Solar cycle variations in differential instrumental responses from ground‑based geomagnetic records

Author(s):  
Stuart Gilder ◽  
Michael Wack ◽  
Elena Kronberg ◽  
Ameya Prabhu

<p>We developed a new technique based on differences in instrument responses from ground-based magnetic measurements that extracts the frequency content of the magnetic field with periods ranging from 0.1 to 100 seconds. By stacking hourly averages over an entire year, we found that the maximum amplitude of the magnetic field oscillations occurred near solar noon over diurnal periods at all latitudes except in the auroral oval. Seasonal variability was identified only at high latitude. Long-term trends in field oscillations followed the solar cycle, yet the maxima occurred during the declining phase when high-speed streams in the solar wind dominated. A parameter based on solar wind speed and the relative variability of the interplanetary magnetic field correlated robustly with the ground-based measurements. Our findings suggest that turbulence in the solar wind, its interaction at the magnetopause, and its propagation into the magnetosphere stimulate magnetic field fluctuations at the ground on the dayside over a wide frequency range. Our method enables the study of field line oscillations using the publicly available, worldwide database of geomagnetic observatories.</p>

2005 ◽  
Vol 23 (2) ◽  
pp. 609-624 ◽  
Author(s):  
K. E. J. Huttunen ◽  
J. Slavin ◽  
M. Collier ◽  
H. E. J. Koskinen ◽  
A. Szabo ◽  
...  

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.


2019 ◽  
Vol 47 (1) ◽  
pp. 85-87
Author(s):  
E.V. Maiewski ◽  
R.A. Kislov ◽  
H.V. Malova ◽  
O.V. Khabarova ◽  
V.Yu. Popov ◽  
...  

A stationary axisymmetric MHD model of the solar wind has been constructed, which allows us to study the spatial distribution of the magnetic field and plasma characteristics at radial distances from 20 to 400 radii of the Sun at almost all heliolatitudes. The model takes into account the changes in the magnetic field of the Sun during a quarter of the solar cycle, when the dominant dipole magnetic field is replaced by a quadrupole. Selfconsistent solutions for the magnetic and velocity fields, plasma concentration and current density of the solar wind depending on the phase of the solar cycle are obtained. It is shown that during the domination of the dipole magnetic component in the solar wind heliospheric current sheet (HCS) is located in the equatorial plane, which is a part of the system of radial and transverse currents, symmetrical in the northern and southern hemispheres. As the relative contribution of the quadrupole component to the total magnetic field increases, the shape of the HCS becomes conical; the angle of the cone gradually decreases, so that the current sheet moves entirely to one of the hemispheres. At the same time, at high latitudes of the opposite hemisphere, a second conical HCS arises, the angle of which increases. When the quadrupole field becomes dominant (at maximum solar activity), both HCS lie on conical surfaces inclined at an angle of 35 degrees to the equator. The model describes the transition from the fast solar wind at high latitudes to the slow solar wind at low latitudes: a relatively gentle transition in the period of low solar activity gives way to more drastic when high solar activity. The model also predicts an increase in the steepness of the profiles of the main characteristics of the solar wind with an increase in the radial distance from the Sun. Comparison of the obtained dependences with the available observational data is discussed.


Solar Physics ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 294 (11) ◽  
Author(s):  
D. Aaron Roberts ◽  
Leon Ofman

Abstract We present 2.5D hybrid simulations of the spectral and thermodynamic evolution of an initial state of magnetic field and plasma variables that in many ways represents solar wind fluctuations. In accordance with Helios near-Sun high-speed stream observations, we start with Alfvénic fluctuations along a mean magnetic field in which the fluctuations in the magnitude of the magnetic field are minimized. Since fluctuations in the radial flow speed are the dominant free energy in the observed fluctuations, we include a field-aligned $v_{\|}(k_{\perp })$v∥(k⊥) with an $k^{ -1}$k−1 spectrum of velocity fluctuations to drive the turbulent evolution. The flow rapidly distorts the Alfvénic fluctuations, yielding spectra (determined by spacecraft-like cuts) transverse to the field that become comparable to the $k_{\|}$k∥ fluctuations, as in spacecraft observations. The initial near constancy of the magnetic field is lost during the evolution; we show this also takes place observationally. We find some evolution in the anisotropy of the thermal fluctuations, consistent with expectations based on Helios data. We present 2D spectra of the fluctuations, showing the evolution of the power spectrum and cross-helicity. Despite simplifying assumptions, many aspects of simulations and observations agree. The greatly faster evolution in the simulations is at least in part due to the small scales being simulated, but also to the non-equilibrium initial conditions and the relatively low overall Alfvénicity of the initial fluctuations.


2000 ◽  
Vol 18 (12) ◽  
pp. 1576-1583 ◽  
Author(s):  
P. Ballatore ◽  
J. P. Villain ◽  
N. Vilmer ◽  
M. Pick

Abstract. The effects of the characteristics of the interplanetary medium on the radar scattering occurrence, related to the whole array of SuperDARN radars installed in the Northern Hemisphere, have been studied over a two-year period. Statistically significant correlations of the variation of the scattering occurrence are found with the merging electric field and with the negative Bz component of the interplanetary magnetic field, independent of the seasonal period considered. This result demonstrates that the merging rate (and in particular the reconnection process) between the interplanetary magnetic field and the magnetosphere is a relevant factor affecting the occurrence of scattering. For comparison, we note that no statistically significant correlations are obtained when the interplanetary ion density or the solar wind speed are considered, although also these variables affect to a small degree the scattering occurrence variation. The study of the latitudinal and magnetic local time dependence of the observations shows an association between the considered correlation and the location of the auroral oval and the cusp/cleft region.Key words: Ionosphere (ionospheric irregularities) · Magnetospheric physics (solar wind-magnetosphere interactions) · Radio science (ionospheric physics)


2019 ◽  
Vol 5 (3) ◽  
pp. 50-63
Author(s):  
Дмитрий Ерофеев ◽  
Dmitry Erofeev

Using data with hourly resolution obtained in near-Earth heliosphere in 1965–2014, we have calculated statistical characteristics of the angles describing the direction of the interplanetary magnetic field (IMF): root-mean-square deviations of azimuthal and elevation angles, asymmetries of their distributions, and coefficient of correlation of the angles. It has been shown that the above characteristics varied in the course of solar cycle, and some of them changed their signs when solar polar magnetic field reversed. The results obtained from the experimental data analysis were compared with a model describing transport of large-scale disturbances of IMF lines by the inhomogeneous solar wind. The comparison has shown that the variations in the angular distribution of IMF in the course of solar cycle probably occur due to the appearance of the large-scale latitudinal gradient of solar wind velocity during solar minima. In addition, the angular distribution of IMF has been found to be substantially affected by the longitudinal velocity gradient in trailing parts of high-speed streams and short-term local-scale variations in velocity gradients.


2005 ◽  
Vol 23 (2) ◽  
pp. 625-641 ◽  
Author(s):  
K. E. J. Huttunen ◽  
R. Schwenn ◽  
V. Bothmer ◽  
H. E. J. Koskinen

Abstract. The magnetic structure and geomagnetic response of 73 magnetic clouds (MC) observed by the WIND and ACE satellites in solar cycle 23 are examined. The results have been compared with the surveys from the previous solar cycles. The preselected candidate MC events were investigated using the minimum variance analysis to determine if they have a flux-rope structure and to obtain the estimation for the axial orientation (θC, φC). Depending on the calculated inclination relative to the ecliptic we divided MCs into "bipolar" (θC<45°) and "unipolar" (θC>45°). The number of observed MCs was largest in the early rising phase, although the halo CME rate was still low. It is likely that near solar maximum we did not identify all MCs at 1AU, as they were crossed far from the axis or they had interacted strongly with the ambient solar wind or with other CMEs. The occurrence rate of MCs at 1AU is also modified by the migration of the filament sites on the Sun towards the poles near solar maximum and by the deflection of CMEs towards the equator due to the fast solar wind flow from large polar coronal holes near solar minimum. In the rising phase nearly all bipolar MCs were associated with the rotation of the magnetic field from the south at the leading edge to the north at the trailing edge. The results for solar cycles 21-22 showed that the direction of the magnetic field in the leading portion of the MC starts to reverse at solar maximum. At solar maximum and in the declining phase (2000-2003) we observed several MCs with the rotation from the north to the south. We observed unipolar (i.e. highly inclined) MCs frequently during the whole investigated period. For solar cycles 21-22 the majority of MCs identified in the rising phase were bipolar while in the declining phase most MCs were unipolar. The geomagnetic response of a given MC depends greatly on its magnetic structure and the orientation of the sheath fields. For each event we distinguished the effect of the sheath fields and the MC fields. All unipolar MCs with magnetic field southward at the axis were geoeffective (Dst<-50nT) while those with the field pointing northward did not cause magnetic storms at all. About half of the all identified MCs were not geoffective or the sheath fields preceding the MC caused the storm. MCs caused more intense magnetic storms (Dst<-100nT) than moderate magnetic storms (-50nT ≥Dst≥-100nT).


2019 ◽  
Vol 5 (3) ◽  
pp. 42-53
Author(s):  
Дмитрий Ерофеев ◽  
Dmitry Erofeev

Using data with hourly resolution obtained in near-Earth heliosphere in 1965–2014, we have calculated statistical characteristics of the angles describing the direction of the interplanetary magnetic field (IMF): root-mean-square deviations of azimuthal and elevation angles, asymmetries of their distributions, and coefficient of correlation of the angles. It has been shown that the above characteristics varied in the course of solar cycle, and some of them changed their signs when solar polar magnetic field reversed. The results obtained from the experimental data analysis were compared with a model describing transport of large-scale disturbances of IMF lines by the inhomogeneous solar wind. The comparison has shown that the variations in the angular distribution of IMF in the course of solar cycle probably occur due to the appearance of the large-scale latitudinal gradient of solar wind velocity during solar minima. In addition, the angular distribution of IMF has been found to be substantially affected by the longitudinal velocity gradient in trailing parts of high-speed streams and short-term local-scale variations in velocity gradients.


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