In 2010, NASA and the National Science Foundation asked the National Research Council to assemble a committee of experts to develop an integrated national strategy that would guide agency investments in solar and space physics for the years 2013-2022. That strategy, the result of nearly 2 years of effort by the survey committee, which worked with more than 100 scientists and engineers on eight supporting study panels, is presented in the 2013 publication, Solar and Space Physics: A Science for a Technological Society. This booklet, designed to be accessible to a broader audience of policymakers and the interested public, summarizes the content of that report.

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This book presents recent advances in the physics of magnetic reconnection, investigated via both in situ spacecraft observations and fully kinetic numerical simulations. Magnetic reconnection is a fundamental process in plasma physics during which the topological reconfiguration of the magnetic field leads to energy conversion and particle energization. The book focuses on the physics of the electron diffusion region (EDR), a crucial region where the electrons are decoupled from the magnetic field and efficiently accelerated by the electric field. By using recent, high-resolution measurements provided by NASA’s Magnetospheric MultiScale Mission (MMS), the book investigates the structure of the EDR at the Earth’s magnetopause. The presented analysis provides evidence for an inhomogeneous and patchy EDR structure. The structure of the EDR appears to be more complex than the in laminar picture suggested by previous observations and simulations. Then, electrons dynamics in the EDR is studied using a novel, fully kinetic Eulerian Vlasov–Darwin model that has been implemented in the Vlasov–DArwin numerical code (ViDA), explained in detail in the book. Lastly, the book covers the testing of this new code, and investigates the contributions of the different terms in the generalized Ohm’s law within the EDR, highlighting the role of the electron inertia term.

Exploring the processes and phenomena of Earth's dayside magnetosphere Energy and momentum transfer, initially taking place at the dayside magnetopause, is responsible for a variety of phenomenon that we can measure on the ground. Data obtained from observations of Earth’s dayside magnetosphere increases our knowledge of the processes by which solar wind mass, momentum, and energy enter the magnetosphere. Dayside Magnetosphere Interactions outlines the physics and processes of dayside magnetospheric phenomena, the role of solar wind in generating ultra-low frequency waves, and solar wind-magnetosphere-ionosphere coupling. Volume highlights include: Phenomena across different temporal and spatial scales Discussions on dayside aurora, plume dynamics, and related dayside reconnection Results from spacecraft observations, ground-based observations, and simulations Discoveries from the Magnetospheric Multiscale Mission and Van Allen Probes era Exploration of foreshock, bow shock, magnetosheath, magnetopause, and cusps Examination of similar processes occurring around other planets The American Geophysical Union promotes discovery in Earth and space science for the benefit of humanity. Its publications disseminate scientific knowledge and provide resources for researchers, students, and professionals. Find out more about this book from this Q&A with the editors