The presence of heavy ions in the near-Earth environment has a profound impact on the global magnetosphere-ionosphere (M-I) structure and dynamics. Knowledge of the ion composition and their sources and sinks throughout the M-I system is essential to study their role in regulating various magnetospheric processes. Observational, theoretical, and modeling studies have the potential to advance our understanding of the circulation of heavy ions based on separating the ionospheric and solar wind sources of lower (He⁺, N⁺, O⁺, He+2 and O+2) and higher (C⁺ⁿ, N⁺ⁿ, O⁺ⁿ and Fe⁺ⁿ with n>2) charge states, and the molecular ions (NO⁺, N₂⁺, and O₂⁺). This Research Topic seeks contributions in the fields of solar, ionospheric, and magnetospheric physics to determine the spatial distribution of heavy ions in response to the different solar and geomagnetic conditions, and study their effects on waves properties and associated particle loss and energization mechanisms.

The recent sessions for the consecutive two years in American Geophysical Union Fall meetings (2020 and 2021) on the topic of “Circulation of Heavy Ions and Their Role in Regulating the Near-Earth Plasma Dynamics" inspired new work on the outstanding problems caused by a lack of understanding of the circulation of heavy-ions and their impacts on near-Earth dynamics. This Research Topic will collect reports of that new work and will stimulate the formation of author teams to write Review articles on what is known and what needs to be known. Commentaries assessing the present situation and guiding the research field into the future will be solicited from the community. Methods articles describing new measurement techniques and new spaceflight mission concepts will be welcomed.

This Research Topic will look for Original Research papers, General Commentaries, and Review articles focusing on:

(1) statistical surveys of existing data sets to obtain information about the properties, evolution, and sources of heavy-ions and controlling factors for heavy-ions circulation in the magnetosphere-ionospheric system;
(2) studies that quantify effects of heavy-ions in altering the wave-particle interaction to better understand the magnetospheric mechanisms related to wave dynamics;
(3) theoretical models, numerical simulations, and data-analysis studies of the impact of heavy-ions in regulating the near-Earth dynamics;
(4) measurement concepts for future space-flight instrumentation that can measure the properties of the heavy-ions in near-Earth plasma environment;
(5) new mission concepts focusing on science that would be enabled by measurements of heavy-ions, especially the minor ions.

Authors wishing to submit Reviews or Mini Reviews might coordinate their topics with the Topic Editors.

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