With the advent of the Heliophysics/Geospace System Observatory (H/GSO), a complement of multi-spacecraft missions and ground-based observatories to study the space environment, data retrieval, analysis, and visualization of space physics data can be daunting. The Space Physics Environment Data Analysis System (SPEDAS), a grass-roots software development platform (www.spedas.org), is now officially supported by NASA Heliophysics as part of its data environment infrastructure. It serves more than a dozen space missions and ground observatories and can integrate the full complement of past and upcoming space physics missions with minimal resources, following clear, simple, and well-proven guidelines. Free, modular and configurable to the needs of individual missions, it works in both command-line (ideal for experienced users) and Graphical User Interface (GUI) mode (reducing the learning curve for first-time users). Both options have “crib-sheets,” user-command sequences in ASCII format that can facilitate record-and-repeat actions, especially for complex operations and plotting. Crib-sheets enhance scientific interactions, as users can move rapidly and accurately from exchanges of technical information on data processing to efficient discussions regarding data interpretation and science. SPEDAS can readily query and ingest all International Solar Terrestrial Physics (ISTP)-compatible products from the Space Physics Data Facility (SPDF), enabling access to a vast collection of historic and current mission data. The planned incorporation of Heliophysics Application Programmer’s Interface (HAPI) standards will facilitate data ingestion from distributed datasets that adhere to these standards. Although SPEDAS is currently Interactive Data Language (IDL)-based (and interfaces to Java-based tools such as Autoplot), efforts are under-way to expand it further to work with python (first as an interface tool and potentially even receiving an under-the-hood replacement). We review the SPEDAS development history, goals, and current implementation. We explain its “modes of use” with examples geared for users and outline its technical implementation and requirements with software developers in mind. We also describe SPEDAS personnel and software management, interfaces with other organizations, resources and support structure available to the community, and future development plans.

Electromagnetic ion cyclotron (EMIC) waves have been suggested to be a cause of radiation belt electron loss to the atmosphere. Here simultaneous, magnetically conjugate measurements are presented of EMIC wave activity, measured at geosynchronous orbit and on the ground, and energetic electron precipitation, seen by the Balloon Array for Radiation belt Relativistic Electron Losses (BARREL) campaign, on two consecutive days in January 2013. Multiple bursts of precipitation were observed on the duskside of the magnetosphere at the end of 18 January and again late on 19 January, concurrent with particle injections, substorm activity, and enhanced magnetospheric convection. The structure, timing, and spatial extent of the waves are compared to those of the precipitation during both days to determine when and where EMIC waves cause radiation belt electron precipitation. The conjugate measurements presented here provide observational support of the theoretical picture of duskside interaction of EMIC waves and MeV electrons leading to radiation belt loss.

Geomagnetically induced currents (GICs) caused by interplanetary shocks represent a serious space weather threat to modern technological infrastructure. The arrival of interplanetary shocks drives magnetosphere and ionosphere current systems, which then induce electric currents at ground level. The impact of these currents at high latitudes has been extensively researched, but the magnetic equator has been largely overlooked. In this paper, we investigate the potential effects of interplanetary shocks on the equatorial region and demonstrate that their magnetic signature is amplified by the equatorial electrojet. This local amplification substantially increases the region's susceptibility to GICs. Importantly, this result applies to both geomagnetic storms and quiet periods and thus represents a paradigm shift in our understanding of adverse space weather impacts on technological infrastructure.

The occurrence of geomagnetically induced currents (GICs) poses serious threats to modern technological infrastructure. Large GICs result from sharp variations of the geomagnetic field (dB/dt) caused by changes of large‐scale magnetospheric and ionospheric currents. Intense dB/dt perturbations are known to occur often in high‐latitude regions as a result of storm time substorms. Magnetospheric compressions usually caused by interplanetary shocks increase the magnetopause current leading to dB/dt perturbations more evident in midlatitude to low‐latitude regions, while they increase the equatorial electrojet current leading to dB/dt perturbations in dayside equatorial regions. We investigate the effects of shock impact angles and speeds on the subsequent dB/dt perturbations with a database of 547 shocks observed at the L1 point. By adopting the threshold of dB/dt = 100 nT/min, identified as a risk factor to power systems, we find that dB/dt generally surpasses this threshold when following impacts of high‐speed and nearly frontal shocks in dayside high‐latitude locations. The same trend occurs at lower latitudes and for all nightside events but with fewer high‐risk events. Particularly, we found nine events in equatorial locations with dB/dt > 100 nT/min. All events were caused by high‐speed and nearly frontal shock impacts and were observed by stations located around noon local time. These high‐risk perturbations were caused by sudden strong and symmetric magnetospheric compressions, more effectively intensifying the equatorial electrojet current, leading to sharp dB/dt perturbations. We suggest that these results may provide insights for GIC forecasting aiming at preventing degradation of power systems due to GICs.