Properties and origin of energetic particles at the duskside of the Earth’s magnetosheath throughout a great storm

We study an interval of 56 h on January 16 to 18, 1995, during which the GEOTAIL spacecraft traversed the duskside magnetosheath from X ≅ −15 to −40 R_E and the EPIC/ICS and EPIC/STICS sensors sporadically detected tens of energetic particle bursts. This interval coincides with the expansion and growth of a great geomagnetic storm. The flux bursts are strongly dependent on the magnetic field orientation. They switch on whenever the B_z component approaches zero (B_z ≅ 0 nT). We strongly suggest a magnetospheric origin for the energetic ions and electrons streaming along these “exodus channels”. The time profiles for energetic protons and “tracer” O⁺ ions are nearly identical, which suggests a common source. We suggest that the particles leak out of the magnetosphere all the time and that when the magnetosheath magnetic field connects the spacecraft to the magnetotail, they stream away to be observed by the GEOTAIL sensors. The energetic electron fluxes are not observed as commonly as the ions, indicating that their source is more limited in extent. In one case study the magnetosheath magnetic field lines are draped around the magnetopause within the YZ plane and a dispersed structure for peak fluxes of different species is detected and interpreted as evidence for energetic electrons leaking out from the dawn LLBL and then being channelled along the draped magnetic field lines over the magnetopause. Protons leak from the equatorial dusk LLBL and this spatial differentiation between electron and proton sources results in the observed dispersion. A gradient of energetic proton intensities toward the Z_GSM= 0 plane is inferred. There is a permanent layer of energetic particles adjacent to the magnetosheath during this interval in which the dominant component of the magnetic field was B_z.     

Impact of Ponderomotive Forces on the Earth’s Magnetosphere

The theory of plasma density redistribution and polar wind acceleration acceleration under the affect on the magnetosphere of the ponderomotive forces induced by the ultra-low frequency electromagnetic waves is presented. Our attention is focused mainly on the important question about the necessity of experimental verification of fairly certain theoretical predictions. It is pointed out that experimental validation is not only necessary for the development of the theory but also for replenishing the knowledge about the structure and dynamics of the near-Earth space. An original method for indirect verification is presented. The idea of this method is based on the dependence of the foreshock locations on the orientation of the field lines of the interplanetary magnetic field (IMF) in front of the magnetosphere relative to the plane of the geomagnetic equator.     

Impact of solar wind tangential discontinuities on the Earth’s magnetosphere

The collision of a solar wind tangential discontinuity with the bow shock and magnetopause is considered in the scope of an MHD approximation. Using MHD methods of trial calculations and generalized shock polars, it has been indicated that a fast shock refracted into the magnetosheath originates when density increases across a tangential discontinuity and a fast rarefaction wave is generated when density decreases at this discontinuity. It has been indicated that a shock front shift under the action of collisions with a tangential discontinuity is experimentally observed and a fast bow shock can be transformed into a slow shock. Using a specific event as an example, it has been demonstrated that solar wind tangential discontinuity affects the geomagnetic field behavior.     

Ranges of AGW propagation in the Earth’s atmosphere

The propagation of atmospheric gravity waves (AGWs) is studied in the context of geometrical optics in the nonisothermal, viscous, and thermal-conductive atmosphere of Earth in the presence of wind shifts. Parametric diagrams are plotted, determining the regions of allowed frequencies and horizontal phase velocities of AGWs depending on the altitude. It is shown that a part of the spectrum of AGWs propagates in stationary air in an altitude range from the Earth’s surface through the ionospheric F1 layer. AGW from nearearth sources attenuate below 250 km, while waves generated at altitudes of about 300 km and higher do not reach the Earth’s surface because of the inner reflection from the thermosphere base. The pattern changes under strong thermospheric winds. AGW dissipation decreases with an adverse wind shift and, hence, a part of the wave spectrum penetrated from the lower atmosphere to the altitudes of F2 layer.     

Model of muon generation in the Earth’s atmosphere

The muon fluxes on the Earth’s surface and at depths of 7, 20, and 40 m of water equivalent are calculated based on a simple model of pion generation by primary particles with different energies. This generation model is based on the known concepts of multiple pion production. The model parameters are compared with the data obtained using accelerating machines.     

Influence of solar activity on variations in the density of the Earth’s upper atmosphere

This article studies long-period variations in the Earth’s upper atmosphere density over several solar activity cycles, using long-term data on the evolution of motion of three artificial satellites (Intercosmos-19, Meteor-1-2, and Cosmos-1154) in orbits at heights of 400–1000 km. The time interval when the satellites were in the orbits covered three solar activity cycles (partly the 21st, completely the 22nd, and partly the 23rd). It is found that the variations in the average density of the upper atmosphere at heights of 400–600 km in the 1980–2000 period were governed by the changes in the solar activity level.     

New approach to the construction of the Earth’s upper atmosphere model using the satellite local data on the atmosphere

The present-day models of the Earth’s upper atmosphere make it possible to construct the spatial-temporal pattern of variations in the atmospheric parameters on the planetary scale in essence in the averaged form. The set of data on the satellite deceleration in the atmosphere, probe measurements aboard geophysical rockets, and radiowave incoherent scatter measurements in the Earth’s atmosphere are used to construct these standard models. The current level of the space studies makes it possible to use a new method to study the Earth’s upper atmosphere: to study the upper atmosphere by measuring the absorption of the solar XUV radiation by the Earth’s atmosphere during the solar disk observations.     

Impact of interplanetary shock on parameters of plasma turbulence in the Earth’s magnetosheath

Data from the BMSW spectrometer, which measures the ion flux value and sometimes plasma parameters with a time resolution of 31 ms, allow the study of the parameters of turbulence of the solar wind and magnetosheath plasma on kinetic scales. In this work, the frequency spectra of the ion flux fluctuations before and after recording the interplanetary shock front in the Earth’s magnetosheath are compared based on these data. It is shown that, in contrast to the solar wind, where the exponential decay of the spectrum often occurs after the shock front on the kinetic scales, no such phenomenon is observed in the magnetosheath: the spectrum on these scales can be approximated by a power function in all the cases considered. In half of these cases, the spectrum slope on the kinetic scales does not change during the interplanetary shock propagation. The results indicate a weak impact of interplanetary shock waves on the parameters of the plasma turbulence. In addition, it is shown that an interplanetary shock does not change the level of intermittency of the ion flux in the magnetosheath at both low and high level before the front.     

Reflectionless acoustic gravity waves in the Earth’s atmosphere

The vertical wave propagation in an inhomogeneous compressible atmosphere is studied in the framework of a linear theory. Under specific conditions imposed on atmospheric parameters, solutions can be found in the form of travelling waves with variable amplitudes and wave numbers that do not reflect in the atmosphere in spite of its strong inhomogeneity. Model representations for the sound speed have been found, for which waves can propagate in the atmosphere without reflection. A wave energy flux retains these reflectionless profiles, which confirms that energy can be transferred to high altitudes. The number of these model representations is fairly large, which makes it possible to approximate real vertical distributions of the sound speed in the Earth??s atmosphere using piecewise reflectionless profiles. The Earth??s standard atmosphere is shown to be well approximated by four reflectionless profiles with weak jumps in the sound speed gradient. It has been established that the Earth??s standard atmosphere is almost completely transparent for the considered vertical acoustic waves in a wide range of frequencies, which is confirmed by observational data and conclusions derived using numerical solutions of original equations.     

Towards a More Realistic Depiction of the Earth’s Surface on Maps

In 2000, the shuttle radar topography mission (SRTM) produced the most complete, highest resolution digital elevation model (DEM) of the Earth. These data were used to create global 3″ DEM and to correct 30″ DEM which are both available on the internet. After a careful survey in the Institute of Geodesy and Cartography, Poland, these elevation data were recognized as extremely valuable and worth developing a unique form of visualization. As a result, a new design of a physical map of Europe at scale of 1:10 million was developed. For depicting the shape of the terrain, an original modification of combined shaded relief was employed, to reveal all the nuances of elevation data. True colors of the Earth’s surface represented on the map originated from MODIS satellite image. The combination of true colors and terrain features made a realistic map, showing the landscapes as if from a point above the Earth. The image of the terrain is extremely detailed as it is based on the abundance of data defining the elevation of each point of land.     

Interdependent perturbations of the Earth’s surface, atmosphere, and ionosphere

The results of original experiments performed with a ground-based geophysical laser interferometer and a GPS-based satellite ionospheric profilometer are given. Synchronous growth was recorded for deformations of the Earth’s surface and variations in the atmospheric pressure and in the level of spatiotemporal modifications of the electron content within the ionospheric F2 layer with characteristic space scales of 10²–10³ km and periods of 10²–10³ s. The relationship between the revealed phenomena and the Earth’s seismic activity is analyzed.     

Penetration of the Earth’s free oscillations at 54 minute period into the atmosphere

It is known that the fundamental spheroidal mode ₀S₂ of the Earth free oscillation with a period of about 54 min forces atmospheric oscillations. We present a certain phase relationship for components of the ₀S₂ multiplet, which is based on synchronous collocated microbarograph and seismograph observations. This relationship is both the first observational manifestation of the Pekeris mode of global atmospheric oscillations with the 54 min period and a further proof of the Earths ₀S₂ mode penetrating into the atmosphere. We show that the linear non-dissipative model of steady forced oscillations in isothermal atmosphere at rest does not describe the penetration of the ₀S₂ mode into the atmosphere adequately.     

Comments on “Core Eigenmodes and Their Impact on the Earth’s Rotation”

Surveys in Geophysics -     

Influence of Total Solar Irradiance on the Earth’s Climate

Geomagnetism and Aeronomy - The results of analysis of variations in the total solar irradiance in the 17–24th solar activity cycles and their relation to the climate global warming are...     

Dynamic variation and the fast acceleration of particles in Earth’s radiation belt

We have quantitatively investigated the radiation belt’s dynamic variations of 1.5-6.0 MeV electrons during 54 CME (coronal mass ejection)-driven storms from 1993 to 2003 and 26 CIR (corotating interaction region)-driven recurrent storms in 1995 by utilizing case and statistical studies based on the data from the SAMPEX satellite. It is found that the boundaries determined by fitting an exponential to the flux as a function of L shell obtained in this study agree with the observed outer and inner boundaries of the outer radiation belt. Furthermore, we have constructed the Radiation Belt Content (RBC) index by integrating the number density of electrons between those inner and outer boundaries. According to the ratio of the maximum RBC index during the recovery phase to the pre-storm average RBC index, we conclude that CME-driven storms produce more relativistic electrons than CIR-driven storms in the entire outer radiation belt, although the relativistic electron fluxes during CIR-related storms are much higher than those during CME-related storms at geosynchronous orbit. The physical radiation belt model STEERB is based on the three-dimensional Fokker-Planck equation and includes the physical processes of local wave-particle interactions, radial diffusion, and adiabatic transport. Due to the limitation of numerical schemes, formal radiation belt models do not include the cross diffusion term of local wave-particle interactions. The numerical experiments of STEERB have shown that the energetic electron fluxes can be overestimated by a factor of 5 or even several orders (depending on the pitch angle) if the cross diffusion term is ignored. This implies that the cross diffusion term is indispensable for the evaluation of radiation belt electron fluxes. Formal radiation belt models often adopt dipole magnetic field; the time varying Hilmer-Voigt geomagnetic field was adopted by the STEERB model, which self-consistently included the adiabatic transport process. The test simulations clearly indicate that the adiabatic process can significantly affect the evolution of radiation belt electrons. The interactions between interplanetary shocks and magnetosphere can excite ULF waves in the inner magnetosphere; the excited polodial mode ULF wave can cause the fast acceleration of "killer electrons". The acceleration mechanism of energetic electrons by poloidal and toroidal mode ULF wave is different at different L shells. The acceleration of energetic electrons by the toroidal mode ULF waves becomes important in the region with a larger L shell (the outer magnetosphere); in smaller L shell regions (the inner magnetosphere), the poloidal mode ULF becomes responsible for the acceleration of energetic electrons.     

Formation of large-scale disturbances in the upper atmosphere caused by acoustic gravity wave sources on the Earth’s surface

The results of a model study of the acoustic gravity wave (AGW) propagation from the Earth’s surface to the upper atmospheric altitudes have been considered. Numerical calculations have been performed using a nonhydrostatic model of the atmosphere, which takes into account nonlinear and dissipative processes originating when waves propagate upward. The model source of atmospheric disturbances has been specified in an area localized on the Earth’s surface. The disturbance source frequency spectrum includes harmonics at frequencies of 0.5ωg-1.5ωg (ωg is the Brunt-Väisälä frequency near the Earth’s surface). The calculations indicated that AGW propagation and dissipation over the source result in the fact that the region of large-scale spatial disturbances of the upper atmosphere mean state is formed at ～200 km altitudes. This region substantially affects AGW propagation and results in waveguide propagation of AGWs with periods shorter than the Väisälä-Brunt period at the altitude of a disturbed atmosphere. The dissipation of AGWs propagating in such a waveguide results in a waveguide horizontal expansion. The extension of the disturbed region of the mean state of the upper atmosphere and, consequently, the waveguide length can reach ～1000 km, if the AGW ground source operates for ～1 h. The physical mechanism by which large-scale disturbances are formed in the upper atmosphere, based on the propagation and dissipation of AGWs with periods shorter than the Väisälä-Brunt period in the upper atmosphere, explains why these disturbances are rapidly generated and localized above AGW sources located on the Earth’s surface or in the lower atmosphere.     

Guiding MF waves from the Earth’s surface into space

The insufficiently known phenomenon of MF-wave propagation from the Earths surface through the magnetosphere (guiding) to the conjugate hemisphere and back to the transmitter has been experimentally studied. Computer modelling fulfilled on the basis of ray tracing showed that guiding was possible only from area of the main ionospheric trough. The effect of MF guiding is most useful for the diagnostics of the plasmapause, poleward edge of the trough, the diffuse precipitation boundary and so on.     

Method for Determining the Ultimate Strain for Rocks of the Earth’s Crust from the Magnitude of Relative Slips on the Earth’s Surface after a Strong Earthquake

The ultimate strain value for rocks in aggregate with their other physicomechanical characteristics plays a substantial role when solving different problems related to the bearing capacity and behavior of soils. These include determination of the maximum displacement, velocity, and acceleration values of soils during earthquakes and estimation of the potential strain energy accumulated in a medium during strong earthquake preparation. The latter parameter is also key in predicting earthquakes from the ultimate strain of rocks. The paper describes a technique developed by the author for determining the ultimate strain of soil columns under natural conditions from their relative slope on the surface after a strong earthquake. The empirical dependences of the ultimate strain of rocks on earthquake magnitude, relative slip, rupture length, and the seismic moment are obtained by analyzing their values calculated by the proposed method for 44 strong earthquakes with magnitudes of 5.6–8.5. A comparative analysis of the ultimate strain values obtained by other researchers by geodesic triangulation is performed.     

Sensitivity of the Earth’s middle atmosphere to short-term solar variability and its dependence on the choice of solar irradiance data set

We simulate the time evolution of the neutral and charged species in the terrestrial middle atmosphere using a 1-D radiative-convective model with interactive neutral and ion chemistry driven by four different sets of daily spectral solar irradiance (SSI) available in the literature for the year 2000. Obtained daily time series of ozone, hydroxyl and electron densities are used to calculate their sensitivity to the short-term SSI variability at 205 nm. All applied SSI data sets possess 27-day solar rotation cycle; however, its amplitude and phase as well as the correlation between considered SSI time series differ among data sets leading to the different behavior of the atmospheric response. Contrary, the ozone and hydroxyl sensitivities to the SSI changes during solar rotation cycle are almost identical for all applied SSI data sets in the stratosphere. In the mesosphere, the difference in correlation between SSI in Herzberg continuum and Lyman-α line in considered SSI data sets leads to substantial scatter of the sensitivity estimates based on 205 nm. Our results show that for the sensitivity analysis in the stratosphere based on the SSI at 205 nm any considered SSI data sets can be applied. For the mesosphere, where the sensitivity strongly varies among applied SSI data sets more robust results can be obtained using the sensitivity calculations based on the SSI in Lyman-α line.