scholarly journals MAVEN observations on a hemispheric asymmetry of precipitating ions toward the Martian upper atmosphere according to the upstream solar wind electric field

2017 ◽  
Vol 122 (1) ◽  
pp. 1083-1101 ◽  
Author(s):  
Takuya Hara ◽  
Janet G. Luhmann ◽  
François Leblanc ◽  
Shannon M. Curry ◽  
Kanako Seki ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Solar Wind ◽  
Electric Field ◽  
Hemispheric Asymmetry ◽  
Upper Atmosphere ◽  
Upstream Solar Wind

scholarly journals Identification of the mechanisms responsible for anomalies in the tropical lower thermosphere/ionosphere caused by the January 2009 sudden stratospheric warming

2019 ◽  
Vol 9 ◽  
pp. A39 ◽  
Author(s):  
Maxim V. Klimenko ◽  
Vladimir V. Klimenko ◽  
Fedor S. Bessarab ◽  
Timofei V. Sukhodolov ◽  
Pavel A. Vasilev ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Electric Field ◽  
Phase Change ◽  
Lower Thermosphere ◽  
Upper Atmosphere ◽  
Electron Content ◽  
Stratospheric Warming ◽  
Sudden Stratospheric Warming ◽  
Low Latitude ◽  
Plasma Drift ◽  
Solar Tide

We apply the Entire Atmosphere GLobal (EAGLE) model to investigate the upper atmosphere response to the January 2009 sudden stratospheric warming (SSW) event. The model successfully reproduces neutral temperature and total electron content (TEC) observations. Using both model and observational data, we identify a cooling in the tropical lower thermosphere caused by the SSW. This cooling affects the zonal electric field close to the equator, leading to an enhanced vertical plasma drift. We demonstrate that along with a SSW-related wind disturbance, which is the main source to form a dynamo electric field in the ionosphere, perturbations of the ionospheric conductivity also make a significant contribution to the formation of the electric field response to SSW. The post-sunset TEC enhancement and pre-sunrise electron content reduction are revealed as a response to the 2009 SSW. We show that at post-sunset hours the SSW affects low-latitude TEC via a disturbance of the meridional electric field. We also show that the phase change of the semidiurnal migrating solar tide (SW2) in the neutral wind caused by the 2009 SSW at the altitude of the dynamo electric field generation has a crucial importance for the SW2 phase change in the zonal electric field. Such changes lead to the appearance of anomalous diurnal variability of the equatorial electromagnetic plasma drift and subsequent low-latitudinal TEC disturbances in agreement with available observations. Plain Language Summary – Entire Atmosphere GLobal model (EAGLE) interactively calculates the troposphere, stratosphere, mesosphere, thermosphere, and plasmasphere–ionosphere system states and their response to various natural and anthropogenic forcing. In this paper, we study the upper atmosphere response to the major sudden stratospheric warming that occurred in January 2009. Our results agree well with the observed evolution of the neutral temperature in the upper atmosphere and with low-latitude ionospheric disturbances over America. For the first time, we identify an SSW-related cooling in the tropical lower thermosphere that, in turn, could provide additional information for understanding the mechanisms for the generation of electric field disturbances observed at low latitudes. We show that the SSW-related vertical electromagnetic drift due to electric field disturbances is a key mechanism for interpretation of an observed anomalous diurnal development of the equatorial ionization anomaly during the 2009 SSW event. We demonstrate that the link between thermospheric winds and the ionospheric dynamo electric field during the SSW is attained through the modulation of the semidiurnal migrating solar tide.

scholarly journals Density holes in the upstream solar wind

2007 ◽  
Author(s):  
G. K. Parks ◽  
E. Lee ◽  
N. Lin ◽  
F. Mozer ◽  
M. Wilber ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Solar Wind ◽  
Upstream Solar Wind

scholarly journals Observations of polar patches generated by solar wind Alfvén wave coupling to the dayside magnetosphere

1999 ◽  
Vol 17 (4) ◽  
pp. 463-489 ◽  
Author(s):  
P. Prikryl ◽  
J. W. MacDougall ◽  
I. F. Grant ◽  
D. P. Steele ◽  
G. J. Sofko ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Solar Wind ◽  
Electric Field ◽  
Alfven Waves ◽  
Alfven Wave ◽  
Alfvén Waves ◽  
Convection Cell ◽  
Convection Flow ◽  
Vhf Radar ◽  
Sky Imager ◽  
The Imf

Abstract. A long series of polar patches was observed by ionosondes and an all-sky imager during a disturbed period (Kp = 7- and IMF Bz < 0). The ionosondes measured electron densities of up to 9 × 1011 m-3 in the patch center, an increase above the density minimum between patches by a factor of \\sim4.5. Bands of F-region irregularities generated at the equatorward edge of the patches were tracked by HF radars. The backscatter bands were swept northward and eastward across the polar cap in a fan-like formation as the afternoon convection cell expanded due to the IMF By > 0. Near the north magnetic pole, an all-sky imager observed the 630-nm emission patches of a distinctly band-like shape drifting northeastward to eastward. The 630-nm emission patches were associated with the density patches and backscatter bands. The patches originated in, or near, the cusp footprint where they were formed by convection bursts (flow channel events, FCEs) structuring the solar EUV-produced photoionization and the particle-produced auroral/cusp ionization by segmenting it into elongated patches. Just equatorward of the cusp footprint Pc5 field line resonances (FLRs) were observed by magnetometers, riometers and VHF/HF radars. The AC electric field associated with the FLRs resulted in a poleward-progressing zonal flow pattern and backscatter bands. The VHF radar Doppler spectra indicated the presence of steep electron density gradients which, through the gradient drift instability, can lead to the generation of the ionospheric irregularities found in patches. The FLRs and FCEs were associated with poleward-progressing DPY currents (Hall currents modulated by the IMF By) and riometer absorption enhancements. The temporal and spatial characteristics of the VHF backscatter and associated riometer absorptions closely resembled those of poleward moving auroral forms (PMAFs). In the solar wind, IMP 8 observed large amplitude Alfvén waves that were correlated with Pc5 pulsations observed by the ground magnetometers, riometers and radars. It is concluded that the FLRs and FCEs that produced patches were driven by solar wind Alfvén waves coupling to the dayside magnetosphere. During a period of southward IMF the dawn-dusk electric field associated with the Alfvén waves modulated the subsolar magnetic reconnection into pulses that resulted in convection flow bursts mapping to the ionospheric footprint of the cusp.Key words. Ionosphere (polar ionosphere). Magneto- spheric physics (magnetosphere-ionosphere interactions; polar wind-magnetosphere interactions).

scholarly journals Space Weather, SuperDARN and the Tasmanian Tiger

1997 ◽  
Vol 50 (4) ◽  
pp. 773 ◽  
Author(s):  
Raymond A. Greenwald
Keyword(s):  
Solar Wind ◽  
Electric Fields ◽  
Space Weather ◽  
Interplanetary Space ◽  
Rapid Evolution ◽  
Upper Atmosphere ◽  
Global Network ◽  
Pressure Gradients ◽  
Earth’S Magnetosphere ◽  
Earth's Magnetosphere

The plasma environment extending from the solar surface through interplanetary space to the outermost reaches of the Earth’s atmosphere and magnetic field is dynamic, often disturbed, and capable of harming humans and damaging manmade systems. Disturbances in this environment have been identified as space weather disturbances. At the present time there is growing interest in monitoring and predicting space weather disturbances. In this paper we present some of the difficulties involved in achieving this goal by comparing the processes that drive tropospheric-weather systems with those that drive space-weather systems in the upper atmosphere and ionosphere. The former are driven by pressure gradients which result from processes that heat and cool the atmosphere. The latter are driven by electric fields that result from interactions between the streams of ionised gases emerging from the Sun (solar wind) and the Earth’s magnetosphere. Although the dimensions of the Earth’s magnetosphere are vastly greater than those of tropospheric weather systems, the global space-weather response to changes in the solar wind is much more rapid than the response of tropospheric-weather systems to changing conditions. We shall demonstrate the rapid evolution of space-weather systems in the upper atmosphere through measurements with a global network of radars known as SuperDARN. We shall also describe how the SuperDARN network is evolving, including a newly funded Australian component known as the Tasman International Geospace Environmental Radar (TIGER).

scholarly journals Global estimates of plasmaspheric losses during moderate disturbance intervals

2010 ◽  
Vol 28 (1) ◽  
pp. 27-36 ◽  
Author(s):  
M. Spasojevic ◽  
B. R. Sandel
Keyword(s):  
Solar Wind ◽  
Electric Field ◽  
Boundary Layers ◽  
Total Mass ◽  
Density Ratio ◽  
Individual Case ◽  
Number Density ◽  
Inner Magnetosphere ◽  
Moderate Disturbance ◽  
Global Estimates

Abstract. For a set of five moderate disturbance events, we calculate the total number of He+ ions removed the plasmasphere using calibrated global EUV images. In each of the events, between ~0.6 and 2.2×1030 He+ ions are removed from a region of the inner magnetosphere from L=1.5 to 5.5. This loss constitutes between 20% and 42% of the initial He+ distribution. The lost percentage is correlated with the number of hours of strongly positive solar wind electric field (Ey>2.5 mV/m). Also, the total amount of material removed from the plasmasphere is estimated by using several values of the He+ to H+ number density ratio. The total mass lost is found to be in the range of 20 to 80 metric tons although for each individual case the estimate can vary by over 50% depending on assumed density ratio. We also attempt to distinguish between losses to the ionosphere and losses to the dayside boundary layers by estimating losses interior and exterior to the newly formed plasmapause boundary. For the events studied, losses inside the new plasmapause constitute between 24% to 54% of the total number of He+ ions lost.

Solar Orbiter observations of solar wind current sheets and their deHoffman-Teller frames

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Konrad Steinvall ◽  
Yuri Khotyaintsev ◽  
Giulia Cozzani ◽  
Andris Vaivads ◽  
Christopher Owen ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Solar Wind ◽  
Electric Field ◽  
Wind Velocity ◽  
Solar Wind Velocity ◽  
Field Measurements ◽  
Velocity Measurements ◽  
Current Sheets ◽  
Spacecraft Orbit ◽  
Electric Field Measurements ◽  
Good Agreement

&lt;p&gt;Solar wind current sheets have been extensively studied at 1 AU. The recent advent of Parker Solar Probe and Solar Orbiter (SolO) has enabled us to study these structures at a range of heliocentric distances.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;We present SolO observations of current sheets in the solar wind at heliocentric distances between 0.55 and 0.85 AU, some of which show signatures of ongoing magnetic reconnection. We develop a method to find the deHoffman-Teller frame which minimizes the Y-component (the component tangential to the spacecraft orbit) of the electric field. Using the electric field measurements from RPW and magnetic field measurements from MAG, we use our method to determine the deHoffman-Teller frame of solar wind current sheets. The same method can also be used on the Alfv&amp;#233;nic turbulence and structures found in the solar wind to obtain a measure of the solar wind velocity.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Our preliminary results show a good agreement between our modified deHoffmann-Teller analysis based on the single component E-field, and the conventional deHoffman-Teller analysis based on 3D plasma velocity measurements from PAS. This opens up the possibility to use the RPW and MAG data to obtain an estimate of the solar wind velocity when particle data is unavailable.&lt;/p&gt;

A Global Survey of Geospace Electrons with eVlasiator: First Results

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Markku Alho ◽  
Markus Battarbee ◽  
Yann Pfau-Kempf ◽  
Urs Ganse ◽  
Lucile Turc ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Solar Wind ◽  
Spatial Resolution ◽  
Kinetic Models ◽  
Electron Distribution ◽  
State Of The Art ◽  
Distribution Functions ◽  
Upper Atmosphere ◽  
Electron Precipitation ◽  
Gas Dynamic ◽  
First Results

&lt;div&gt; &lt;p&gt;Models of the&amp;#160;geospace&amp;#160;plasma environment have been proceeding towards more realistic descriptions of the solar wind&amp;#8212;magnetosphere interaction, from gas-dynamic to MHD and hybrid ion-kinetic models such as the state-of-the-art&amp;#160;Vlasiator&amp;#160;model.&amp;#160;Advances in computational capabilities have enabled global&amp;#160;simulations of detailed physics, but the electron scale has so far been out of reach in a truly global setting.&amp;#160;&lt;/p&gt; &lt;/div&gt;&lt;div&gt; &lt;p&gt;In this work we present results from eVlasiator, an offshoot of the Vlasiator model, showing first results from a global 2D+3V kinetic electron geospace simulation. Despite truncation of some electron physics and use of ion-scale spatial resolution, we show that realistic electron distribution functions are obtainable within the magnetosphere and describe these in relation to MMS observations. Electron precipitation to the upper atmosphere from these velocity distributions is estimated.&lt;/p&gt; &lt;/div&gt;

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