Modification of conductivity due to acceleration of the ionospheric medium

Abstract. A quantitative division of the ionosphere into dynamo and motor regions is performed on the base of empirical models of space distributions of ionospheric parameters. Pedersen and Hall conductivities are modified to represent an impact of acceleration of the medium because of Ampére's force. It is shown that the currents in the F2 layer are greatly reduced for processes of a few hours duration. This reduction is in particular important for the night-side low-latitude ionosphere. The International Reference Ionosphere model is used to analyze the effect quantitatively. This model gives a second high conducting layer in the night-side low-latitude ionosphere that reduces the electric field and equatorial electrojets, but intensifies night-side currents during the short-term events. These currents occupy regions which are much wider than those of equatorial electrojets. It is demonstrated that the parameter σd=σP+σHΣH/ΣP that involves the integral Pedersen and Hall conductances ΣP, ΣH ought to be used instead of the local Cowling conductivity σC in calculations of the electric current density in the equatorial ionosphere. We may note that Gurevich et al. (1976) derived a parameter similar to σd for more general conditions as those which we discuss in this paper; a more detailed description of this point is given in Sect. 6. Both, σd and σC, appear when a magnetic field line is near a nonconducting domain which means zero current through the boundary of this domain. The main difference between σd and σC is that σd definition includes the possibility for the electric current to flow along a magnetic field line in order to close all currents which go to this line from neighboring ones. The local Cowling conductivity σC corresponds to the current closure at each point of a magnetic field line. It is adequate only for a magnetic field line with constant local conductivity at the whole line when field-aligned currents do not exist because of symmetry, but σC=σd in this case. So, there is no reason to use the local Cowling conductivity while the Cowling conductance ΣC=ΣP+ΣH2/ΣP is a useful and well defined parameter.

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Collimation of Magnetically Driven Outflows from Accretion Disks

Symposium - International Astronomical Union ◽

10.1017/s0074180900163302 ◽

2000 ◽

Vol 195 ◽

pp. 407-408 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

T. Kudoh ◽

R. Matsumoto ◽

K. Shibata

Keyword(s):

Magnetic Field ◽

Numerical Simulations ◽

Field Line ◽

Electric Current ◽

Accretion Disks ◽

Magnetic Field Line ◽

Equatorial Plane ◽

Initial Condition ◽

Accretion Process ◽

The Magnetic Field

We performed 2.5-dimensional, nonsteady MHD numerical simulations to investigate the acceleration and collimation of magnetically driven outflows from accretion disks, including the accretion process itself, consistently. As an initial condition, we used a paraboloidal magnetic field line that is produced by electric current on the equatorial plane. We found that the outflow ejected from the accretion disk is collimated by the pinch effect of the toroidal component of the magnetic field that is produced by the rotation of the disk.

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Experimental Analysis of Merging Formation of a Field-Reversed Configuration by Use of Magnetic Field Line Tracing

IEEJ Transactions on Fundamentals and Materials ◽

10.1541/ieejfms.131.961 ◽

2011 ◽

Vol 131 (11) ◽

pp. 961-962

Author(s):

Keii Gi ◽

Toru Ii ◽

Yasushi Ono

Keyword(s):

Magnetic Field ◽

Field Line ◽

Magnetic Field Line ◽

Experimental Analysis ◽

Field Reversed Configuration

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Comparison of the measured and modelled electron densities and temperatures in the ionosphere and plasmasphere during 20-30 January, 1993

Annales Geophysicae ◽

10.1007/s00585-000-1257-6 ◽

2000 ◽

Vol 18 (10) ◽

pp. 1257-1262 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

A. V. Pavlov ◽

T. Abe ◽

K.-I. Oyama

Keyword(s):

Magnetic Field ◽

Heat Flux ◽

Electron Temperature ◽

Field Line ◽

Electron Density ◽

Magnetic Field Line ◽

New Approach ◽

Additional Heating ◽

Vibrational Levels ◽

The Magnetic Field

Abstract. We present a comparison of the electron density and temperature behaviour in the ionosphere and plasmasphere measured by the Millstone Hill incoherent-scatter radar and the instruments on board of the EXOS-D satellite with numerical model calculations from a time-dependent mathematical model of the Earth's ionosphere and plasmasphere during the geomagnetically quiet and storm period on 20–30 January, 1993. We have evaluated the value of the additional heating rate that should be added to the normal photoelectron heating in the electron energy equation in the daytime plasmasphere region above 5000 km along the magnetic field line to explain the high electron temperature measured by the instruments on board of the EXOS-D satellite within the Millstone Hill magnetic field flux tube in the Northern Hemisphere. The additional heating brings the measured and modelled electron temperatures into agreement in the plasmasphere and into very large disagreement in the ionosphere if the classical electron heat flux along magnetic field line is used in the model. A new approach, based on a new effective electron thermal conductivity coefficient along the magnetic field line, is presented to model the electron temperature in the ionosphere and plasmasphere. This new approach leads to a heat flux which is less than that given by the classical Spitzer-Harm theory. The evaluated additional heating of electrons in the plasmasphere and the decrease of the thermal conductivity in the topside ionosphere and the greater part of the plasmasphere found for the first time here allow the model to accurately reproduce the electron temperatures observed by the instruments on board the EXOS-D satellite in the plasmasphere and the Millstone Hill incoherent-scatter radar in the ionosphere. The effects of the daytime additional plasmaspheric heating of electrons on the electron temperature and density are small at the F-region altitudes if the modified electron heat flux is used. The deviations from the Boltzmann distribution for the first five vibrational levels of N2(v) and O2(v) were calculated. The present study suggests that these deviations are not significant at the first vibrational levels of N2 and O2 and the second level of O2, and the calculated distributions of N2(v) and O2(v) are highly non-Boltzmann at vibrational levels v > 2. The resulting effect of N2(v > 0) and O2(v > 0) on NmF2 is the decrease of the calculated daytime NmF2 up to a factor of 1.5. The modelled electron temperature is very sensitive to the electron density, and this decrease in electron density results in the increase of the calculated daytime electron temperature up to about 580 K at the F2 peak altitude giving closer agreement between the measured and modelled electron temperatures. Both the daytime and night-time densities are not reproduced by the model without N2(v > 0) and O2(v > 0), and inclusion of vibrationally excited N2 and O2 brings the model and data into better agreement.Key words: Ionosphere (ionospheric disturbances; ionosphere-magnetosphere interactions; plasma temperature and density)

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Sami2 is Another Model of the Ionosphere (SAMI2): A new low-latitude ionosphere model

Journal of Geophysical Research Atmospheres ◽

10.1029/2000ja000035 ◽

2000 ◽

Vol 105 (A10) ◽

pp. 23035-23053 ◽

Cited By ~ 357

Author(s):

J. D. Huba ◽

G. Joyce ◽

J. A. Fedder

Keyword(s):

Low Latitude ◽

Ionosphere Model ◽

Low Latitude Ionosphere

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The development of magnetic field line wander by plasma turbulence

Journal of Plasma Physics ◽

10.1017/s0022377817000617 ◽

2017 ◽

Vol 83 (4) ◽

Cited By ~ 5

Author(s):

Gregory G. Howes ◽

Sofiane Bourouaine

Keyword(s):

Magnetic Field ◽

Field Line ◽

Magnetic Field Line ◽

Large Scale ◽

Magnetic Energy ◽

Plasma Turbulence ◽

Alfven Wave ◽

Astrophysical Plasmas ◽

Field Lines ◽

The Magnetic Field

Plasma turbulence occurs ubiquitously in space and astrophysical plasmas, mediating the nonlinear transfer of energy from large-scale electromagnetic fields and plasma flows to small scales at which the energy may be ultimately converted to plasma heat. But plasma turbulence also generically leads to a tangling of the magnetic field that threads through the plasma. The resulting wander of the magnetic field lines may significantly impact a number of important physical processes, including the propagation of cosmic rays and energetic particles, confinement in magnetic fusion devices and the fundamental processes of turbulence, magnetic reconnection and particle acceleration. The various potential impacts of magnetic field line wander are reviewed in detail, and a number of important theoretical considerations are identified that may influence the development and saturation of magnetic field line wander in astrophysical plasma turbulence. The results of nonlinear gyrokinetic simulations of kinetic Alfvén wave turbulence of sub-ion length scales are evaluated to understand the development and saturation of the turbulent magnetic energy spectrum and of the magnetic field line wander. It is found that turbulent space and astrophysical plasmas are generally expected to contain a stochastic magnetic field due to the tangling of the field by strong plasma turbulence. Future work will explore how the saturated magnetic field line wander varies as a function of the amplitude of the plasma turbulence and the ratio of the thermal to magnetic pressure, known as the plasma beta.

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