scostep 2010 (stp12) - Leibniz-Institut für Atmosphärenphysik an der ...

STP12 Abstracts
Berlin, 12 - 16 July 2010
SCOSTEP Symposium 2010
What can we learn about planet Earth by studying other magnetospheres and
ionospheres?
Lundin Rickard
Swedish Institute of Space Physics
The science of the Earth's magnetosphere and ionosphere has made major progress in the last
fifty years, the "Space age". In-situ measurements, i.e. measurements performed by
instruments on board Earth orbiting satellites, have been of vital importance for the
understanding of the Earth's near space environment. Improved understanding is a product of
advanced scientific instruments on dedicated and successively more complex satellite
missions. Considering the impressive fleet of scientific satellites that has orbited the Earth and
produced a large amount of information, one may therefore raise the relevant question: What
can we learn about the Earth by studying the environment of other planets? Considering the
cost, complexity and limitations involved in space missions to other planets, that question
may seem highly relevant. However, there are at least three important reasons for why
comparative planetology and space missions to other planets are important.
The first is that in-situ results have been the most important guide on our way towards
progress in the physics of the planetary (e.g. Earth) space environment. Space physics is still
in many ways an exploratory field of science. The second reason is that the planets in our
solar system, e.g. the Terrestrial planets, are in different stages of their evolution. The Sun is a
variable and evolving star, its impact on the planetary environment different from one planet
to the other. The third reason is the issue of habitability of planets near a central star, factors
leading to and controlling the evolution of life. For instance, in what way does Space Weather
have an impact on the habitability of a planet in our solar system?