The response of the high-latitude ionosphere to the solar-wind pressure jump with a southward IMF on January 10, 1997

The well-studied event of January 10, 1997, was used to study the mechanism responsible for the response of the auroral ionosphere to the solar-wind dynamic pressure jump given a southward interplanetary magnetic field. All solar-wind parameters of this event were constant except for the jump in plasma density (duration 22 min). Immediately after arrival and during the pressure jump, the inner boundary of the auroral oval moved poleward, whereas the position of the outer boundary was stable. The amplification of the magnetopause current caused by an increase in the solar-wind plasma density was calculated. We think that the amplified magnetopause current is closed by the polarization current at the front of the disturbed region in the magnetosphere, thus forming the “transient ring current” that exists during the pressure jump. We determined the northward magnetic field of this “temporary ring current,” the order of magnitude of which coincided with that of the field responsible for the observed poleward shift of the high-latitude boundary of the auroral oval.