scholarly journals Morphology of the ring current derived from magnetic field observations

2004 ◽  
Vol 22 (4) ◽  
pp. 1267-1295 ◽  
Author(s):  
G. Le ◽  
C. T. Russell ◽  
K. Takahashi

Abstract. Our examination of the 20 years of magnetospheric magnetic field data from ISEE, AMPTE/CCE and Polar missions has allowed us to quantify how the ring current flows and closes in the magnetosphere at a variety of disturbance levels. Using intercalibrated magnetic field data from the three spacecraft, we are able to construct the statistical magnetic field maps and derive 3-dimensional current density by the simple device of taking the curl of the statistically determined magnetic field. The results show that there are two ring currents, an inner one that flows eastward at ~3 RE and a main westward ring current at ~4–7 RE for all levels of geomagnetic disturbances. In general, the in-situ observations show that the ring current varies as the Dst index decreases, as we would expect it to change. An unexpected result is how asymmetric it is in local time. Some current clearly circles the magnetosphere but much of the energetic plasma stays in the night hemisphere. These energetic particles appear not to be able to readily convect into the dayside magnetosphere. During quiet times, the symmetric and partial ring currents are similar in strength (~0.5MA) and the peak of the westward ring current is close to local midnight. It is the partial ring current that exhibits most drastic intensification as the level of disturbances increases. Under the condition of moderate magnetic storms, the total partial ring current reaches ~3MA, whereas the total symmetric ring current is ~1MA. Thus, the partial ring current contributes dominantly to the decrease in the Dst index. As the ring current strengthens the peak of the partial ring current shifts duskward to the pre-midnight sector. The partial ring current is closed by a meridional current system through the ionosphere, mainly the field-aligned current, which maximizes at local times near the dawn and dusk. The closure currents flow in the sense of region-2 field-aligned currents, downward into the ionosphere near the dusk and upward out of the ionosphere near the dawn. Key words. Magnetospheric physics (current systems; storms and substorms; magnetospheric configuration and dynamics)

2003 ◽  
Vol 21 (3) ◽  
pp. 661-669 ◽  
Author(s):  
E. J. Bunce ◽  
S. W. H. Cowley

Abstract. We examine the residual (measured minus internal) magnetic field vectors observed in Saturn’s magnetosphere during the Pioneer-11 fly-by in 1979, and compare them with those observed during the Voyager-1 and -2 fly-bys in 1980 and 1981. We show for the first time that a ring current system was present within the magnetosphere during the Pioneer-11 encounter, which was qualitatively similar to those present during the Voyager fly-bys. The analysis also shows, however, that the ring current was located closer to the planet during the Pioneer-11 encounter than during the comparable Voyager-1 fly-by, reflecting the more com-pressed nature of the magnetosphere at the time. The residual field vectors have been fit using an adaptation of the current system proposed for Jupiter by Connerney et al. (1981a). A model that provides a reasonably good fit to the Pioneer-11 Saturn data extends radially between 6.5 and 12.5 RS (compared with a noon-sector magnetopause distance of 17 RS), has a north-south extent of 4 RS, and carries a total current of 9.6 MA. A corresponding model that provides a qualitatively similar fit to the Voyager data, determined previously by Connerney et al. (1983), extends radially between 8 and 15.5 RS (compared with a noon-sector magnetopause distance for Voyager-1 of 23–24 RS), has a north-south extent of 6 RS, and carries a total current of 11.5 MA.Key words. Magnetospheric physics (current systems, magnetospheric configuration and dynamics, planetary magnetospheres)


2014 ◽  
Vol 32 (6) ◽  
pp. 689-704 ◽  
Author(s):  
E. S. Belenkaya ◽  
S. W. H. Cowley ◽  
C. J. Meredith ◽  
J. D. Nichols ◽  
V. V. Kalegaev ◽  
...  

Abstract. A unique set of images of Saturn's northern polar UV aurora was obtained by the Hubble Space Telescope in 2011 and 2012 at times when the Cassini spacecraft was located in the solar wind just upstream of Saturn's bow shock. This rare situation provides an opportunity to use the Kronian paraboloid magnetic field model to examine source locations of the bright auroral features by mapping them along field lines into the magnetosphere, taking account of the interplanetary magnetic field (IMF) measured near simultaneously by Cassini. It is found that the persistent dawn arc maps to closed field lines in the dawn to noon sector, with an equatorward edge generally located in the inner part of the ring current, typically at ~ 7 Saturn radii (RS) near dawn, and a poleward edge that maps variously between the centre of the ring current and beyond its outer edge at ~ 15 RS, depending on the latitudinal width of the arc. This location, together with a lack of response in properties to the concurrent IMF, suggests a principal connection with ring-current and nightside processes. The higher-latitude patchy auroras observed intermittently near to noon and at later local times extending towards dusk are instead found to straddle the model open–closed field boundary, thus mapping along field lines to the dayside outer magnetosphere and magnetopause. These emissions, which occur preferentially for northward IMF directions, are thus likely associated with reconnection and open-flux production at the magnetopause. One image for southward IMF also exhibits a prominent patch of very high latitude emissions extending poleward of patchy dawn arc emissions in the pre-noon sector. This is found to lie centrally within the region of open model field lines, suggesting an origin in the current system associated with lobe reconnection, similar to that observed in the terrestrial magnetosphere for northward IMF.


2004 ◽  
Vol 22 (4) ◽  
pp. 1317-1334 ◽  
Author(s):  
N. Yu. Ganushkina ◽  
T. I. Pulkkinen ◽  
M. V. Kubyshkina ◽  
H. J. Singer ◽  
C. T. Russell

Abstract. We present a method to model the storm-time magnetospheric magnetic field using representations of the magnetic field arising from the various magnetospheric current systems. We incorporate the effects of magnetotail changes during substorms by introducing an additional localized thin current sheet into the Tsyganenko T89 model. To represent the storm-time ring current the T89 ring current is replaced by a bean-shaped current system, which has a cross section that is close to the observed distribution of trapped particles in the inner magnetosphere and has an eastward flowing inner and westward flowing outer components. In addition to the symmetric ring current, an asymmetric partial ring current is taken into account with closing Region 2 sense field-aligned currents. Magnetopause currents are varied in accordance with solar wind dynamic pressure variations. Three moderate geomagnetic storms when Dst reached about –150 nT and one big storm with Dst about –250 nT are modelled. The model free parameters are specified for each time step separately using observations from GOES 8 and 9, Polar, Interball and Geotail satellites and Dst measurements. The model gives a high time-resolution field representation of the large-scale magnetic field, and a very good reproduction of the Dst index. It is shown that the ring current is most important during intense storms, whereas the near-Earth tail currents contribute more to the Dst index than the ring current during moderate storms. Key words. Magnetospheric physics (Current systems; Magnetospheric configuration and dynamics; Storms and substorms)


1999 ◽  
Vol 17 (12) ◽  
pp. 1560-1573 ◽  
Author(s):  
E. A. Lucek ◽  
M. W. Dunlop ◽  
A. Balogh ◽  
P. Cargill ◽  
W. Baumjohann ◽  
...  

Abstract. Between December 1997 and March 1998 Equator-S made a number of excursions into the dawn-side magnetosheath, over a range of local times between 6:00 and 10:40 LT. Clear mirror-like structures, characterised by compressive fluctuations in |B| on occasion lasting for up to 5 h, were observed during a significant fraction of these orbits. During most of these passes the satellite appeared to remain close to the magnetopause (within 1–2 Re), during sustained compressions of the magnetosphere, and so the characteristics of the mirror structures are used as a diagnostic of magnetosheath structure close to the magnetopause during these orbits. It is found that in the majority of cases mirror-like activity persists, undamped, to within a few minutes of the magnetopause, with no observable ramp in |B|, irrespective of the magnetic shear across the boundary. This suggests that any plasma depletion layer is typically of narrow extent or absent at the location of the satellite, at least during the subset of orbits containing strong magnetosheath mirror-mode signatures. Power spectra for the mirror signatures show predominately field aligned power, a well defined shoulder at around 3–10 x 10 –2 Hz and decreasing power at higher frequencies. On occasions the fluctuations are more sinusoidal, leading to peaked spectra instead of a shoulder. In all cases mirror structures are found to lie approximately parallel to the observed magnetopause boundary. There is some indication that the amplitude of the compressional fluctuations tends to be greater closer to the magnetopause. This has not been previously reported in the Earth's magnetosphere, but has been suggested in the case of other planets.Key words. Magnetospheric physics (magnetosheath; plasma waves and instabilities; magnetopause, cusp and boundary layers)


2010 ◽  
Vol 28 (1) ◽  
pp. 309-326 ◽  
Author(s):  
Q.-H. Zhang ◽  
M. W. Dunlop ◽  
R. Holme ◽  
E. E. Woodfield

Abstract. Eight years of magnetic field data, taken while the four Cluster spacecraft pass through, or adjacent to, the equatorial ring current, have been surveyed to investigate the effects on the Earth's magnetic field of the externally driven current systems connecting the ionosphere, cusp and ring current regions. This study extends previous work to cover a greater range of orbit location and external conditions. We compare the modeled magnetic field from different global field models (Tsyganenko, 1989, 1996, and 2001, hereafter T89, T96 and T01) with data from the four Cluster spacecraft. Comparing with the different models allow us not only to characterize each model's performance, but also provides insight into the physical sources of observed signals. The data generally deviate much less from the expected model field during the years close to the solar minimum, implying that the models perform better during weaker geomagnetic activity. There are particular deviations from the models associated with the ring current (well-defined smooth trends) and region 2 field aligned currents (FACs) or low-altitude cusp FACs (sharp bipolar signatures). During the ring current crossings (through perigee, at 4–5 RE), the T96 model always overestimates the ring current, while the T01 and T89 models sometimes underestimate it. The sharp bipolar signatures are not always sampled, implying a localized extent, but only the T96 and T01 models include forms for the region 2 FACs and T01 appears to model these better. Overall, all deviations from T01 are much smaller than for the other models, indicating that this model achieves the best fit to the data. The 4 Cluster spacecraft observe nearly the same signatures at small separations (during the early years of the mission) but do sample different signatures at the large separations (during the later years). Using the four-spacecraft technique, we infer that the region 2 FACs, with a transverse thickness of ~0.17–0.54 RE, and cusp FACs, with a thickness of ~0.06–0.12 RE, are very stable in size and location.


2020 ◽  
Vol 1 (3) ◽  
Author(s):  
Maysam Abedi

The presented work examines application of an Augmented Iteratively Re-weighted and Refined Least Squares method (AIRRLS) to construct a 3D magnetic susceptibility property from potential field magnetic anomalies. This algorithm replaces an lp minimization problem by a sequence of weighted linear systems in which the retrieved magnetic susceptibility model is successively converged to an optimum solution, while the regularization parameter is the stopping iteration numbers. To avoid the natural tendency of causative magnetic sources to concentrate at shallow depth, a prior depth weighting function is incorporated in the original formulation of the objective function. The speed of lp minimization problem is increased by inserting a pre-conditioner conjugate gradient method (PCCG) to solve the central system of equation in cases of large scale magnetic field data. It is assumed that there is no remanent magnetization since this study focuses on inversion of a geological structure with low magnetic susceptibility property. The method is applied on a multi-source noise-corrupted synthetic magnetic field data to demonstrate its suitability for 3D inversion, and then is applied to a real data pertaining to a geologically plausible porphyry copper unit.  The real case study located in  Semnan province of  Iran  consists  of  an arc-shaped  porphyry  andesite  covered  by  sedimentary  units  which  may  have  potential  of  mineral  occurrences, especially  porphyry copper. It is demonstrated that such structure extends down at depth, and consequently exploratory drilling is highly recommended for acquiring more pieces of information about its potential for ore-bearing mineralization.


1998 ◽  
Vol 25 (19) ◽  
pp. 3721-3724 ◽  
Author(s):  
Neil Murphy ◽  
Edward J. Smith ◽  
Joyce Wolf ◽  
Devrie S. Intriligator

2003 ◽  
Vol 21 (8) ◽  
pp. 1709-1722 ◽  
Author(s):  
E. J. Bunce ◽  
S. W. H. Cowley ◽  
J. A. Wild

Abstract. We calculate the azimuthal magnetic fields expected to be present in Saturn’s magnetosphere associated with two physical effects, and compare them with the fields observed during the flybys of the two Voyager spacecraft. The first effect is associated with the magnetosphere-ionosphere coupling currents which result from the sub-corotation of the magnetospheric plasma. This is calculated from empirical models of the plasma flow and magnetic field based on Voyager data, with the effective Pedersen conductivity of Saturn’s ionosphere being treated as an essentially free parameter. This mechanism results in a ‘lagging’ field configuration at all local times. The second effect is due to the day-night asymmetric confinement of the magnetosphere by the solar wind (i.e. the magnetopause and tail current system), which we have estimated empirically by scaling a model of the Earth’s magnetosphere to Saturn. This effect produces ‘leading’ fields in the dusk magnetosphere, and ‘lagging’ fields at dawn. Our results show that the azimuthal fields observed in the inner regions can be reasonably well accounted for by plasma sub-corotation, given a value of the effective ionospheric Pedersen conductivity of ~ 1–2 mho. This statement applies to field lines mapping to the equator within ~ 8 RS (1 RS is taken to be 60 330 km) of the planet on the dayside inbound passes, where the plasma distribution is dominated by a thin equatorial heavy-ion plasma sheet, and to field lines mapping to the equator within ~ 15 RS on the dawn side outbound passes. The contributions of the magnetopause-tail currents are estimated to be much smaller than the observed fields in these regions. If, however, we assume that the azimuthal fields observed in these regions are not due to sub-corotation but to some other process, then the above effective conductivities define an upper limit, such that values above ~ 2 mho can definitely be ruled out. Outside of this inner region the spacecraft observed both ‘lagging’ and ‘leading’ fields in the post-noon dayside magnetosphere during the inbound passes, with ‘leading’ fields being observed both adjacent to the magnetopause and in the ring current region, and ‘lagging’ fields being observed between. The observed ‘lagging’ fields are consistent in magnitude with the sub-corotation effect with an effective ionospheric conductivity of ~ 1–2 mho, while the ‘leading’ fields are considerably larger than those estimated for the magnetopause-tail currents, and appear to be indicative of the presence of another dynamical process. No ‘leading’ fields were observed outside the inner region on the dawn side outbound passes, with the azimuthal fields first falling below those expected for sub-corotation, before increasing, to exceed these values at radial distances beyond ~ 15–20 RS , where the effect of the magnetopause-tail currents becomes significant. As a by-product, our investigation also indicates that modification and scaling of terrestrial magnetic field models may represent a useful approach to modelling the three-dimensional magnetic field at Saturn.Key words. Magnetospheric physics (current systems; magnetosphere-ionosphere interactions; solar wind-magnetosphere interactions)


Geophysics ◽  
2000 ◽  
Vol 65 (5) ◽  
pp. 1489-1494 ◽  
Author(s):  
Richard S. Smith ◽  
A. Peter Annan

The traditional sensor used in transient electromagnetic (EM) systems is an induction coil. This sensor measures a voltage response proportional to the time rate of change of the magnetic field in the EM bandwidth. By simply integrating the digitized output voltage from the induction coil, it is possible to obtain an indirect measurement of the magnetic field in the same bandwidth. The simple integration methodology is validated by showing that there is good agreement between synthetic voltage data integrated to a magnetic field and synthetic magnetic‐field data calculated directly. Further experimental work compares induction‐coil magnetic‐field data collected along a profile with data measured using a SQUID magnetometer. These two electromagnetic profiles look similar, and a comparison of the decay curves at a critical point on the profile shows that the two types of measurements agree within the bounds of experimental error. Comparison of measured voltage and magnetic‐field data show that the two sets of profiles have quite different characteristics. The magnetic‐field data is better for identifying, discriminating, and interpreting good conductors, while suppressing the less conductive targets. An induction coil is therefore a suitable sensor for the indirect collection of EM magnetic‐field data.


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