scholarly journals Local time distribution of reconnected field lines under northward interplanetary magnetic field conditions

2006 ◽  
Vol 111 (A11) ◽  
Author(s):  
S. M. Petrinec ◽  
S. A. Fuselier ◽  
E. S. Claflin ◽  
K. J. Trattner
2008 ◽  
Vol 26 (8) ◽  
pp. 2371-2382 ◽  
Author(s):  
S. Haaland ◽  
G. Paschmann ◽  
M. Förster ◽  
J. Quinn ◽  
R. Torbert ◽  
...  

Abstract. A major part of the plasma in the Earth's magnetotail is populated through transport of plasma from the solar wind via the magnetotail lobes. In this paper, we present a statistical study of plasma convection in the lobes for different directions of the interplanetary magnetic field and for different geomagnetic disturbance levels. The data set used in this study consists of roughly 340 000 one-minute vector measurements of the plasma convection from the Cluster Electron Drift Instrument (EDI) obtained during the period February 2001 to June 2007. The results show that both convection magnitude and direction are largely controlled by the interplanetary magnetic field (IMF). For a southward IMF, there is a strong convection towards the central plasma sheet with convection velocities around 10 km s−1. During periods of northward IMF, the lobe convection is almost stagnant. A By dominated IMF causes a rotation of the convection patterns in the tail with an oppositely directed dawn-dusk component of the convection for the northern and southern lobe. Our results also show that there is an overall persistent duskward component, which is most likely a result of conductivity gradients in the footpoints of the magnetic field lines in the ionosphere.


1999 ◽  
Vol 17 (10) ◽  
pp. 1245-1250 ◽  
Author(s):  
S. Lepidi ◽  
P. Francia ◽  
U. Villante ◽  
A. Meloni ◽  
A. J. Lazarus ◽  
...  

Abstract. An analysis of the low frequency geomagnetic field fluctuations at an Antarctic (Terra Nova Bay) and a low latitude (L'Aquila, Italy) station during the Earth's passage of a coronal ejecta on April 11, 1997 shows that major solar wind pressure variations were followed at both stations by a high fluctuation level. During northward interplanetary magnetic field conditions and when Terra Nova Bay is close to the local geomagnetic noon, coherent fluctuations, at the same frequency (3.6 mHz) and with polarization characteristics indicating an antisunward propagation, were observed simultaneously at the two stations. An analysis of simultaneous measurements from geosynchronous satellites shows evidence for pulsations at approximately the same frequencies also in the magnetospheric field. The observed waves might then be interpreted as oscillation modes, triggered by an external stimulation, extending to a major portion of the Earth's magnetosphere. Key words. Magnetospheric physics (MHD waves and instabilities; solar wind-magnetosphere interactions)


2010 ◽  
Vol 115 (A6) ◽  
pp. n/a-n/a ◽  
Author(s):  
Chih-Ping Wang ◽  
Larry R. Lyons ◽  
Tsugunobu Nagai ◽  
James M. Weygand ◽  
A. T. Y. Lui

2015 ◽  
Vol 33 (3) ◽  
pp. 301-307 ◽  
Author(s):  
R. Slapak ◽  
H. Nilsson ◽  
L. G. Westerberg ◽  
R. Larsson

Abstract. Recent studies have shown that the escape of oxygen ions (O+) into the magnetosheath along open magnetic field lines from the terrestrial cusp and mantle is significant. We present a study of how O+ transport in the dayside magnetosheath depends on the interplanetary magnetic field (IMF) direction. There are clear asymmetries in the O+ flows for southward and northward IMF. The asymmetries can be understood in terms of the different magnetic topologies that arise due to differences in the location of the reconnection site, which depends on the IMF direction. During southward IMF, most of the observed magnetosheath O+ is transported downstream. In contrast, for northward IMF we observe O+ flowing both downstream and equatorward towards the opposite hemisphere. We observe evidence of dual-lobe reconnection occasionally taking place during strong northward IMF conditions, a mechanism that may trap O+ and bring it back into the magnetosphere. Its effect on the overall escape is however small: we estimate the upper limit of trapped O+ to be 5%, a small number considering that ion flux calculations are rough estimates. The total O+ escape flux is higher by about a factor of 2 during times of southward IMF, in agreement with earlier studies of O+ cusp outflow.


1984 ◽  
Vol 32 (8) ◽  
pp. 1021-1027 ◽  
Author(s):  
A.S. Rodger ◽  
S.W.H. Cowley ◽  
M.J. Brown ◽  
M. Pinnock ◽  
D.A. Simmons

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Therese Moretto Jorgensen ◽  
Michael Hesse ◽  
Lutz Rastaetter ◽  
Susanne Vennerstrom ◽  
Paul Tenfjord

<p>Energy and circulation in the Earth’s magnetosphere and ionosphere are largely determined by conditions in the solar wind and interplanetary magnetic field. When the driving from the solar wind is turned off (to a minimum), we expect the activity to die down but exactly how this happens is not known.  Utilizing global MHD modelling, we have addressed the questions of what constitutes the quietest state for the magnetosphere and how it is approached following a northward turning in the IMF that minimizes the driving. We observed an exponential decay with a decay time of about 1 hr in several integrated parameters related to different aspects of magnetospheric activity, including the total field-aligned current into and out of the ionosphere.  The time rate of change for the cessation of activity was also measured in total field aligned current estimates from the AMPERE project, adding observational support to this finding.  Events of distinct northward turnings of the interplanetary magnetic field were identified, with prolonged periods of stable southward driving conditions followed by northward interplanetary magnetic field conditions. A well-defined exponential decay could be identified in the total hemispheric field-aligned current following the northward turning with a generic decay constant of 0.9, corresponding to an e-folding time of 1.1 hr. A possible physical explanation for the exponential decay follows from considering what needs to happen for the convection in the magnetosphere to slow down, or stop, namely the unwinding of the field-aligned current carrying flux tubes in the coupled magnetosphere-ionosphere system. A statistical analysis of the ensemble of events also reveals both a seasonal and a day/night variation in the decay parameter, with faster decay observed in the winter than in the summer hemisphere and on the nightside than on the dayside. These results can be understood in terms of stronger/weaker line tying of the ionospheric foot points of magnetospheric field lines for higher/lower conductivity.  Additional global modeling results with varying conductance scenarios for the ionosphere confirm this interpretation.   </p>


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