Reconnection driven lobe convection: Interball tail probe observations and global simulations

We present Interball Tail Probe observations from the high latitude mid-tail magnetopause which provide evidence of reconnection between the interplanetary magnetic field (IMF) and lobe field lines during a 6 h interval of stable northward and dawnward IMF on October 19, 1995. Results from a global magnetohydrodynamic simulation for this interval compare well with the Interball observations. With the simulations, we provide an extended global view of this event which gives us insight into the reconnection and convection dynamics of the magnetosphere. We find that reconnection occurs in a region of limited spatial extent near the terminator and where the IMF and the lobe field are anti-parallel. Reconnected IMF field lines drape over the dayside magnetosphere, convect along the flanks into the nightside, and enter the magnetotail through a small entry window that is located in the flank opposite to the reconnection site. Ionospheric convection is consistent with previous observations under similar IMF conditions and exhibits a two cell pattern with a dominant lobe cell over the pole. The magnetic mapping between the ionosphere and the lobe boundary is characterized by two singularities: the narrow entry window in the tail maps to a 6 h wide section of the ionospheric lobe cell. A singular mapping line cuts the lobe cell open and maps to almost the entire tail magnetopause. By this singularity the magnetosphere avoids having a stagnation point, i.e., the lobe cell center maps to a tailward convecting field line. The existence of singularities in the magnetic mapping between the ionosphere and the tail has important implications for the study of tail–ionosphere coupling via empirical magnetic field models. Because the lobe–IMF reconnection cuts away old lobe flux and replaces it with flux tubes of magnetosheath origin, solar wind plasma enters the lobes in a process that is similar to the one that operates during southward IMF.     

The ionospheric footprint of antiparallel merging regions on the dayside magnetopause

The antiparallel merging hypothesis states that reconnection takes place on the dayside magnetopause where the solar and geomagnetic fields are oppositely directed. With this criterion, we have mapped the predicted merging regions to the ionosphere using the Tsyganenko 96 magnetic field model, distinguishing between regions of sub-Alfvénic and super-Alfvénic magnetosheath flow, and identifying the day-night terminator. We present the resulting shape, width and latitude of the ionospheric dayside merging regions in both hemispheres, showing their dependence on the Earths dipole tilt. The resulting seasonal variation of the longitudinal width is consistent with the conjugate electric fields in the northern and southern cusps, as measured by the SuperDARN HF radars, for example. We also find a seasonal shift in latitude similar to that observed in satellite cusp data.     

EISCAT雷达观测到的极区电离层等离子体反常对流

综合分析EISCAT雷达与卫星当地测量数据,并利用磁层磁场模式对磁力线进行追踪,研究了发生在极光椭圆朝极盖边界附近电离层中,一例反常的背离太阳流动的强等离子体对流事件,及相关的太阳风-磁层-电离层耦合过程.结果表明,磁暴期间IMFBz指向南时观测到这一反常高速对流,及其相应的等离子体性态特征,很可能是向阳侧磁层顶磁重联过程在电离层中的印记.     

极隙区场向电流对高纬电离层电场和电流体系的影响

用Ｋａｍｉｄｅ－Ｍａｔｓｕｓｈｉｔａ方法，在行星际磁场具有较小的北向分量，且｜Ｂｙ｜＞＞｜Ｂｋ｜时，对磁语和磁扰状态以及Ｂｒ＞０和Ｂｙ＜０等不同情况，分别计算了场向电流引起的电离层电势、电场和电流体系．结果表明，极隙区场向电流的存在使高纬向日面区域的电势发生畸变，当Ｂｙ＞０时，无论是磁扰还是磁静日，极隙区电场具有显著的北向分量；等离子体对流有较大的西向分量；电离层电流为东向电流．当Ｂｙ＜０时，电场和等离子体对流的方向与Ｂｙ＞０时相反；电离层电流在磁抗日有西向分量，但在磁静日没有西向分量．电导率对电场和电流体系的影响十分明显，磁扰极光带电导率增强使电流涡从背阳面向向阳而漂移，与静日相比，磁扰时极隙区场向电流引起的电场畸变更为明显，但电场和电流强度的大小却基本保持不变．     

Dayside convection and auroral morphology during an interval of northward interplanetary magnetic field

We investigate the dayside auroral dynamics and ionospheric convection during an interval when the interplanetary magnetic field (IMF) had predominantly a positive B_z component (northward IMF) but varying B_y. Polar UVI observations of the Northern Hemisphere auroral emission indicate the existence of a region of luminosity near local noon at latitudes poleward of the dayside auroral oval, which we interpret as the ionospheric footprint of a high-latitude reconnection site. The large field-of-view afforded by the satellite-borne imager allows an unprecedented determination of the dynamics of this region, which has not previously been possible with ground-based observations. The location of the emission in latitude and magnetic local time varies in response to changes in the orientation of the IMF; the cusp MLT and the IMF B_y component are especially well correlated, the emission being located in the pre- or post-noon sectors for B_y < 0 nT or B_y > 0 nT, respectively. Simultaneous ground-based observations of the ionospheric plasma drift are provided by the CUTLASS Finland HF coherent radar. For an interval of IMF B_y 0 nT, these convection flow measurements suggest the presence of a clockwise-rotating lobe cell contained within the pre-noon dayside polar cap, with a flow reversal closely co-located with the high-latitude luminosity region. This pattern is largely consistent with recent theoretical predictions of the convection flow during northward IMF. We believe that this represents the first direct measurement of the convection flow at the imaged location of the footprint of the high-latitude reconnection site.     

Interhemispheric observations of nightside ionospheric electric fields in response to IMF B z and B y changes and substorm pseudobreakup

HF radar data during equinoctial, small IMF B_y conditions have enabled the ionospheric convection during the substorm growth phase and substorm pseudobreakup to be studied in both hemispheres. This has revealed both conjugate and non-conjugate convection behaviour during the substorm growth phase before and after the pseudobreakup onset. The nightside convection pattern is found to respond promptly to the southward turning of the interplanetary magnetic field (IMF) which impacts on the dusk flank of the magnetosphere due to an inclined phase front in the IMF in the case study presented. The subsequent interhemispheric observations of nightside convection are controlled by the IMF B_y polarity. The time scale for the response to changes in the IMF B_y component is found to be a little longer than for B_z, and the full impact of the IMF B_y is not apparent in the nightside convection until after substorm pseudobreakup has occurred. The pseudobreakup itself is found to result in a transitory suppression in the ionospheric electric field in both hemispheres. This flow suppression is very similar to that observed in HF radar observations of full substorm onset, with the exception of a lack of subsequent poleward expansion.     

Interplanetary magnetic field By control of dayside auroras

The effect of the interplanetary magnetic field (IMF) By component on the dayside auroral oval from Viking UV measurements for March–November 1986 is studied. Observations of dayside auroras from Viking UV images for large positive (15 cases) and negative (22 cases) IMF By (∣By∣>4 nT), suggest that: (1) the intensity of dayside auroras tends to increase for negative IMF By and to decrease for positive By, so that negative IMF By conditions seem preferable for observations of dayside auroras; (2) for negative IMF By, the auroral oval tends to be narrow and continuous throughout the noon meridian without any noon gap or any strong undulation in the auroral distribution. For positive IMF By, a sharp decrease and spreading of auroral activity is frequently observed in the post-noon sector, a strong undulation in the poleward boundary of the auroral oval around noon, and the formation of auroral forms poleward of the oval; and (3) the observed features of dayside auroras are in reasonable agreement with the expected distribution of upward field-aligned currents associated with the IMF By in the noon sector.     

The dynamic cusp aurora on 30 November 1997: response to southward turning of the IMF

We document the detailed dynamics of the dayside aurora in the ≈1200–1600 MLT sector in response to a sharp southward turning of the interplanetary magnetic field (IMF) under negative IMF B_y conditions. Features not documented in previous work are elucidated by using two meridan scanning photometers (separated by 2 h) and an all-sky auroral imager in Ny Ålesund, Svalbard (75.5^MLAT) in combination with magnetograms from stations on Svalbard, covering the latitude range 71^–75^MLAT. The initial auroral response may be divided into three phases consisting of: (1) intensification of both the red (630.0 nm) and green (557.7 nm) line emissions in the cusp aurora near 1200 MLT and ≈100 km equatorward shift of its equatorward boundary, at ≈75^MLAT, (2) eastward and poleward expansions of the cusp aurora, reaching the 1430 MLT meridian after 5–6 min, and (3) east-west expansion of the higher-latitude aurora (at ≈77^–78^MLAT) in the postnoon sector. The associated magnetic disturbance is characterized by an initial positive deflection of the X-component at stations located 100–400 km south of the aurora, corresponding to enhanced Sunward return flow associated with the merging convection cell in the post-noon sector. The sequence of partly overlapping poleward moving auroral forms (PMAFs) during the first 15 min, accompanied by corresponding pulsations in the convection current, was followed by a strong westward contraction of the cusp aurora when the ground magnetograms indicated a temporary return to the pre-onset level. These observations are discussed in relation to the Cowley-Lockwood model of ionospheric response to pulsed magnetopause reconnection.     

Asymmetric structures of field-aligned currents and convection of ionospheric plasma controlled by the IMF azimuthal component and season of year

We present the results of using the statistical model of field-aligned currents (FACs) based on satellite data and the numerical model of the electric potential distribution in order to detect the asymmetric part in FAC structures and ionospheric plasma convection controlled by the IMF azimuthal (B _y ) component at different seasons of the year. These structures can be identified by plotting diagrams, which represent differences in corresponding maps for opposite signs of IMF B _y . Circular near-pole current symmetric about the noon meridian and corresponding convection vortices around the pole have been obtained for the summer and equinox periods. It is difficult to detect distinct structures under winter conditions, and the current is most intense on the morning side. A two-cell convection system with the foci in the afternoon and postmid-night sectors is created in the electric potential difference diagrams. Thus, qualitatively different FAC and convection patterns exist during the solstice in opposite hemispheres. The value of the electric potential originating in the near-pole region under the action of the B _y component and a change in the potential under the action of additional factors have been estimated.     

Observations of polar patches generated by solar wind Alfvén wave coupling to the dayside magnetosphere

A long series of polar patches was observed by ionosondes and an all-sky imager during a disturbed period (K_p = 7- and IMF B_z <0). The ionosondes measured electron densities of up to 9 × 10¹¹ m⁻³ in the patch center, an increase above the density minimum between patches by a factor of ≈4.5. Bands of F-region irregularities generated at the equatorward edge of the patches were tracked by HF radars. The backscatter bands were swept northward and eastward across the polar cap in a fan-like formation as the afternoon convection cell expanded due to the IMF B_y > 0. Near the north magnetic pole, an all-sky imager observed the 630-nm emission patches of a distinctly band-like shape drifting northeastward to eastward. The 630-nm emission patches were associated with the density patches and backscatter bands. The patches originated in, or near, the cusp footprint where they were formed by convection bursts (flow channel events, FCEs) structuring the solar EUV-produced photoionization and the particle-produced auroral/cusp ionization by segmenting it into elongated patches. Just equatorward of the cusp footprint Pc5 field line resonances (FLRs) were observed by magnetometers, riometers and VHF/HF radars. The AC electric field associated with the FLRs resulted in a poleward-progressing zonal flow pattern and backscatter bands. The VHF radar Doppler spectra indicated the presence of steep electron density gradients which, through the gradient drift instability, can lead to the generation of the ionospheric irregularities found in patches. The FLRs and FCEs were associated with poleward-progressing DPY currents (Hall currents modulated by the IMF B_y) and riometer absorption enhancements. The temporal and spatial characteristics of the VHF backscatter and associated riometer absorptions closely resembled those of poleward moving auroral forms (PMAFs). In the solar wind, IMP 8 observed large amplitude Alfvén waves that were correlated with Pc5 pulsations observed by the ground magnetometers, riometers and radars. It is concluded that the FLRs and FCEs that produced patches were driven by solar wind Alfvén waves coupling to the dayside magnetosphere. During a period of southward IMF the dawn-dusk electric field associated with the Alfvén waves modulated the subsolar magnetic reconnection into pulses that resulted in convection flow bursts mapping to the ionospheric footprint of the cusp.     

The effects of IMF and convection on thermal ion outflow in magnetosphere-ionosphere coupling

We study the influence of the interplanetary magnetic field (IMF) and convection electric field on the rate and destination of polar wind and other thermal (low-energy) ion outflows, and its resulting effects on magnetosphere–ionosphere coupling, using single-particle trajectory simulations in conjunction with ion velocity distribution measurements on Akebono and IMF and ionospheric convection data. We find that the ions preferentially feed the dusk sector of the plasma sheet when the IMF is duskward (B_y>0), and are more evenly distributed in the plasma sheet when the IMF is dawnward. The flow of oxygen ions originating from the noon or dusk sectors of the polar cap has a higher probability of reaching the magnetosphere and beyond compared with that from the dawn or midnight sectors, due to the increased centrifugal acceleration associated with the larger magnetic field curvature near noon and the increased convection electric field in the dusk sector. The flow is enhanced and confined to lower L-shells at times of strongly southward IMF, compared with that at times of northward IMF. The outflow rate to both the plasma sheet and the magnetotail correlates strongly with the ion temperature. As a result, the IMF and the convection electric fields affect both the overall magnitude and the detailed distribution of mass transfer from the ionosphere to the magnetosphere in magnetosphere–ionosphere coupling.     

Global aspects of plasma structures

This topical review provides an overview of the progress achieved under Project 3.1, entitled Global Aspects of Plasma Structures (GAPS) during the lifetime of the Solar Terrestrial Energy Program (STEP) from 1990–97. The mandate of the GAPS project covered middle and high latitude plasma structuring. However, given the requirement of limited length for this overview, only high latitude studies will be covered because of the particularly collaborative nature of the effort, made possible by an international program such as STEP. High latitude plasma structuring studies have progressed from joint experimental campaigns involving many locations and diagnostic techniques, and several focused international workshops that united experimenters and modelers. They have provided the groundwork for studying the macroscale (hundreds of km) and mesoscale (km and smaller) plasma structures at high latitudes under two distinct configurations of the interplanetary magnetic field (IMF).When the IMF is directed southward, we observe macroscale, enhanced density structures known as patches. We have documented much on their origin, modification by the electric field structure in the cusp, airglow signatures in the polar cap, interaction with the neutral medium, mesoscale structuring causing scintillations, convection through the polar cap, and eventual exit into the auroral oval. This has led to several modeling efforts, demonstrating patch formation via temporal changes in the large-scale flow configuration in the cusp. Additionally, we have successfully linked the climatology of the macroscale structure model to the mesoscale structure in the polar regions, an advance that may lead to truly predictive irregularity models for forecasting effects on communication and navigation systems during the upcoming solar maximum.For northward IMF conditions, we have advanced our ability to simulate Sun-aligned arcs using a magnetosphere–ionosphere (M–I) coupled model, driven by realistic magnitudes of electric fields, conductivities and currents. The simulation has been enabled by utilizing an extensive ground-based optical database supported by satellite measurements of their morphological characteristics, including their dawn-dusk motion, dependence on IMF By, and propensity for multiple structuring. We soon expect significant advances resulting from several newly established powerful instruments in the northern and southern polar regions.     

磁暴期内夜间h’F的突增现象

用3个经度链上电离层垂测站资料分析磁暴时夜间h＇F的同时突增现象提出了电动耦合在夜间出现东向电场从而使F层抬升的物理机制同时也解释了突增现象在午夜后更多,且增幅更强的事实．     

Reconfiguration and closure of lobe flux by reconnection during northward IMF: possible evidence for signatures in cusp/cleft auroral emissions

Observations are presented of the response of the dayside cusp/cleft aurora to changes in both the clock and elevation angles of the interplanetary magnetic field (IMF) vector, as monitored by the WIND spacecraft. The auroral observations are made in 630 nm light at the winter solstice near magnetic noon, using an all-sky camera and a meridian-scanning photometer on the island of Spitsbergen. The dominant change was the response to a northward turning of the IMF which caused a poleward retreat of the dayside aurora. A second, higher-latitude band of aurora was seen to form following the northward turning, which is interpreted as the effect of lobe reconnection which reconfigures open flux. We suggest that this was made possible in the winter hemisphere, despite the effect of the Earth’s dipole tilt, by a relatively large negative X component of the IMF. A series of five events then formed in the poleward band and these propagated in a southwestward direction and faded at the equatorward edge of the lower-latitude band as it migrated poleward. It is shown that the auroral observations are consistent with overdraped lobe flux being generated by lobe reconnection in the winter hemisphere and subsequently being re-closed by lobe reconnection in the summer hemisphere. We propose that the balance between the reconnection rates at these two sites is modulated by the IMF elevation angle, such that when the IMF points more directly northward, the summer lobe reconnection site dominates, re-closing all overdraped lobe flux and eventually becoming disconnected from the Northern Hemisphere.     

Specific features of magnetic barrier formation near the magnetopause

The numerical three-dimensional MHD model is used to study the formation of the magnetic barrier in the inner part of the magnetosheath near the magnetopause. The set of the quasistationary solutions for several characteristic directions of the interplanetary magnetic field (IMF) has been obtained: for northward and southward IMF, for the direction along the Parker helix (at an angle of 45° with respect to the Sun-Earth line), and for the predominantly radial direction (at an angle of 20° with respect to the Sun-Earth line). The mechanism used to take into account the effect of magnetic reconnection at the magnetopause on a flow in the magnetosheath is introduced in the case of southward IMF. The results of the calculations indicate that the magnetic field absolute value in the magnetic barrier reaches its maximal value when IMF is northward. The introduction of magnetic reconnection at southward IMF can result in an insignificant decrease in the field value. However, the model predicts that a decrease in the magnetic field is much more substantial when the IMF direction is close to radial.     

A flux transfer event observed at the magnetopause by the Equator-S spacecraft and in the ionosphere by the CUTLASS HF radar

Observations of a flux transfer event (FTE) have been made simultaneously by the Equator-S spacecraft near the dayside magnetopause whilst corresponding transient plasma flows were seen in the near-conjugate polar ionosphere by the CUTLASS Finland HF radar. Prior to the occurrence of the FTE, the magnetometer on the WIND spacecraft ≈226 R_E upstream of the Earth in the solar wind detected a southward turning of the interplanetary magnetic field (IMF) which is estimated to have reached the subsolar magnetopause ≈77 min later. Shortly afterwards the Equator-S magnetometer observed a typical bipolar FTE signature in the magnetic field component normal to the magnetopause, just inside the magnetosphere. Almost simultaneously the CUTLASS Finland radar observed a strong transient flow in the F region plasma between 78° and 83° magnetic latitude, near the ionospheric region predicted to map along geomagnetic field lines to the spacecraft. The flow signature (and the data set as a whole) is found to be fully consistent with the view that the FTE was formed by a burst of magnetopause reconnection.     

Variations in the polar cap area during intervals of substorm activity on 20–21 March 1990 deduced from AMIE convection patterns

The dynamic behaviour of the northern polar cap area is studied employing Northern Hemisphere electric potential patterns derived by the Assimilative Mapping of Ionospheric Electrodynamics (AMIE) procedure. The rate of change in area of the polar cap, which can be defined as the region of magnetospheric field lines open to the interplanetary magnetic field (IMF), has been calculated during two intervals when the IMF had an approximately constant southward component (1100- 2200 UT, 20 March 1990 and 1300–2100 UT, 21 March 1990). The estimates of the polar cap area are based on the approximation of the polar cap boundary by the flow reversal boundary. The change in the polar cap area is then compared to the predicted expansion rate based on a simple application of Faraday’s Law. Furthermore, timings of magnetospheric substorms are also related to changes in the polar cap area. Once the convection electric field reconfigures following a southward turning of the IMF, the growth rate of the observed polar cap boundary is consistent with that predicted by Faraday’s Law. A delay of typically 20 min to 50 min is observed between a substorm expansion phase onset and a reduction in the polar cap area. Such a delay is consistent with a synthesis between the near Earth neutral line and current disruption models of magnetospheric substorms in which the dipolarisation in the magnetotail may act as a trigger for reconnection. These delays may represent a propagation time between near geosynchronous orbit dipolarisation and subsequent reconnection further down tail. We estimate, from these delays, that the neutral X line occurs between \sim35R_E and \sim75R_E downstream in the tail.     

亚暴期间高纬黄昏-子夜扇区极光弧增亮与衰减及其与IMF的关系

利用南极中山站极光全天空摄相、地磁、地磁脉动数据和Wind卫星的行星际磁场IMF观测数据，分析了7个亚暴期间高纬黄昏-子夜扇区极光弧的短暂增亮现象.极光弧特征是，短暂增亮随后很快衰减，历时10-20min，基本沿着日-地方向，有明显黄昏方向运动.这些事件大都发生在IMFB_z南转之后，亚暴增长相或膨胀相期间，极光浪涌到达之前10-73min消失.相应的IMFB_x＞0，IMFB_y＜0.这种极光弧和亚暴极光不同，它们与地磁活动及Pi2脉动不相关.这7个极光弧的形态和IMF特征表明，极光弧的增亮很可能由尾瓣重联产生，很快衰减归因于IMFB_z南向条件，而黄昏方向运动受IMFB_y控制.     

Auroral glow equatorward from the auroral oval

On the basis of observations for the IGY period (visoplots) it is shown, that during magnetic storms diffuse glow is detected at all latitudes between the lowest latitude of the visually observed auroral glow at the zenith and the auroral oval. The diffuse glow region spatially coincides with the region of soft electron precipitation extending equatorward from the boundary of the oval to the latitude of the plasmopause projections along the magnetic force lines to the ionosphere. Using published materials on the diffuse glow dynamics and SAR arcs at the Yakutsk meridian, as well as simultaneous measurements of the DMSP F9 satellite, we discuss the contribution from low-energy electron precipitation transfered via convection toward Earth from the magnetosphere’s plasma sheet to excitation of 630.0 nm emission in low-intensity (<1.0 kR) SAR arcs.