SPP 1488:  Planetary Magnetism (PlanetMag)

• Subject Area: Geosciences
• Term: from 2010 to 2019
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 130642256

The results from recent space missions to Mars and Venus strongly indicate that planetary magnetic fields play a vital role in preventing atmospheric erosion by the solar wind. Without the geomagnetic field, for example, life on Earth as we know it would not be possible. However, very little is known about the underlying interaction between the solar wind and a planet’s magnetic field. Space missions have also revealed that the planetary and lunar magnetic fields show surprising differences. These distinct magnetic signatures carry invaluable information about the past and present internal structure and dynamics of their parent bodies. The reason for the different characteristics remains also little understood.
The Priority Programme aims at exploring and understanding the diversity of planetary and lunar magnetic fields in our solar system with a focus on their interaction with the solar wind. The timing of the proposal coincides with several space missions designed to measure magnetic fields and other key properties, which offers a unique chance to significantly advance our knowledge. In order to achieve this, a synergistic interdisciplinary approach is essential, combining newly developed tools for data acquisition and analysis, computer simulations of planetary interiors and dynamos, models of solar wind interaction, measurement of ancient terrestrial rocks and meteorites and laboratory investigations.

• DFG Programme: Priority Programmes
• International Connection: Czech Republic, France, Iceland, South Africa, United Kingdom, USA

Projects

• Analysis of the interaction of planetary plasma and dust with the magnetic field (Applicants Motschmann, Ph.D., Uwe ;  Schmidt, Ph.D., Jürgen )
• Building time dependent magnetic field models satisfying the frozen-flux radial induction equation (Applicants Holschneider, Matthias ;  Lesur, Ph.D., Vincent )
• Co-estimation of the Earth main magnetic field and the ionospheric variation field (Applicants Holschneider, Matthias ;  Stolle, Claudia )
• Constraining the magnetic connection of Jupiter's and Saturn's ring planes with their stratospheres (Applicant Hartogh, Paul )
• Coordination and organisation of the SPP 1488 (Applicant Holschneider, Matthias )
• Current Systems around Terrestrial Planets: EOF Analysis and Modeling (Applicant He, Maosheng )
• Determination of the intensity of the Earth´s magnetic paleofield by analysis of fossil magnetotactic bacteria (Applicant Egli, Ramon )
• Do meteorite impacts the geomagnetic field and can meteorites retain the record of planetary magnetic fields? (Applicant Gilder, Stuart Alan )
• Dust-magnetosphere coupling in the vicinity of Saturn's icy moon Enceladus (Applicant Yaroshenko, Victoria )
• Dynamo action in planetesimals (Applicant Tilgner, Andreas )
• Effects of Density Stratification on Convective Turbulence and Dynamo Action (Applicant Stellmach, Stephan )
• Estimating the lithospheric magnetization of Earth and Mars using satellite magnetic data (Applicants Grott, Matthias ;  Korte, Monika )
• Evolution of geomagnetic dipole moment and South Atlantic Anomaly (Applicants Korte, Monika ;  Nowaczyk, Norbert R. )
• Ground-truthing magnetic recording in meteorites (Applicant Wack, Michael )
• How pressure influences the magnetic properties of titanomagnetite and iron with implications for magnetic anomalies and core fields (Applicants Gilder, Stuart Alan ;  McCammon, Catherine )
• Improved Holocene global geomagnetic field reconstructions based on sediment data (Applicant Korte, Monika )
• Interior Structure and Dynamics of the Ice Giants (Applicant Wicht, Johannes )
• Intrinsic and Induced Magnetic Fields of the Terrestrial Planets and Their Influence on Atmospheric Escape and Water Inventory (Applicant Woch, Joachim )
• Investigating the Influence of the Magnetostrophic Magnetorotational Instability on the Dynamo Action in Planetary Interiors and their Exterior Field (Applicant Klahr, H. Hubertus )
• Investigations of Ganymede´s Magnetic Field Environment with new Hubble Space Telescope Observations and Galileo Spacecraft Measurements (Applicant Saur, Joachim )
• Kinetic simulation of particle acceleration due to the Interaction of the Mercury magnetic field with the Solar wind (Applicant Büchner, Jörg )
• Laboratory experiments and numerical simulations on magnetic instabilities (Applicants Rüdiger, Günther ;  Stefani, Frank )
• Matter under extreme conditions as relevant for planetary interior and dynamo models (Applicant Redmer, Ronald )
• Mineral magnetism of shocked ferrimagnetic minerals (Applicant Kontny, Agnes )
• Modeling Geomagnetic Excursions (Applicant Brown, Maxwell )
• Modeling the Magnetospheres of Jupiter and Saturn: Influences of the Internal Sources and of the Solar wind. (Applicant Saur, Joachim )
• Multi-spacecraft analysis toolkit for Swarm (Applicant Vogt, Joachim )
• Numerical simulations of the thermo-chemical evolution of the cores of Ganymede and Europa and implications for magnetic field generation in terrestrial planets (Applicant Breuer, Doris )
• Precession-driven dynamos in ellipsoidal planets (Applicant Hansen, Ulrich )
• Prediction and Modelling of the Earth's magnetic field variations (Applicant Wardinski, Ingo )
• Probing the Earth´s subdecadal core-mantle dynamics based on satellite geomagnetic field models (Applicant Asari, Seiki )
• Role of geomagnetic field in atmospheric escape from Earth (Applicant Lühr, Hermann )
• Space-time models of planetary magnetic fields for characterisation of regional lithospheric features and impact craters (Applicant Holschneider, Matthias )
• Structure and electronic transport properties of metallic liquids at conditions of planetary cores (Applicant Steinle-Neumann, Gerd )
• The iron-snow regime in Fe-FeS cores: a numerical and experimental approach (Applicants Breuer, Doris ;  Eckert, Sven )
• Thermal and Electrical Conductivity of Iron at Planetary Core Conditions from Ab Initio Computations (Applicant Steinle-Neumann, Gerd )
• Towards realistic models for the interior dynamics of Jupiter and Saturn (Applicant Wicht, Johannes )

• Spokesperson: Professor Dr. Matthias Holschneider
• Deputy: Professor Dr. Hermann Lühr