Events of August 2, 2002: Features of substorm field-aligned currents |
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Authors: | V M Mishin A D Bazarzhapov V V Mishin U Sukhbaatar M Förster |
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Institution: | 1.Institute of Solar-Terrestrial Physics,Irkutsk,Russia;2.Research Center of Astronomy and Geophysics,Ulaanbaatar,Mongolia;3.GFZ German Research Centre for Geosciences,Potsdam,Germany |
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Abstract: | A model of alignment of the field-aligned current generator system in the disturbed magnetosphere is proposed. It has been
found that Pedersen currents in the disturbed ionosphere of the auroral oval are meridional. They connect oppositely directed
field-aligned currents (FACs) of two adjacent Iijima and Potemra (IP) regions. This supplements the dominant concept of currents
in the literature, in which a substorm current wedge plays a major role. During the considered substorm, graphs have been
obtained of changes in FAC intensities in each of the three Iijima and Potemra regions of the Northern Hemisphere. These new
data suggest that during a disturbance, the Region 1 FAC and the sum of regions 2 and 0 FACs remain equal. The equality means
that these three generators form a unified system. Inequalities of intensities between two FACs of different sign simultaneously
observed in the dawn and dusk sectors have also been detected in each IP region. A conceptual model is proposed for the formation
of this dawn-dusk asymmetry. In the model, in addition to FACs that close up in the ionosphere of the Northern Hemisphere,
FACs connecting the two hemispheres are also presented. The conclusion is justified that the global magnetospheric dynamo
operates as a voltage generator under relatively quiet (average) conditions, as during storms. |
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