scholarly journals Mesoscale and large-scale variability in high-latitude ionospheric convection: Dominant modes and spatial/temporal coherence

2013 ◽  
Vol 118 (12) ◽  
pp. 7895-7904 ◽  
Author(s):  
E. D. P. Cousins ◽  
Tomoko Matsuo ◽  
A. D. Richmond
2009 ◽  
Vol 27 (9) ◽  
pp. 3335-3347 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. A. Cumnock ◽  
L. G. Blomberg ◽  
A. Kullen ◽  
T. Karlsson ◽  

Abstract. We examine 14 cases of an interesting type of extremely high latitude aurora as identified in the precipitating particles measured by the DMSP F13 satellite. In particular we investigate structures within large-scale arcs for which the particle signatures are made up of a group of multiple distinct thin arcs. These cases are chosen without regard to IMF orientation and are part of a group of 87 events where DMSP F13 SSJ/4 measures emissions which occur near the noon-midnight meridian and are spatially separated from both the dawnside and duskside auroral ovals by wide regions with precipitating particles typical of the polar cap. For 73 of these events the high-latitude aurora consists of a continuous region of precipitating particles. We focus on the remaining 14 of these events where the particle signatures show multiple distinct thin arcs. These events occur during northward or weakly southward IMF conditions and follow a change in IMF By. Correlations are seen between the field-aligned currents and plasma flows associated with the arcs, implying local closure of the FACs. Strong correlations are seen only in the sunlit hemisphere. The convection associated with the multiple thin arcs is localized and has little influence on the large-scale convection. This also implies that the sunward flow along the arcs is unrelated to the overall ionospheric convection.


2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Anthony J. Mannucci ◽  
Ryan McGranaghan ◽  
Xing Meng ◽  
Bruce T. Tsurutani ◽  
Olga P. Verkhoglyadova

Abstract. We use the Principle of Galilean Relativity (PGR) to gain insight into the physical basis for magnetosphere-ionosphere coupling. The PGR states that the laws of physics are the same in all inertial reference frames, considering relative speeds between such reference frames that are significantly less than the speed of light. The PGR is a limiting case of the principle of Special Relativity, the latter applicable to any relative speeds between two inertial reference frames. Although the PGR has been invoked in past works related to magnetosphere-ionosphere coupling, it has not been fully exploited for the insights it can provide into such topics as large-scale ionospheric convection and high latitude heating. In addition, the difficulties of applying the PGR to electrodynamics has not been covered. The PGR can be used to show that in the high latitude ionosphere there often exists a reference frame where electric fields vanish at lower altitudes where collisions are important (altitudes near ~ 100–120 km). In this reference frame, it is problematic to assert that currents of magnetospheric origin cause horizontal electric fields in the ionosphere, as has been suggested for the causal origin of Subauroral Polarization Stream electric fields. Electric fields have also been invoked as the causal origin of large-scale ionospheric convection, which may be a problematic assertion in certain reference frames. The PGR reinforces the importance of the neutral species and ion-neutral collisions in magnetosphere-ionosphere coupling, which has been noted by several authors using detailed multi-species plasma calculations. A straightforward estimate shows that the momentum carried by electron field aligned currents of magnetospheric origin during disturbed periods is much less than the momentum changes experienced by the neutral species in an Earth-fixed frame. The primary driver of neutral species momentum changes during disturbed periods is the momentum imparted by the solar wind to ionospheric ions resulting from electrodynamic interactions. This is consistent with the idea that electric fields do not lead to large scale ionospheric convection.


1968 ◽  
Vol 21 (2) ◽  
pp. 167 ◽  
Author(s):  
KW Yates

A recent 85 MHz survey of the southern sky had an absolute calibration accuracy and resolution comparable with a number of surveys made for the northern skies. By combining the results of these surveys in both hemispheres a complete sky map has been produced, and in this paper an analysis is made of the distribution of the medium and high latitude emission. A fundamental difficulty encountered is the identification and isolation of the spurs of emission projecting from the galactic plane. Two hypotheses are proposed. The first attributes the spurs to a large-scale feature associated with the galactic core and the remaining emission to a galactic halo. The second postulates the origin of the spurs within the local spiral arm, which is itself considered to contribute significantly to the high latitude background. An upper-limit estimate of the emissivity of the local arm is made from currently available independent data. Using this result a model local arm is proposed, which, together with an isotropic component from beyond the Galaxy and a small additional galactic component, explains the observed distribution.


2015 ◽  
Vol 11 (4) ◽  
pp. 2977-3018 ◽  
Author(s):  
K. M. Pascher ◽  
C. J. Hollis ◽  
S. M. Bohaty ◽  
G. Cortese ◽  
R. M. McKay

Abstract. The Eocene was characterised by "greenhouse" climate conditions that were gradually terminated by a long-term cooling trend through the middle and late Eocene. This long-term trend was determined by several large-scale climate perturbations that culminated in a shift to "ice-house" climates at the Eocene–Oligocene Transition. Geochemical and micropaleontological proxies suggest that tropical-to-subtropical sea-surface temperatures persisted into the late Eocene in the high-latitude Southwest Pacific Ocean. Here, we present radiolarian microfossil assemblage and foraminiferal oxygen and carbon stable isotope data from Deep Sea Drilling Project (DSDP) Sites 277, 280, 281 and 283 from the middle Eocene to early Oligocene (~ 40–33 Ma) to identify oceanographic changes in the Southwest Pacific across this major transition in Earth's climate history. The Middle Eocene Climatic Optimum at ~ 40 Ma is characterised by a negative shift in foraminiferal oxygen isotope values and a radiolarian assemblage consisting of about 5 % of low latitude taxa Amphicraspedum prolixum group and Amphymenium murrayanum. In the early late Eocene at ~ 37 Ma, a positive oxygen isotope shift can be correlated to the Priabonian Oxygen Isotope Maximum (PrOM) event – a short-lived cooling event recognized throughout the Southern Ocean. Radiolarian abundance, diversity, and preservation increase during the middle of this event at Site 277 at the same time as diatoms. The PrOM and latest Eocene radiolarian assemblages are characterised by abundant high-latitude taxa. These high-latitude taxa also increase in abundance during the late Eocene and early Oligocene at DSDP Sites 280, 281 and 283 and are associated with very high diatom abundance. We therefore infer a~northward expansion of high-latitude radiolarian taxa onto the Campbell Plateau towards the end of the late Eocene. In the early Oligocene (~ 33 Ma) there is an overall decrease in radiolarian abundance and diversity at Site 277, and diatoms are absent. These data indicate that, once the Tasman Gateway was fully open in the early Oligocene, a frontal system similar to the present day was established, with nutrient-depleted subantarctic waters bathing the area around DSDP Site 277, resulting in a more oligotrophic siliceous plankton assemblage.


2006 ◽  
Vol 24 (11) ◽  
pp. 2981-2990 ◽  
Author(s):  
L. V. Benkevitch ◽  
A. V. Koustov ◽  
J. Liang ◽  
J. F. Watermann

Abstract. SuperDARN radar and high-latitude magnetometer observations are used to statistically investigate quality of the convection direction estimates from magnetometer data if assumption is made that the magnetic equivalent convection vector (MEC) corresponds to the convection direction. The statistics includes five full days, ~75 000 of joint individual measurements for different seasons. It is demonstrated that the best (worst) agreement between the MEC and ionospheric convection occurs for the sunlit, summer (dark, winter) ionosphere. Overall, the MEC direction is reasonable (deviates less than 45° from the SuperDARN direction) in at least ~55% of points and it is better for the latitudes of the auroral oval. In terms of the magnetic local time, the agreement is the best (worst) in the dusk (early morning) sector. Possible reasons for differences between the MEC and ionospheric convection directions are discussed.


2019 ◽  
Vol 157 (10) ◽  
pp. 1643-1657 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jennifer M. Galloway ◽  
Madeleine L. Vickers ◽  
Gregory D. Price ◽  
Terence Poulton ◽  
Stephen E. Grasby ◽  
...  

AbstractA new carbon isotope record for two high-latitude sedimentary successions that span the Jurassic–Cretaceous boundary interval in the Sverdrup Basin of Arctic Canada is presented. This study, combined with other published Arctic data, shows a large negative isotopic excursion of organic carbon (δ13Corg) of 4‰ (V-PDB) and to a minimum of −30.7‰ in the probable middle Volgian Stage. This is followed by a return to less negative values of c. −27‰. A smaller positive excursion in the Valanginian Stage of c. 2‰, reaching maximum values of −24.6‰, is related to the Weissert Event. The Volgian isotopic trends are consistent with other high-latitude records but do not appear in δ13Ccarb records of Tethyan Tithonian strata. In the absence of any obvious definitive cause for the depleted δ13Corg anomaly, we suggest several possible contributing factors. The Sverdrup Basin and other Arctic areas may have experienced compositional evolution away from open-marine δ13C values during the Volgian Age due to low global or large-scale regional sea levels, and later become effectively coupled to global oceans by Valanginian time when sea level rose. A geologically sudden increase in volcanism may have caused the large negative δ13Corg values seen in the Arctic Volgian records but the lack of precise geochronological age control for the Jurassic–Cretaceous boundary precludes direct comparison with potentially coincident events, such as the Shatsky Rise. This study offers improved correlation constraints and a refined C-isotope curve for the Boreal region throughout latest Jurassic and earliest Cretaceous time.


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