Response time of the polar ionospheric convection pattern to changes in the north-south direction of the IMF

1995 ◽  
Vol 22 (5) ◽  
pp. 631-634 ◽  
Author(s):  
Marc R. Hairston ◽  
Roderick A. Heelis
Keyword(s):  
Response Time ◽  
Convection Pattern ◽  
Ionospheric Convection ◽  
The North ◽  
The Imf

Ionospheric convection during the magnetic storm of 20-21 March 1990

1994 ◽  
Vol 12 (12) ◽  
pp. 1174-1191 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. R. Taylor ◽  
T. K. Yeoman ◽  
M. Lester ◽  
M. J. Buonsanto ◽  
J. L. Scali ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Solar Wind ◽  
Response Time ◽  
Magnetic Storm ◽  
Local Times ◽  
Convection Pattern ◽  
Polar Cap ◽  
Flow Measurements ◽  
Ionospheric Convection ◽  
Substorm Activity ◽  
The Imf

Abstract. We report on the response of high-latitude ionospheric convection during the magnetic storm of March 20-21 1990. IMP-8 measurements of solar wind plasma and interplanetary magnetic field (IMF), ionospheric convection flow measurements from the Wick and Goose Bay coherent radars, EISCAT, Millstone Hill and Sondrestrom incoherent radars and three digisondes at Millstone Hill, Goose Bay and Qaanaaq are presented. Two intervals of particular interest have been identified. The first starts with a storm sudden commencement at 2243 UT on March 20 and includes the ionospheric activity in the following 7 h. The response time of the ionospheric convection to the southward turning of the IMF in the dusk to midnight local times is found to be approximately half that measured in a similar study at comparable local times during more normal solar wind conditions. Furthermore, this response time is the same as those previously measured on the dayside. An investigation of the expansion of the polar cap during a substorm growth phase based on Faraday's law suggests that the expansion of the polar cap was nonuniform. A subsequent reconfiguration of the nightside convection pattern was also observed, although it was not possible to distinguish between effects due to possible changes in By and effects due to substorm activity. The second interval, 1200-2100 UT 21 March 1990, included a southward turning of the IMF which resulted in the Bz component becoming -10 nT. The response time on the dayside to this change in the IMF at the magnetopause was approximately 15 min to 30 min which is a factor of ~2 greater than those previously measured at higher latitudes. A movement of the nightside flow reversal, possibly driven by current systems associated with the substorm expansion phases, was observed, implying that the nightside convection pattern can be dominated by substorm activity.

Response time of the high-latitude dayside ionosphere to sudden changes in the north-south component of the IMF

1988 ◽  
Vol 36 (12) ◽  
pp. 1415-1428 ◽  
Author(s):  
H. Todd ◽  
S.W.H. Cowley ◽  
M. Lockwood ◽  
D.M. Willis ◽  
H. Lühr
Keyword(s):  
Response Time ◽  
High Latitude ◽  
The North ◽  
The Imf

scholarly journals Magnetospheric convection from Cluster EDI measurements compared with the ground-based ionospheric convection model IZMEM

2009 ◽  
Vol 27 (8) ◽  
pp. 3077-3087 ◽  
Author(s):  
M. Förster ◽  
Y. I. Feldstein ◽  
S. E. Haaland ◽  
L. A. Dremukhina ◽  
L. I. Gromova ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
High Latitude ◽  
Electric Potential ◽  
Potential Distribution ◽  
Spatial And Temporal Variation ◽  
Convection Pattern ◽  
Polar Cap ◽  
Ionospheric Convection ◽  
Electric Potential Distribution ◽  
Convection Model ◽  
The Imf

Abstract. Cluster/EDI electron drift observations above the Northern and Southern polar cap areas for more than seven and a half years (2001–2008) have been used to derive a statistical model of the high-latitude electric potential distribution for summer conditions. Based on potential pattern for different orientations of the interplanetary magnetic field (IMF) in the GSM y-z-plane, basic convection pattern (BCP) were derived, that represent the main characteristics of the electric potential distribution in dependence on the IMF. The BCPs comprise the IMF-independent potential distribution as well as patterns, which describe the dependence on positive and negative IMFBz and IMFBy variations. The full set of BCPs allows to describe the spatial and temporal variation of the high-latitude electric potential (ionospheric convection) for any solar wind IMF condition near the Earth's magnetopause within reasonable ranges. The comparison of the Cluster/EDI model with the IZMEM ionospheric convection model, which was derived from ground-based magnetometer observations, shows a good agreement of the basic patterns and its variation with the IMF. According to the statistical models, there is a two-cell antisunward convection within the polar cap for northward IMFBz+≤2 nT, while for increasing northward IMFBz+ there appears a region of sunward convection within the high-latitude daytime sector, which assumes the form of two additional cells with sunward convection between them for IMFBz+≈4–5 nT. This results in a four-cell convection pattern of the high-latitude convection. In dependence of the ±IMFBy contribution during sufficiently strong northward IMFBz conditions, a transformation to three-cell convection patterns takes place.

Solar wind proton precipitation to the surface of Mercury

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Shahab Fatemi ◽  
Andrew R. Poppe ◽  
Stas Barabash
Keyword(s):  
Solar Wind ◽  
Dynamic Pressure ◽  
Solar Wind Plasma ◽  
Solar Wind Dynamic Pressure ◽  
Solar Wind Proton ◽  
Entire Surface ◽  
The North ◽  
Proton Precipitation ◽  
Neutral Sodium ◽  
The Imf

<p>We examine the effects of the interplanetary magnetic field (IMF) orientation and solar wind dynamic pressure on the solar wind proton precipitation to the surface of Mercury. We use the Amitis model, a three-dimensional GPU-based hybrid model of plasma (particle ions and fluid electrons), and explain a method we found necessary to accurately calculate plasma precipitation to the surface of Mercury through the highly dynamic Hermean magnetosphere. We use our model to explain ground-based telescope observations of Mercury's neutral sodium exosphere, and compare our simulation results with MESSENGER observations. For the typical solar wind dynamic pressure near the orbit of Mercury (i.e., ~7-8 nPa) our model shows a high solar wind proton flux precipitates through the magnetospheric cusps to the high latitudes on both hemispheres on the dayside with a higher precipitation rate to the southern hemisphere compared to the north, which is associated with the northward displacement of Mercury's intrinsic magnetic dipole. We show that this two peak pattern, which is also a common feature observed for neutral sodium exosphere, is controlled by the radial component (B<sub>x</sub>) of the IMF and not the B<sub>z</sub> component. Our model also suggests that the southward IMF and its associated magnetic reconnection do not play a major role in controlling plasma precipitation to the surface of Mercury through the magnetospheric cusps, in agreement with MESSENGER observations that show that, unlike the Earth, there is almost no dependence between the IMF angle and magnetic reconnection rate at Mercury. For the typical solar wind dynamic pressure, our model suggests that the solar wind proton precipitation through the cusps is longitudinally centered near noon with ~11<sup>o</sup> latitudinal extent in the north and ~21<sup>o</sup> latitudinal extent in the south, which is consistent with MESSENGER observations. We found an anti-correlation in the incidence area on the surface and the incidence particle rate between the northern and southern cusp precipitation such that the total area and the total rate through both of the cusps remain constant and independent of the IMF orientation. We also show that the solar wind proton incidence rate to the entire surface of Mercury is higher when the IMF has a northward component and nearly half of the incidence flux impacts the low latitudes on the nightside. During extreme solar events (e.g., Coronal Mass Ejections) a large area on the dayside surface of Mercury is exposed to the solar wind plasma, especially in the southern hemisphere. Our model suggests that over 70 nPa solar wind dynamic pressure is required for the entire surface of Mercury to be exposed to the solar wind plasma.</p>

scholarly journals IMF <i>B</i><sub><i>y</i></sub> effects in the plasma flow at the polar cap boundary

2011 ◽  
Vol 29 (7) ◽  
pp. 1305-1315 ◽  
Author(s):  
R. Lukianova ◽  
A. Kozlovsky
Keyword(s):  
Solar Wind ◽  
Electric Fields ◽  
Plasma Flow ◽  
Relative Reduction ◽  
Polar Cap ◽  
Azimuthal Component ◽  
Ionospheric Convection ◽  
Quantitative Characteristics ◽  
Night Side ◽  
The Imf

Abstract. We used the dataset obtained from the EISCAT Svalbard Radar during 2000–2008 to study statistically the ionospheric convection in a vicinity of the polar cap boundary as related to IMF By conditions separately for northward and southward IMF. The effect of IMF By is manifested in the intensity and direction of the azimuthal component of ionospheric flow. The most significant effect is observed on the day and night sides whereas on dawn and dusk the effect is essentially less prominent. However, there is an asymmetry with respect to the noon-midnight meridian. On the day side the intensity of By-related azimuthal flow is maximal exactly at noon, whereas on the night side the maximum is shifted toward the post-midnight hours (~03:00 MLT). On the dusk side the relative reduction of the azimuthal flow is much larger than that on the dawn side. Overall, the magnetospheric response to IMF By seems to be stronger in the 00:00–12:00 MLT sector compared to the 12:00–24:00 MLTs. Quantitative characteristics of the IMF By effect are presented and partly explained by the magnetospheric electric fields generated due to the solar wind and also by the position of open-closed boundary for different IMF orientation.

scholarly journals Effect of the IMF <i>B<sub>y</sub></i> component on the ionospheric flow overhead at EISCAT: observations and theory

2000 ◽  
Vol 18 (12) ◽  
pp. 1503-1522 ◽  
Author(s):  
H. Khan ◽  
S. W. H. Cowley
Keyword(s):  
Magnetic Field ◽  
Local Times ◽  
Plasma Convection ◽  
Flow Perturbation ◽  
The North ◽  
Ionosphere Plasma ◽  
Uncertainty Estimates ◽  
Magnetic Model ◽  
Order Of Magnitude ◽  
The Imf

Abstract. We have analysed a database of ∼300 h of tristatic ionospheric velocity measurements obtained overhead at Tromsø (66.3° magnetic latitude) by the EISCAT UHF radar system, for the presence of flow effects associated with the y-component of the IMF. Since it is already known that the flow depends upon IMF Bz, a least-squares multivariate analysis has been used to determine the flow dependence on both IMF By and Bz simultaneously. It is found that significant flow variations with IMF By occur, predominantly in the midnight sector (∼2100–0300 MLT), but also pre-dusk (∼1600–1700 MLT), which are directed eastward for IMF By positive and westward for IMF By negative. The flows are of magnitude 20–30 m s–1 nT–1 in the midnight sector, and smaller, 10–20 m s–1 nT–1, pre-dusk, and are thus associated with significant changes of flow of order a few hundred m s–1 over the usual range of IMF By of about ±5 nT. At other local times the IMF By-related perturbation flows are much smaller, less than ∼5 m s–1 nT–1, and consistent with zero within the uncertainty estimates. We have investigated whether these IMF By-dependent flows can be accounted for quantitatively by a theoretical model in which the equatorial flow in the inner magnetosphere is independent of IMF By, but where distortions of the magnetospheric magnetic field associated with a "penetrating" component of the IMF By field changes the mapping of the field to the ionosphere, and hence the ionospheric flow. We find that the principal flow perturbation produced by this effect is an east-west flow whose sense is determined by the north-south component of the unperturbed flow. Perturbations in the north-south flow are typically smaller by more than an order of magnitude, and generally negligible in terms of observations. Using equatorial flows which are determined from EISCAT data for zero IMF By, to which the corotation flow has been added, the theory predicts the presence of zonal perturbation flows which are generally directed eastward in the Northern Hemisphere for IMF By positive and westward for IMF By negative at all local times. However, although the day and night effects are therefore similar in principle, the model perturbation flows are much larger on the nightside than on the dayside, as observed, due to the day-night asymmetry in the unperturbed magnetospheric magnetic field. Overall, the model results are found to account well for the observed IMF By-related flow perturbations in the midnight sector, in terms of the sense and direction of the flow, the local time of their occurrence, as well as the magnitude of the flows (provided the magnetic model employed is not too distorted from dipolar form). At other local times the model predicts much smaller IMF By-related flow perturbations, and thus does not account for the effects observed in the pre-dusk sector.Key words: Magnetospheric physics (magnetosphere · ionosphere interactions) – Ionosphere (plasma convection; auroral ionosphere)

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