Geospace Cluster
The Geospace Cluster supports research on Earth's near-space environment, advancing knowledge of the Sun-Earth system and space weather impacts.
Funder: National Science Foundation
Due Dates: Proposals accepted anytime | Target dates for specific solicitations (see below)
Funding Amounts: No set minimum or maximum; award size and duration vary by project and solicitation. Major instrumentation and infrastructure programs range from up to $4M to $100M.
Summary: Supports fundamental and solutions-oriented research, technology development, and education on Earth's near-space environment, the Sun-Earth system, and space weather impacts.
Key Information: Proposals must comply with the NSF Proposal & Award Policies & Procedures Guide (PAPPG); non-compliant proposals will be returned without review.
Description
The Geospace Cluster (GC) in the Division of Atmospheric and Geospace Sciences (AGS) at the National Science Foundation funds research, technology development, and education related to Earth's near-space environment—including the mesosphere, thermosphere, ionosphere, exosphere, magnetosphere, radiation belts, inner heliosphere, and solar atmosphere. The program aims to advance understanding of the Sun-Earth system, the coupling of its components through dynamical, electrodynamical, and chemical processes, and the societal impacts of phenomena such as space weather and upper atmosphere climate change.
GC supports a broad range of activities, including:
- Ground-based and space-based observations
- Theoretical, modeling, and laboratory studies
- Data analysis and data center development
Research topics include, but are not limited to:
- Aeronomy: Wave dynamics, ionization, recombination, chemical reactions, photo emission, and energy/momentum transport in the mesosphere, thermosphere, and ionosphere; coupling to the stratosphere and magnetosphere; plasma physics of the ionosphere-magnetosphere system.
- Magnetospheric Physics: Magnetospheric structure and dynamics, energization by the solar wind, plasma waves and instabilities, planetary electric fields, geomagnetic storms/substorms, and coupling among radiation belts, magnetosphere, ionosphere, and atmosphere.
- Solar-Terrestrial Physics: Solar energy generation and eruptive processes, solar dynamo, activity cycles, flares, coronal mass ejections, solar wind heating, energetic particles, cosmic ray interactions, and helioseismology.
- Space Weather and Space Climate: Drivers of space weather, integrative system modeling, predictive capabilities, and impacts on critical infrastructure.
The program also encourages proposals that integrate education, outreach, workforce development, open science, and efforts to broaden participation in geospace sciences.
