Regarding the modeling concerned with ionospheric plasma in the magnetosphere, we must conclude that the quadrennial U. S. progress has been quite substantial, with newly-developed kinetic and generalized transport methods being utilized to finally deal realistically with such topical areas as polar outflows, early-stage plasmasphere refilling, superthermal electron transport, and global flows through the magnetosphere. However, despite the strong recent modeling progress, one must be very much concerned for the future, particularly from the observational point-of-view. NASA has now discontinued general support for analysis of data from DE, ISEE, AMPTE and the Combined Radiation and Release Experiment Satellite(CRRES), which are the only recent U. S. sources of data related to ionospheric plasma outflows and their magnetospheric presence. Delays continue with the long-awaited launch of the POLAR spacecraft of the International Solar-Terrestrial Program. Meanwhile, the most exciting observations in this area are now coming from the Viking(Swedish), Akebono(Japanese) and Freja(Swedish) spacecraft misions, and these jeopardize the U. S. lead in studies of ionospheric outflows and other aspects of magnetosphere-ionosphere coupling. Indeed, this report is appreciably compromised as a general scientific review by the exclusion of most of the important recent contributions from these Swedish and Japanese missions. It is extremely important that NASA and other U. S. agencies recognize the degree to which the U. S. now lags in this particular area and vigorously correct this imbalance.
Acknowledgments. This work was supported by NASA grants NAG8-239 and NAGW-1554 and NSF grant ATM-9301024 to The University of Alabama in Huntsville.