The European Space Agency (ESA) is Europe’s gateway to space. Its mission is to shape the development of Europe’s space capability and ensure that investment in space continues to deliver benefits to the citizens of Europe and the world.
Find out more about space activities in our 23 Member States, and understand how ESA works together with their national agencies, institutions and organisations.
Exploring our Solar System and unlocking the secrets of the Universe
Go to topicProtecting life and infrastructure on Earth and in orbit
Go to topicUsing space to benefit citizens and meet future challenges on Earth
Go to topicMaking space accessible and developing the technologies for the future
Go to topicThis video shows the pattern of convection cells above the polar caps for different orientations of the Interplanetary Magnetic Field.
Although Earth is vastly protected from the hazards of interplanetary space by the magnetosphere and atmosphere, they do not form an isolated bubble. Most incoming solar wind is deflected by the magnetosphere but some material manages to enter. Understanding the mechanism is of crucial importance to space-borne infrastructure (GPS, telecommunication satellites) and for the safety of astronauts.
One way to do this is to study the convection cells.
For the first time, statistical maps of the convection cells under various solar conditions were derived `with six years of data from ESA's Cluster mission. Results show that the behaviour of the cells is linked heavily to solar activity.
It can be clearly seen that the number of cells varies depending on the orientation of the IMF.