Variability of the interplanetary magnetic field as a driver of electromagnetic induction in Mercury’s interior

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sophia Zomerdijk-Russell ◽  
Adam Masters
Keyword(s):  
Magnetic Field ◽  
Solar Wind ◽  
Interplanetary Magnetic Field ◽  
Current Sheet ◽  
Electromagnetic Induction ◽  
Dynamic Pressure ◽  
Analytical Models ◽  
Appreciable Effect ◽  
The Impact ◽  
The Imf

<p>Mercury’s magnetosphere is considered to be a unique and dynamic system, primarily due to the proximity of the planet to the Sun. The interaction between solar wind and embedded Interplanetary Magnetic Field (IMF) and the dayside Hermean magnetosphere drive an electric current on the magnetopause boundary of the system. The influence of the time-dependent magnetic field generated by this magnetopause current on Mercury’s interior is key to understanding the subsurface structure of the planet, as electromagnetic induction is a valuable technique for delineating electrical properties of planetary interiors. Here we assess the impact a changing IMF direction has on the Hermean magnetopause currents, and the resulting inducing magnetic field. Analytical models of conditions at the magnetopause are combined with measurements made by MESSENGER’s magnetometer as the spacecraft crossed the subsolar magnetopause boundary during the first ‘hot season’.</p><p>These MESSENGER magnetopause boundary crossings show that the introduction of the external IMF changes the direction of the magnetopause current by ~50°, compared to the case where only the internal planetary field is considered. Analytical modelling suggests that for a heliospheric current sheet crossing without any change in solar wind dynamic pressure (an east-west reversal of the IMF polarity typical at Mercury), the inducing field at Mercury’s surface caused by the resulting magnetopause current sheet dynamics is of the order of 10% of the global planetary field. The results suggest that variability of the IMF alone can have an appreciable effect on Mercury’s magnetopause current direction and generate a significant inducing magnetic field around the planet. The arrival of the BepiColombo mission will allow this response to be further explored as a method of probing Mercury’s interior.</p>

Variability of the interplanetary magnetic field as a driver of electromagnetic induction in Mercury’s interior

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sophia Zomerdijk-Russell ◽  
Adam Masters ◽  
Daniel Heyner
Keyword(s):  
Magnetic Field ◽  
Interplanetary Magnetic Field ◽  
Electromagnetic Induction ◽  
External Pressure ◽  
Heliospheric Current Sheet ◽  
Iron Core ◽  
Appreciable Effect ◽  
Boundary Crossings ◽  
The Impact ◽  
The Imf

<p>Mercury’s magnetosphere is a unique and dynamic system, primarily due to the proximity of the planet to the Sun and its small size. Interactions between solar wind and embedded Interplanetary Magnetic Field (IMF) and the dayside Hermean magnetosphere drive an electric current on the system’s magnetopause boundary. So far, electromagnetic induction due to magnetopause motion in response to changing external pressure has been used to constrain Mercury’s iron core size. Here we assess the impact a changing IMF direction has on the Hermean magnetopause currents, and the resulting inducing magnetic field. Observations made by MESSENGER during subsolar magnetopause boundary crossings in the first ‘hot season’, are used to demonstrate the importance of the IMF direction to Mercury’s magnetopause currents. Our 16 boundary crossings show that introduction of external IMFs change the magnetopause current direction by 10° to 100°, compared to the case where only the internal planetary field is considered. Analytical modelling was used to fill in the bigger picture and suggests for an east-west reversal of the IMF, typical of the heliospheric current sheet sweeping over Mercury’s magnetosphere, the inducing field at Mercury’s surface caused by the resulting magnetopause current dynamics is on the order of 10% of the global planetary field. These results suggest that IMF variability alone has an appreciable effect on Mercury’s magnetopause current and generates a significant inducing magnetic field around the planet. The arrival of the BepiColombo mission will allow this response to be further explored as a method of probing Mercury’s interior.</p>

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.

scholarly journals Reconstruction of geomagnetic activity and near-Earth interplanetary conditions over the past 167 yr – Part 2: A new reconstruction of the interplanetary magnetic field

2013 ◽  
Vol 31 (11) ◽  
pp. 1979-1992 ◽  
Author(s):  
M. Lockwood ◽  
L. Barnard ◽  
H. Nevanlinna ◽  
M. J. Owens ◽  
R. G. Harrison ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Magnetic Field ◽  
Solar Wind ◽  
Interplanetary Magnetic Field ◽  
Geomagnetic Activity ◽  
Flow Speed ◽  
Range Data ◽  
Solar Wind Flow ◽  
Annual Means ◽  
Solar Wind Parameters ◽  
The Imf

Abstract. We present a new reconstruction of the interplanetary magnetic field (IMF, B) for 1846–2012 with a full analysis of errors, based on the homogeneously constructed IDV(1d) composite of geomagnetic activity presented in Part 1 (Lockwood et al., 2013a). Analysis of the dependence of the commonly used geomagnetic indices on solar wind parameters is presented which helps explain why annual means of interdiurnal range data, such as the new composite, depend only on the IMF with only a very weak influence of the solar wind flow speed. The best results are obtained using a polynomial (rather than a linear) fit of the form B = χ · (IDV(1d) − β)α with best-fit coefficients χ = 3.469, β = 1.393 nT, and α = 0.420. The results are contrasted with the reconstruction of the IMF since 1835 by Svalgaard and Cliver (2010).

scholarly journals Study of Geomagnetic Storms, Interplanetary Magnetic Field and Solar Wind

2019 ◽  
Vol 14 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Chandrasekhar Bhoj ◽  
Lalan Prasad
Keyword(s):  
Magnetic Field ◽  
Solar Wind ◽  
Solar Cycle ◽  
Interplanetary Magnetic Field ◽  
Correlation Coefficient ◽  
Geomagnetic Storms ◽  
Solar Cycle 24 ◽  
Time Periods ◽  
Cycle 24 ◽  
The Imf

The aim of this paper is to investigate the association of the geomagnetic storms with the IMF for solar cycle 24. Result of the present analysis shows that IMF is geoeffective parameter but its impact varies in accordance with different time periods. The correlation coefficient between Dst and IMF found to be -0.6 for solar cycle 24.

scholarly journals Azimuthally asymmetric ring current as a function of <i>D<sub>st</sub></i> and solar wind conditions

2004 ◽  
Vol 22 (8) ◽  
pp. 2989-2996 ◽  
Author(s):  
Y. P. Maltsev ◽  
A. A. Ostapenko
Keyword(s):  
Magnetic Field ◽  
Solar Wind ◽  
Spatial Distribution ◽  
Interplanetary Magnetic Field ◽  
Ring Current ◽  
Dynamic Pressure ◽  
Solar Wind Dynamic Pressure ◽  
Magnetic Data ◽  
Under Five ◽  
Solar Wind Parameters

Abstract. Based on magnetic data, spatial distribution of the westward ring current flowing at |z|<3 RE has been found under five levels of Dst, five levels of the interplanetary magnetic field (IMF) z component, and five levels of the solar wind dynamic pressure Psw. The maximum of the current is located near midnight at distances 5 to 7 RE. The magnitude of the nightside and dayside parts of the westward current at distances from 4 to 9 RE can be approximated as Inight=1.75-0.041 Dst, Inoon=0.22-0.013 Dst, where the current is in MA. The relation of the nightside current to the solar wind parameters can be expressed as Inight=1.45-0.20 Bs IMF + 0.32 Psw, where BsIMF is the IMF southward component. The dayside ring current poorly correlates with the solar wind parameters.

scholarly journals ESTIMASI BADAI GEOMAGNET BERDASARKAN PERILAKU PARAMETER ANGIN SURYA DAN MEDAN MAGNET ANTARPLANET SEBELUM BADAI GEOMAGNET (THE ESTIMATION OF GEOMAGNETIC STORM BASED ON SOLAR WIND PARAMETERS AND INTERPLANETARY MAGNETIC FIELD BEHAVIOR BEFORE GEOMAGNETIC STOR

2017 ◽  
Vol 14 (2) ◽  
pp. 17
Author(s):  
Anwar Santoso ◽  
Mamat Rahimat ◽  
Rasdewita Kesumaningrum ◽  
Siska Filawati
Keyword(s):  
Magnetic Field ◽  
Solar Wind ◽  
Geomagnetic Storm ◽  
Space Weather ◽  
Geomagnetic Storms ◽  
Storm Events ◽  
Science Center ◽  
Solar Wind Parameters ◽  
The Impact ◽  
The Imf

Space weather research is the principal activity at the Space Science Center, Lapan to learn characteristics and generator source of the space weather so that can mitigate its the impact on the Earth's environment as mandated in Law No. 21 Year 2013. One of them is the phenomenon of geomagnetic storms. Geomagnetic storms caused by the entry of solar wind together with the IMF Bz that leads to the south. The behavior of the solar wind parameters together with the IMF Bz before geomagnetic storms can determine the formation of geomagnetic storms that caused it. In spite that, by the solar wind parameters and IMF Bz behavior before geomagnetic storm can be estimated its intensity through the equation Dst * = 1.599 * Ptotal - 34.48. The result of this equation is obtained that the Dst minimum deviation between the raw data and the output of this equation to the geomagnetic storm events on March 17, 2013 is about of -2.51 nT or 1.9% and on the geomagnetic storm events on February 19, 2014 is about of 2.77 nT or 2, 5%. Thus, the equation Dst * = 1.599 * Ptotal - 34.48 is very good for the estimation of geomagnetic storms.

scholarly journals Study of Geomagnetic Storms, Interplanetary Magnetic Field and Solar Wind

2019 ◽  
Vol 14 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Chandrasekhar Bhoj ◽  
Lalan Prasad
Keyword(s):  
Magnetic Field ◽  
Solar Wind ◽  
Solar Cycle ◽  
Interplanetary Magnetic Field ◽  
Correlation Coefficient ◽  
Geomagnetic Storms ◽  
Solar Cycle 24 ◽  
Time Periods ◽  
Cycle 24 ◽  
The Imf

The aim of this paper is to investigate the association of the geomagnetic storms with the IMF for solar cycle 24. Result of the present analysis shows that IMF is geoeffective parameter but its impact varies in accordance with different time periods. The correlation coefficient between Dst and IMF found to be -0.6 for solar cycle 24

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