Relationship between low-frequency electric-field fluctuations and ion conics around the cusp/cleft region

We investigated the relationship between low-frequency (0.2-4.0 Hz) electric-field fluctuations (LEFs) and ion conics around the dayside cusp/cleft region in the altitude range from 5000 to 10000km from observations made by the Akebono satellite. Ion conics were generally associated with intense LEFs. We found a significant correlation between the power spectral density of LEFs at any frequency and the energy of simultaneously observed ion conics. Ion conics with a conic angle near 90 deg and those more aligned with magnetic field lines both had an equivalent correlation with the local intensity of the LEFs. The LEFs associated with near-perpendicular ion conics were, however, generally more intense than those associated with folded conics. The difference was clearer for low-energy conics. These results are in agreement with a scenario of height-integrated heating of ions and energization of ions by electromagnetic energy supplied by local LEFs. Ions generally stay in the energization region during their upward motion along the field line, so that more folded ion conics with weak energization reach the same energy level as near-perpendicular conics with strong energization, due to the difference in integration time. The limit on residence time in the intense heating region causes the clearer difference for low-energy conics. We set up a simple model to examine the relationship between the energization rate and the evolution of ion conics along the field lines, and obtained good agreement with the observation results.

Relationship of upflowing ion beams and conics around the dayside cusp/cleft region to the interplanetary conditions

The dayside cusp/cleft region is known as a major source of upflowing ionospheric ions to the magnetosphere. Since the ions are supposed to be energized by an input of energy from the dayside magnetospheric boundary region, we examined the possible influence of the interplanetary conditions on dayside ion beams and conics observed by the polar-orbiting Exos-D (Akebono) satellite. We found that both the solar wind velocity and density, as well as IMF By and Bz , affect the occurrence frequency of ion conics. The energy of ion conics also depends on the solar wind velocity, IMF By and Bz . The ion beams around the local noon are not significantly controlled by the interplanetary conditions. The results reveal that ion convection, as well as the energy source, is important to understand the production of dayside ion conics while that of ion beams basically reflects the intensity of local field-aligned currents.Key words. Ionosphere (particle acceleration) – magnetospheric physics (magnetopause, cusp, and boundary layers; magnetosphere ionosphere interaction)

Modeling of occurrence frequencies of ion conics as a function of altitude and conic angle

The occurrence frequencies of dayside ion conics with various conic angles are obtained as a function of altitude from Exos-D (Akebono) observations. We made a model calculation of ion conic evolution to match the observation results. The observed occurrence frequencies of ion conics with 80° to 90° conic angle are used as an input to the model and the occurrence frequencies of ion conics with smaller conic angles are numerically calculated at higher altitudes. The calculated occurrence frequencies are compared with the observed ones of ion conics with smaller conic angles. We take into account conic angle variation with altitude in both adiabatic and non-adiabatic cases, horizontal extension of ion conics due to E×B drift, and evolution to elevated conics and ion beams in the model. In the adiabatic case, the conic angle decreases with increasing altitude much faster than was observed. The occurrence frequency of small-angle conics is much larger than the observed value without E×B drift and evolution to the other UFIs. An agreement is obtained by assuming non-adiabatic variation of conic angles with altitude and an ion E×B drift to gyro velocity ratio of 0.08 to 0.6, depending on geomagnetic activities.Key words. Ionosphere (particle acceleration) · Magnetospheric physics (auroral phenomena; magnetopause, cusp, and boundary layers).