Photometry of dayside auroras during solar minimum 1This article is part of a Special issue that honours the work of Dr. Donald M. Hunten FRSC who passed away in December 2010 after a very illustrious career.

2012 ◽  
Vol 90 (8) ◽  
pp. 753-758 ◽  
Author(s):  
D.J. McEwen ◽  
G.G. Sivjee
Keyword(s):  
Magnetic Field ◽  
Solar Wind ◽  
Interplanetary Magnetic Field ◽  
Solar Minimum ◽  
Dynamic Pressure ◽  
Wind Pressure ◽  
Special Issue ◽  
Solar Wind Pressure ◽  
The Many ◽  
Airglow Intensity

An examination is made of Antarctic dayside auroras to establish how they relate to solar wind strength under the quiet conditions of the recent extended solar minimum when the solar wind pressure was weak and the interplanetary magnetic field Bz is small. It is found that, during the many days of observation, the aurora is detected even with the most stable and quiet conditions. On such occasions the 630 nm OI emission can be as low as 50 R, but is unambiguously and continuously detectable through each noon. This is above an airglow intensity of about 30 R. For these quiet conditions there is no evident relation between the solar wind dynamic pressure or interplanetary magnetic field Bz and dayside auroral intensity. This suggests that there is no effective reconnection under these minimal conditions and the particle source for the dayside aurora could be within the magnetosphere.

scholarly journals Induced and Permanent Magnetism on the Moon: Structural and Evolutionary Implications

1971 ◽  
Vol 2 ◽  
pp. 173-188
Author(s):  
C. P. Sonett ◽  
P. Dyal ◽  
D. S. Colburn ◽  
B. F. Smith ◽  
G. Schubert ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Magnetic Field ◽  
Solar Wind ◽  
Dynamic Pressure ◽  
Wind Pressure ◽  
Dark Side ◽  
The Moon ◽  
Permanent Magnetic Field ◽  
Crustal Layer ◽  
Induced Field ◽  
Solar Wind Pressure

AbstractIt is shown that the Moon possesses an extraordinary response to induction from the solar wind due to a combination of a high interior electrical conductivity together with a relatively resistive crustal layer into which the solar wind dynamic pressure forces back the induced field. The dark side response, devoid of solar wind pressure, is approximately that expected for the vacuum case. These data permit an assessment of the interior conductivity and an estimate of the thermal gradient in the crustal region. The discovery of a large permanent magnetic field at the Apollo 12 site corresponds approximately to the paleomagnetic residues discovered in both Apollo 11 and 12 rock samples The implications regarding an early lunar magnetic field are discussed and it is shown that among the various conjectures regarding the early field the most prominent are either an interior dynamo or an early approach to the Earth though no extant model is free of difficulties.

scholarly journals Cluster observations of sudden impulses in the magnetotail caused by interplanetary shocks and pressure increases

2005 ◽  
Vol 23 (2) ◽  
pp. 609-624 ◽  
Author(s):  
K. E. J. Huttunen ◽  
J. Slavin ◽  
M. Collier ◽  
H. E. J. Koskinen ◽  
A. Szabo ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Magnetic Field ◽  
Solar Wind ◽  
Dynamic Pressure ◽  
Solar Wind Speed ◽  
Interplanetary Shock ◽  
Wind Pressure ◽  
Shock Propagation ◽  
Interplanetary Shocks ◽  
Maximum Variance ◽  
The Magnetic Field

Abstract. Sudden impulses (SI) in the tail lobe magnetic field associated with solar wind pressure enhancements are investigated using measurements from Cluster. The magnetic field components during the SIs change in a manner consistent with the assumption that an antisunward moving lateral pressure enhancement compresses the magnetotail axisymmetrically. We found that the maximum variance SI unit vectors were nearly aligned with the associated interplanetary shock normals. For two of the tail lobe SI events during which Cluster was located close to the tail boundary, Cluster observed the inward moving magnetopause. During both events, the spacecraft location changed from the lobe to the magnetospheric boundary layer. During the event on 6 November 2001 the magnetopause was compressed past Cluster. We applied the 2-D Cartesian model developed by collier98 in which a vacuum uniform tail lobe magnetic field is compressed by a step-like pressure increase. The model underestimates the compression of the magnetic field, but it fits the magnetic field maximum variance component well. For events for which we could determine the shock normal orientation, the differences between the observed and calculated shock propagation times from the location of WIND/Geotail to the location of Cluster were small. The propagation speeds of the SIs between the Cluster spacecraft were comparable to the solar wind speed. Our results suggest that the observed tail lobe SIs are due to lateral increases in solar wind dynamic pressure outside the magnetotail boundary.

scholarly journals Solar wind and substorm excitation of the wavy current sheet

2009 ◽  
Vol 27 (6) ◽  
pp. 2457-2474 ◽  
Author(s):  
C. Forsyth ◽  
M. Lester ◽  
R. C. Fear ◽  
E. Lucek ◽  
I. Dandouras ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Magnetic Field ◽  
Solar Wind ◽  
Current Sheet ◽  
Pressure Pulse ◽  
Wind Pressure ◽  
Expansion Velocity ◽  
Solar Wind Pressure ◽  
Wave Models ◽  
Best Fit ◽  
The Magnetic Field

Abstract. Following a solar wind pressure pulse on 3 August 2001, GOES 8, GOES 10, Cluster and Polar observed dipolarizations of the magnetic field, accompanied by an eastward expansion of the aurora observed by IMAGE, indicating the occurrence of two substorms. Prior to the first substorm, the motion of the plasma sheet with respect to Cluster was in the ZGSM direction. Observations following the substorms show the occurrence of current sheet waves moving predominantly in the −YGSM direction. Following the second substorm, the current sheet waves caused multiple current sheet crossings of the Cluster spacecraft, previously studied by Zhang et al. (2002). We further this study to show that the velocity of the current sheet waves was similar to the expansion velocity of the substorm aurora and the expansion of the dipolarization regions in the magnetotail. Furthermore, we compare these results with the current sheet wave models of Golovchanskaya and Maltsev (2005) and Erkaev et al. (2008). We find that the Erkaev et al. (2008) model gives the best fit to the observations.

scholarly journals Effect of geomagnetic activity, solar wind and parameters of interplanetary magnetic field on regularities in intermittency of Pi2 geomagnetic pulsations

2015 ◽  
Vol 1 (3) ◽  
pp. 11-20 ◽  
Author(s):  
Надежда Куражковская ◽  
Nadezhda Kurazhkovskaya ◽  
Борис Клайн ◽  
Boris Klain
Keyword(s):  
Magnetic Field ◽  
Solar Wind ◽  
Interplanetary Magnetic Field ◽  
Geomagnetic Activity ◽  
Dynamic Pressure ◽  
Cumulative Distribution ◽  
Qualitative Assessment ◽  
Geomagnetic Pulsations ◽  
Magnetospheric Substorms ◽  
Pi2 Pulsations

We present the results of investigation of the influence of geomagnetic activity, solar wind and parameters of the interplanetary magnetic field (IMF) on properties of the intermittency of midlatitude burst series of Pi2 geomagnetic pulsations observed during magnetospheric substorms on the nightside (substorm Pi2) and in the absence of these phenomena (nonsub-storm Pi2). We considered the index α as a main characteristic of intermittency of substorm and nonsubstorm Pi2 pulsations. The index α characterizes the slope of the cumulative distribution function of Pi2 burst amplitudes. The study indicated that the value and dynamics of the index α varies depending on the planetary geomagnetic activity, auroral activity and the intensity of magnetospheric ring currents. In addition, the forms of dependences of the index α on the density n, velocity V, dynamic pressure Pd of the solar wind and IMF Bx-component are different. The behavior of the index α depending on the module of B, By- and Bz-components is similar. We found some critical values of V, Pd, B, By- and Bz-components, after reaching of which the turbulence of the magnetotail plasma during substorm development is decreased. The revealed patterns of the intermittency of Pi2 pulsations can be used for qualitative assessment of turbulence level in the magnetotail plasma depending on changing interplanetary conditions.

scholarly journals Impact of solar wind depression on the dayside magnetosphere under northward interplanetary magnetic field

2011 ◽  
Vol 29 (1) ◽  
pp. 31-46 ◽  
Author(s):  
S. Baraka ◽  
L. Ben-Jaffel
Keyword(s):  
Magnetic Field ◽  
Solar Wind ◽  
Interplanetary Magnetic Field ◽  
Cell Model ◽  
Dynamic Pressure ◽  
Outer Boundary ◽  
Solar Wind Plasma ◽  
Tail Region ◽  
Dayside Magnetopause

Abstract. We present a follow up study of the sensitivity of the Earth's magnetosphere to solar wind activity using a particles-in-cell model (Baraka and Ben Jaffel, 2007), but here during northward Interplanetary Magnetic Field (IMF). The formation of the magnetospheric cavity and its elongation around the planet is obtained with the classical structure of a magnetosphere with parallel lobes. An impulsive disturbance is then applied to the system by changing the bulk velocity of the solar wind to simulate a decrease in the solar wind dynamic pressure followed by its recovery. In response to the imposed drop in the solar wind velocity, a gap (abrupt depression) in the incoming solar wind plasma appears moving toward the Earth. The gap's size is a ~15 RE and is comparable to the sizes previously obtained for both Bz<0 and Bz=0. During the initial phase of the disturbance along the x-axis, the dayside magnetopause (MP) expands slower than the previous cases of IMF orientations as a result of the abrupt depression. The size of the MP expands nonlinearly due to strengthening of its outer boundary by the northward IMF. Also, during the initial 100 Δt, the MP shrank down from 13.3 RE to ~9.2 RE before it started expanding, a phenomenon that was also observed for southern IMF conditions but not during the no IMF case. As soon as they felt the solar wind depression, cusps widened at high altitude while dragged in an upright position. For the field's topology, the reconnection between magnetospheric and magnetosheath fields is clearly observed in both the northward and southward cusps areas. Also, the tail region in the northward IMF condition is more confined, in contrast to the fishtail-shape obtained in the southward IMF case. An X-point is formed in the tail at ~110 RE compared to ~103 RE and ~80 RE for Bz=0 and Bz<0, respectively. Our findings are consistent with existing reports from many space observatories (Cluster, Geotail, Themis, etc.) for which predictions are proposed to test furthermore our simulation technique.

scholarly journals Cluster survey of the mid-altitude cusp: 1. size, location, and dynamics

2006 ◽  
Vol 24 (11) ◽  
pp. 3011-3026 ◽  
Author(s):  
F. Pitout ◽  
C. P. Escoubet ◽  
B. Klecker ◽  
H. Rème
Keyword(s):  
Magnetic Field ◽  
Solar Wind ◽  
Time Delay ◽  
Interplanetary Magnetic Field ◽  
Statistical Study ◽  
Proper Time ◽  
Dynamic Pressure ◽  
Solar Wind Dynamic Pressure ◽  
Summer Hemisphere ◽  
External Conditions

Abstract. We present a statistical study of four years of Cluster crossings of the mid-altitude cusp. In this first part of the study, we start by introducing the method we have used a) to define the cusp properties, b) to sort the interplanetary magnetic field (IMF) conditions or behaviors into classes, c) to determine the proper time delay between the solar wind monitors and Cluster. Out of the 920 passes that we have analyzed, only 261 fulfill our criteria and are considered as cusp crossings. We look at the size, location and dynamics of the mid-altitude cusp under various IMF orientations and solar wind conditions. For southward IMF, Bz rules the latitudinal dynamics, whereas By governs the zonal dynamics, confirming previous works. We show that when |By| is larger than |Bz|, the cusp widens and its location decorrelates from By. We interpret this feature in terms of component reconnection occurring under By-dominated IMF. For northward IMF, we demonstrate that the location of the cusp depends primarily upon the solar wind dynamic pressure and upon the Y-component of the IMF. Also, the multipoint capability of Cluster allows us to conclude that the cusp needs typically more than ~20 min to fully adjust its location and size in response to changes in external conditions, and its speed is correlated to variations in the amplitude of IMF-Bz. Indeed, the velocity in °ILAT/min of the cusp appears to be proportional to the variation in Bz in nT: Vcusp=0.024 ΔBz. Finally, we observe differences in the behavior of the cusp in the two hemispheres. Those differences suggest that the cusp moves and widens more freely in the summer hemisphere.

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