scholarly journals Review of Ionospheric Effects of Solar Wind Magnetosphere Coupling in the Context of the Expanding Contracting Polar Cap Boundary Model

2007 ◽  
pp. 117-130 ◽  
Author(s):  
M. Lester ◽  
S. E. Milan ◽  
G. Provan ◽  
J. A. Wild
Keyword(s):  
Solar Wind ◽  
Polar Cap ◽  
Ionospheric Effects ◽  
Boundary Model

scholarly journals A new formulation for the ionospheric cross polar cap potential including saturation effects

2005 ◽  
Vol 23 (11) ◽  
pp. 3533-3547 ◽  
Author(s):  
A. J. Ridley
Keyword(s):  
Magnetic Field ◽  
Solar Wind ◽  
Mach Number ◽  
Interplanetary Magnetic Field ◽  
Polar Cap ◽  
Pressure Balance ◽  
Simple Modification ◽  
Post Shock ◽  
Cross Polar Cap Potential ◽  
New Formulation

Abstract. It is known that the ionospheric cross polar cap potential (CPCP) saturates when the interplanetary magnetic field (IMF) Bz becomes very large. Few studies have offered physical explanations as to why the polar cap potential saturates. We present 13 events in which the reconnection electric field (REF) goes above 12mV/m at some time. When these events are examined as typically done in previous studies, all of them show some signs of saturation (i.e., over-prediction of the CPCP based on a linear relationship between the IMF and the CPCP). We show that by taking into account the size of the magnetosphere and the fact that the post-shock magnetic field strength is strongly dependent upon the solar wind Mach number, we can better specify the ionospheric CPCP. The CPCP (Φ) can be expressed as Φ=(10-4v2+11.7B(1-e-Ma/3)sin3(θ/2)) {rms/9 (where v is the solar wind velocity, B is the combined Y and Z components of the interplanetary magnetic field, Ma is the solar wind Mach number, θ=acos(Bz/B), and rms is the stand-off distance to the magnetopause, assuming pressure-balance between the solar wind and the magnetosphere). This is a simple modification of the original Boyle et al. (1997) formulation.

Radar studies of high-latitude ionospheric flows

1989 ◽  
Vol 328 (1598) ◽  
pp. 107-118 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Magnetic Field ◽  
Solar Wind ◽  
Flow Pattern ◽  
Electric Fields ◽  
Strong Interactions ◽  
Plasma Convection ◽  
Polar Cap ◽  
Incoherent Scatter ◽  
Incoherent Scatter Radars ◽  
Coupling Processes

Strong interactions occur between the solar wind and the Earth’s magnetic field which result in the convection of ionospheric plasma over the polar cap regions. This generally forms a two-cell pattern with westward and eastward flows in the pre- and post-midnight sectors respectively. The flow pattern is sensitive to the flux of the solar wind and the direction of the interplanetary magnetic field. Observations of the flow pattern are thus of considerable value in the interpretation of the magnetosphere-ionosphere coupling processes and in identifying the influence of the solar wind on the Earth’s environment. The plasma convection can be observed by ground-based coherent and incoherent scatter radars and the flow vectors determined. Measurements for a range of flow conditions are presented. These are interpreted in terms of the interactions of the solar wind with the magnetosphere and the resulting electric fields which drive the plasma flows in the ionosphere.

Some Ionospheric Effects of the Solar Wind

1964 ◽  
Vol 10 (8) ◽  
pp. 285-291
Author(s):  
J. H. Piddington
Keyword(s):  
Solar Wind ◽  
Ionospheric Effects

scholarly journals Coordinated Cluster, ground-based instrumentation and low-altitude satellite observations of transient poleward-moving events in the ionosphere and in the tail lobe

2001 ◽  
Vol 19 (10/12) ◽  
pp. 1589-1612 ◽  
Author(s):  
M. Lockwood ◽  
H. Opgenoorth ◽  
A. P. van Eyken ◽  
A. Fazakerley ◽  
J.-M. Bosqued ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Magnetic Field ◽  
Solar Wind ◽  
Propagation Delay ◽  
Polar Cap ◽  
F Region ◽  
Electrons And Ions ◽  
Transient Events ◽  
Low Energy Electron ◽  
Convection Patterns ◽  
Magnetopause Reconnection

Abstract. During the interval between 8:00–9:30 on 14 January 2001, the four Cluster spacecraft were moving from the central magnetospheric lobe, through the dusk sector mantle, on their way towards intersecting the magnetopause near 15:00 MLT and 15:00 UT. Throughout this interval, the EISCAT Svalbard Radar (ESR) at Longyearbyen observed a series of poleward-moving transient events of enhanced F-region plasma concentration ("polar cap patches"), with a repetition period of the order of 10 min. Allowing for the estimated solar wind propagation delay of 75 ( ± 5) min, the interplanetary magnetic field (IMF) had a southward component during most of the interval. The magnetic footprint of the Cluster spacecraft, mapped to the ionosphere using the Tsyganenko T96 model (with input conditions prevailing during this event), was to the east of the ESR beams. Around 09:05 UT, the DMSP-F12 satellite flew over the ESR and showed a sawtooth cusp ion dispersion signature that also extended into the electrons on the equatorward edge of the cusp, revealing a pulsed magnetopause reconnection. The consequent enhanced ionospheric flow events were imaged by the SuperDARN HF backscatter radars. The average convection patterns (derived using the AMIE technique on data from the magnetometers, the EISCAT and SuperDARN radars, and the DMSP satellites) show that the associated poleward-moving events also convected over the predicted footprint of the Cluster spacecraft. Cluster observed enhancements in the fluxes of both electrons and ions. These events were found to be essentially identical at all four spacecraft, indicating that they had a much larger spatial scale than the satellite separation of the order of 600 km. Some of the events show a correspondence between the lowest energy magnetosheath electrons detected by the PEACE instrument on Cluster (10–20 eV) and the topside ionospheric enhancements seen by the ESR (at 400–700 km). We suggest that a potential barrier at the magnetopause, which prevents the lowest energy electrons from entering the magnetosphere, is reduced when and where the boundary-normal magnetic field is enhanced and that the observed polar cap patches are produced by the consequent enhanced precipitation of the lowest energy electrons, making them and the low energy electron precipitation fossil remnants of the magnetopause reconnection rate pulses.Key words. Magnetospheric physics (polar cap phenomena; solar wind – magnetosphere interactions; magnetosphere – ionosphere interactions)

Polar cap response to the solar wind density jump under constant southward IMF

2014 ◽  
Vol 54 (6) ◽  
pp. 702-711 ◽  
Author(s):  
E. S. Belenkaya ◽  
V. V. Kalegaev ◽  
M. S. Blokhina
Keyword(s):  
Solar Wind ◽  
Density Jump ◽  
Solar Wind Density ◽  
Polar Cap

Severe Space Weather: Simulations of Scaled-Up Storms

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Joachim Raeder ◽  
Beket Tulegenov ◽  
William Douglas Cramer ◽  
Kai Germaschewswski ◽  
Banafsheh Ferdousi ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Solar Wind ◽  
Space Weather ◽  
Extreme Events ◽  
The Other ◽  
Polar Cap ◽  
Quiet Sun ◽  
Other Hand ◽  
Weather Events ◽  
The One ◽  
Extreme Space Weather Events

<p>Extreme space weather events are extremely rare, but pose a significant threat to our infrastructure. The one known event of such kind was the Carrington storm of 1859, but it was not well documented; in particular the solar wind and IMF conditions that caused it remain guesses. On the other hand, the STEREO-A observations of July 23, 2012 showed solar wind and IMF parameters that are most likely comparable to those of the Carrington event, and remind us that such extreme events are very well possible even during times of a quiet sun. Here, we use OpenGGCM simulations of such events to assess the effects of such solar wind and IMF on the magnetosphere. Precious work has shown that during the much more benign Halloween storm the nose of the magnetopause was as close as 4.9 RE, with an accordingly large polar cap. We will present simulations of a sequence of scaled-up storms with increasingly larger driving and demonstrate the further expansion of the polar cap, intensity of plasma injections, and the eventual saturation. In addition, we will show how the ionosphere potential penetrates to lower latitudes and affects the ionosphere and thermosphere at mid latitudes when the solar wind drivers become extreme.</p>

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