ultraviolet, suprathermal and energetic neutrals, and Lyman-a, respectively, to provide continuous end-to-end observations of the Dungey cycle and geomagnetic storms from a highly-inclined, circular, orbit with a radius of 30 Earth radii. A dedicated array of red- and green-line auroral imagers deployed across Alaska and Canada complements the mission by supplying the information needed to determine if and how microstructures within the nightside auroral oval trigger substorm onset. This presentation focusses on the science motivation and the methodology by which the objectives are achieved. In particular, it describes how the mission would distinguish between and quantify fundamental modes of reconnection and particle acceleration governing the flow of solar wind energy into and through the magnetosphere.