Antarctic studies of the coupled ionosphere-magnetosphere system

The southern polar region offers many significant advantages over its northern counterpart for studies of the interactions of the solar wind, magnetosphere, ionosphere and thermosphere. These mainly arise from the much wider separation of the geographic and geomagnetic poles in the south compared with the north. These displacements lead to hemispheric asymmetries and to considerable longitudinal structure in the high-latitude ionosphere and magnetosphere, which is particularly striking in the south. Examples of these effects are given. In addition, observations of geospace from Antarctica have made a valuable contribution per se. Suitable illustrations are provided from invariant latitude ca. 45° to the invariant pole. Possible areas for future research, and the experimental methods that are likely to be used to overcome the logistical difficulties, are discussed.

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