scholarly journals An event study on broadband electric field noises and electron distributions in the lunar wake boundary

2022 ◽  
Vol 74 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Masaki N. Nishino ◽  
Yoshiya Kasahara ◽  
Yuki Harada ◽  
Yoshifumi Saito ◽  
Hideo Tsunakawa ◽  
...  

AbstractWave–particle interactions are fundamental processes in space plasma, and some plasma waves, including electrostatic solitary waves (ESWs), are recognised as broadband noises (BBNs) in the electric field spectral data. Spacecraft observations in recent decades have detected BBNs around the Moon, but the generation mechanism of the BBNs is not fully understood. Here, we study a wake boundary traversal with BBNs observed by Kaguya, which includes an ESW event previously reported by Hashimoto et al. Geophys Res Lett 37:L19204 10.1029/2010GL044529 (2010). Focusing on the relation between BBNs and electron pitch-angle distribution functions, we show that upward electron beams from the nightside lunar surface are effective for the generation of BBNs, in contrast to the original interpretation by Hashimoto et al. Geophys Res Lett 37:L19204 10.1029/2010GL044529 (2010) that high-energy electrons accelerated by strong ambipolar electric fields excite ESWs in the region far from the Moon. When the BBNs were observed by the Kaguya spacecraft in the wake boundary, the spacecraft’s location was magnetically connected to the nightside lunar surface, and bi-streaming electron distributions of downward-going solar wind strahl component and upward-going field-aligned beams (at $$\sim$$ ∼ 124 eV) were detected. The interplanetary magnetic field was dominated by a positive $$B_Z$$ B Z (i.e. the northward component), and strahl electrons travelled in the antiparallel direction to the interplanetary magnetic field (i.e. southward), which enabled the strahl electrons to precipitate onto the nightside lunar surface directly. The incident solar wind electrons cause negative charging of the nightside lunar surface, which generates downward electric fields that accelerate electrons from the nightside surface toward higher altitudes along the magnetic field. The bidirectional electron distribution is not a sufficient condition for the BBN generation, and the distribution of upward electron beams seems to be correlated with the BBNs. Ambipolar electric fields in the wake boundary should also contribute to the electron acceleration toward higher altitudes and further intrusion of the solar wind ions into the deeper wake. We suggest that solar wind ion intrusion into the wake boundary is also an important factor that controls the BBN generation by facilitating the influx of solar wind electrons there. Graphical Abstract

2001 ◽  
Vol 19 (6) ◽  
pp. 649-653 ◽  
Author(s):  
S. Eriksson ◽  
L. G. Blomberg ◽  
N. Ivchenko ◽  
T. Karlsson ◽  
G. T. Marklund

Abstract. The cross-polar potential drop Φpc and the low-latitude asymmetric geomagnetic disturbance field, as indicated by the mid-latitude ASY-H magnetic index, are used to study the average magnetospheric response to the solar wind forcing for southward interplanetary magnetic field conditions. The state of the solar wind is monitored by the ACE spacecraft and the ionospheric convection is measured by the double probe electric field instrument on the Astrid-2 satellite. The solar wind-magnetosphere coupling is examined for 77 cases in February and from mid-May to mid-June 1999 by using the interplanetary magnetic field Bz component and the reconnection electric field. Our results show that the maximum correlation between Φpc  and the reconnection electric field is obtained approximately 25 min after the solar wind has reached a distance of 11 RE from the Earth, which is the assumed average position of the magnetopause. The corresponding correlation for ASY-H shows two separate responses to the reconnection electric field, delayed by about 35 and 65 min, respectively. We suggest that the combination of the occurrence of a large magnetic storm on 18 February 1999 and the enhanced level of geomagnetic activity which peaks at Kp = 7- may explain the fast direct response of ASY-H to the solar wind at 35 min, as well as the lack of any clear secondary responses of Φpc  to the driving solar wind at time delays longer than 25 min.Key words. Magnetospheric physics (solar wind-magnetosphere interactions; plasma convection) – Ionosphere (electric fields and currents)


1980 ◽  
Vol 58 (2) ◽  
pp. 255-269 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gordon Rostoker ◽  
R. P. Sharma

In the past decade there has developed a body of circumstantial evidence suggesting that terrestrial meteorology is influenced by plasma and magnetic field properties of the solar wind. In this paper we shall present evidence which strongly suggests that variations in surface pressure at high latitude stations ringing the Gulf of Alaska are correlated with changes in direction of the interplanetary magnetic field. We shall also present evidence that the changes in surface pressure may depend on whether the interplanetary magnetic field changes from pointing sunward to pointing antisunward or vice versa. We shall discuss the role that the magnetospheric electric field, which is heavily modulated by the interplanetary magnetic field, may play in influencing processes which lead to changes in terrestrial weather patterns.


1996 ◽  
Vol 14 (8) ◽  
pp. 794-802 ◽  
Author(s):  
S. P. Mishra ◽  
E. Nielsen

Abstract. The STARE system (Scandinavian Twin Auroral Radar Experiment) provides estimates of electron drift velocities, and hence also of the electric field in the high-latitude E-region ionosphere between 65 and 70 degrees latitude. The occurrence of drift velocities larger than about 400 m/s (equivalent to an electric field of 20 mV/m) have been correlated with the magnitude of the Interplanetary Magnetic Field (IMF) components Bz and By at all local times. Observation days have been considered during which both southward (Bz<0) and northward (Bz>0) IMF occurred. The occurrence of electric fields larger than 20 mV/m increases with increases in Bz magnitudes when Bz<0. It is found that the effects of southward IMF continue for some time following the northward turnings of the IMF. In order to eliminate such residual effects for Bz<0, we have, in the second part of the study, considered those days which were characterized by a pure northward IMF. The occurrence is considerably lower during times when Bz>0, than during those when Bz is negative. These results are related to the expansion and contraction of the auroral oval. The different percentage occurrences of large electric field for By>0 and By<0 components of the IMF during times when Bz>0, clearly display a dawn-dusk asymmetry of plasma flow in the ionosphere. The effects of the time-varying solar-wind speed, density, IMF fluctuations, and magnetospheric substorms on the occurrence of auroral-backscatter observations are also discussed.


This paper is intended as a review of the empirical data on the remanent magnetic field of the Moon. These data are from direct measurements of the remanent field with magnetometers on the lunar surface and on board the Apollo subsatellites, and indirect measurements derived from studies of the interactions of the solar wind and energetic particles with the Moon. This paper is intended as a review of the empirical data on the remanent magnetic field of the Moon. These data are from direct measurements of the remanent field with magnetometers on the lunar surface and on board the Apollo subsatellites, and indirect measurements derived from studies of the interactions of the solar wind and energetic particles with the Moon. Measurements on the surface of the M oon In a series of experiments performed during the Apollo program, Sonett, Dyal, and coworkers obtained measurements of the Moon’s remanent magnetic field at the sites of Apollos 12, 14, 15 and 16. (Dyal et al. (1974) have recently reviewed this work.) Two types of vector magnetometers were used in these experiments: a fixed, or station instrument; and a portable, or traverse, unit.


1997 ◽  
Vol 15 (10) ◽  
pp. 1309-1315 ◽  
Author(s):  
R. G. Rastogi

Abstract. A comparative study of the geomagnetic and ionospheric data at equatorial and low-latitude stations in India over the 20 year period 1956–1975 is described. The reversal of the electric field in the ionosphere over the magnetic equator during the midday hours indicated by the disappearance of the equatorial sporadic E region echoes on the ionograms is a rare phenomenon occurring on about 1% of time. Most of these events are associated with geomagnetically active periods. By comparing the simultaneous geomagnetic H field at Kodaikanal and at Alibag during the geomagnetic storms it is shown that ring current decreases are observed at both stations. However, an additional westward electric field is superimposed in the ionosphere during the main phase of the storm which can be strong enough to temporarily reverse the normally eastward electric field in the dayside ionosphere. It is suggested that these electric fields associated with the V×Bz electric fields originate at the magnetopause due to the interaction of the solar wind and the interplanetary magnetic field.


2012 ◽  
Vol 2 (10) ◽  
pp. 1-3 ◽  
Author(s):  
Praveen Kumar Gupta ◽  
◽  
Puspraj Singh Puspraj Singh ◽  
Puspraj Singh Puspraj Singh ◽  
P. K. Chamadia P. K. Chamadia

2003 ◽  
Vol 10 (1/2) ◽  
pp. 45-52 ◽  
Author(s):  
R. E. Ergun ◽  
L. Andersson ◽  
C. W. Carlson ◽  
D. L. Newman ◽  
M. V. Goldman

Abstract. Direct observations of magnetic-field-aligned (parallel) electric fields in the downward current region of the aurora provide decisive evidence of naturally occurring double layers. We report measurements of parallel electric fields, electron fluxes and ion fluxes related to double layers that are responsible for particle acceleration. The observations suggest that parallel electric fields organize into a structure of three distinct, narrowly-confined regions along the magnetic field (B). In the "ramp" region, the measured parallel electric field forms a nearly-monotonic potential ramp that is localized to ~ 10 Debye lengths along B. The ramp is moving parallel to B at the ion acoustic speed (vs) and in the same direction as the accelerated electrons. On the high-potential side of the ramp, in the "beam" region, an unstable electron beam is seen for roughly another 10 Debye lengths along B. The electron beam is rapidly stabilized by intense electrostatic waves and nonlinear structures interpreted as electron phase-space holes. The "wave" region is physically separated from the ramp by the beam region. Numerical simulations reproduce a similar ramp structure, beam region, electrostatic turbulence region and plasma characteristics as seen in the observations. These results suggest that large double layers can account for the parallel electric field in the downward current region and that intense electrostatic turbulence rapidly stabilizes the accelerated electron distributions. These results also demonstrate that parallel electric fields are directly associated with the generation of large-amplitude electron phase-space holes and plasma waves.


2005 ◽  
Vol 23 (4) ◽  
pp. 1405-1431 ◽  
Author(s):  
E. J. Bunce ◽  
S. W. H. Cowley ◽  
S. E. Milan

Abstract. Dayside UV emissions in Saturn's polar ionosphere have been suggested to be the first observational evidence of the kronian "cusp" (Gérard et al., 2004). The emission has two distinct states. The first is a bright arc-like feature located in the pre-noon sector, and the second is a more diffuse "spot" of aurora which lies poleward of the general location of the main auroral oval, which may be related to different upstream interplanetary magnetic field (IMF) orientations. Here we take up the suggestion that these emissions correspond to the cusp. However, direct precipitation of electrons in the cusp regions is not capable of producing significant UV aurora. We have therefore investigated the possibility that the observed UV emissions are associated with reconnection occurring at the dayside magnetopause, possibly pulsed, akin to flux transfer events seen at the Earth. We devise a conceptual model of pulsed reconnection at the low-latitude dayside magnetopause for the case of northwards IMF which will give rise to pulsed twin-vortical flows in the magnetosphere and ionosphere in the vicinity of the open-closed field-line boundary, and hence to bi-polar field-aligned currents centred in the vortical flows. During intervals of high-latitude lobe reconnection for southward IMF, we also expect to have pulsed twin-vortical flows and corresponding bi-polar field-aligned currents. The vortical flows in this case, however, are displaced poleward of the open-closed field line boundary, and are reversed in sense, such that the field-aligned currents are also reversed. For both cases of northward and southward IMF we have also for the first time included the effects associated with the IMF By effect. We also include the modulation introduced by the structured nature of the solar wind and IMF at Saturn's orbit by developing "slow" and "fast" flow models corresponding to intermediate and high strength IMF respectively. We then consider the conditions under which the plasma populations appropriate to either sub-solar reconnection or high-latitude lobe reconnection can carry the currents indicated. We have estimated the field-aligned voltages required, the resulting precipitating particle energy fluxes, and the consequent auroral output. Overall our model of pulsed reconnection under conditions of northwards and southwards IMF, and for varying orientations of IMF By, is found to produce a range of UV emission intensities and geometries which is in good agreement with the data presented by Gérard et al. (2004). The recent HST-Cassini solar wind campaign provides a unique opportunity to test the theoretical ideas presented here.


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