Theoretical developments on the causes of ionospheric outflow

It is now well known that there is a substantial outflow of ionospheric plasma from the terrestrial ionosphere at high latitudes. The outflow consists of light thermal ions (H⁺, He⁺) as well as both light and heavy energized ions (H⁺, He⁺, O⁺, N⁺, NO⁺, O₂⁺, N₂⁺). The thermal ion outflows tend to be associated with the classical polar wind, while the energized ions are probably associated with either auroral energization processes or nonclassical polar wind processes. Part of the problem with identifying the exact cause of a given outflow relates to the fact that the ionosphere continuously convects into and out of the various high-latitude regions (sunlight, cusp, polar cap, nocturnal oval) and the time-constant for outflow is comparable to the convection time. Therefore, it is difficult to separate and quantify the possible outflow mechanisms. Some of these mechanisms are as follows. In sunlit regions, the photoelectrons can heat the thermal electrons and the elevated electron temperature acts to increase the polar wind outflow rate. At high altitudes, the escaping photoelectrons can also accelerate the polar wind as they drag the thermal ions with them. In the cusp and auroral oval, the precipitating magnetospheric electrons can heat the thermal electrons in a manner similar to the photoelectrons. Also, energized ions, in the form of beams and conics, can be created in association with field-aligned auroral currents and potential structures. The cusp ion beams and conics that have been convected into the polar cap can destabilize the polar wind when they pass through it at high altitudes, thereby transferring energy to the thermal ions. Additional energization mechanisms in the polar cap include Joule heating, hot magnetospheric electrons and ions, electromagnetic wave turbulence, and centrifugal acceleration.Some of these causes of ionospheric outflow will be briefly reviewed, with the emphasis on the recent simulations of polar wind dynamics in convecting flux tubes of plasma.     

Time-dependent simulations of the global polar wind

It has been clearly established that there is a substantial outflow of ionospheric plasma from the Earth's ionosphere in both the northern and southern polar regions. The outflow consists of both light thermal ions (H⁺ and He⁺) and an array of energized ions (NO⁺, O₂⁺, N₂⁺, O⁺, N⁺, He⁺, and H⁺). If the outflow is driven by thermal pressure gradients in the ionosphere, the outflow is called the “classical” polar wind. On the other hand, if the outflow is driven by energization processes either in the auroral oval or at high altitudes in the polar cap, the outflow is called the “generalized” polar wind. In both cases, the field-aligned outflow occurs in conjunction with magnetospheric convection, which causes the plasma to drift into and out of the sunlit hemisphere, cusp, polar cap, nocturnal auroral oval, and main trough. Because the field-aligned and horizontal motion are both important, three-dimensional (3-D) time-dependent models of the ionosphere–polar wind system are needed to properly describe the flow. Also, as the plasma executes field-aligned and horizontal motion, charge exchange reactions of H⁺ and O⁺ with the background neutrals (H and O) act to produce low-energy neutrals that flow in all directions (the neutral polar wind). This review presents recent simulations of the “global” ionosphere–polar wind system, including the classical, generalized, and neutral polar winds. The emphasis is on displaying the 3-D and dynamical character of the polar wind.     

Localized structure in the cusp and high-latitude ionosphere: a modelling study

The ionospheric signature of a flux transfer event (FTE) seen in EISCAT radar data has been used as the basis for a modelling study using a new numerical model of the high-latitude ionosphere developed at the University of Sheffield, UK. The evolution of structure in the high-latitude ionosphere is investigated and examined with respect to the current views of polar patch formation and development. A localized velocity enhancement, of the type associated with FTEs, is added to the plasma as it passes through the cusp. This is found to produce a region of greatly enhanced ion temperature. The new model can provide greater detail during this event as it includes anisotropic temperature calculations for the O⁺ ions. This illustrates the uneven partitioning of the energy during an event of this type. O⁺ ion temperatures are found to become increasingly anisotropic, with the perpendicular temperature being substantially larger than the parallel component during the velocity enhancement. The enhanced temperatures lead to an increase in the recombination rate, which results in an alteration of the ion concentrations. A region of decreased O⁺ and increased molecular ion concentration develops in the cusp. The electron temperature is less enhanced than the ions. As the new model has an upper boundary of 10 000 km the topside can also be studied in great detail. Large upward fluxes are seen to transport plasma to higher altitudes, contributing to the alteration of the ion densities. Plasma is stored in the topside ionosphere and released several hours after the FTE has finished as the flux tube convects across the polar cap. This mechanism illustrates how concentration patches can be created on the dayside and be maintained into the nightside polar cap.     

Energetic neutral atom imaging at low (≤10 keV) energies from Astrid: observations and simulations

Intense (10⁶ cm⁻² sr⁻¹ s⁻¹) fluxes of upflowing ENAs from the polar cap have been observed in the energy range 0.1–13 keV (hydrogen assumed) from the Astrid satellite at 1000 km altitude. If a source altitude of 400 km is assumed, the ENA emissions come from an arc-like region at magnetic latitudes 70–85° extending from dusk over to the nightside. Simulated images show that the observed emissions may be the ENA-albedo effect of the auroral ion precipitation. It is also possible that the observed emissions may originate from upward accelerated ions with cone-like pitch-angle distributions charge exchanging with the upper atmosphere.     

Pulsating of the generalized ion and neutral polar winds

A three-dimensional, time-dependent model of the ion and neutral polar winds was used to study their dynamic evolution during the May 4, 1998 magnetic storm. The simulation tracked the dynamics of five species (O⁺, H⁺, H_s, O_s, and electrons) and covered a 9-h period. During the storm, D_st decreased to −210 nT, Ap reached 300, and K_p was elevated. The IMF B_z component was southward at the start of the storm and for several hours thereafter and then turned northward. However, the magnetospheric energy input to the ionosphere exhibited a 50-min oscillation, with the plasma convection and particle precipitation patterns expanding and contracting in a periodic manner. As a consequence, the ion and neutral polar winds pulsated with an approximate 50-min period. The H⁺ and O⁺ ions displayed cyclic upflows and downflows in the topside ionosphere as well as a highly structured spatial distribution that varied with time. The vertical flux of the neutral H_s atoms was upward at the top of the ionosphere, but the magnitude varied in a cyclic manner in response to the oscillating stormtime energy input. The vertical flux of neutral O_s atoms was downward at the top of the ionosphere and varied significantly with the stormtime energy input. For H⁺, O⁺, and H_s, the maximum total (integrated) vertical flux during the storm was upward at the top of the ionosphere, with values of 8–9×10²⁵ particles/s for H⁺, 2–4×10²⁶ particles/s for O⁺, and 2–3×10²⁷ particles/s for H_s. The corresponding total vertical O_s flux was predominately downward, with only localized areas with positive fluxes.     

Polar cap particle precipitation and aurora: Review and commentary

Polar rain has a beautiful set of symmetry properties, individually established, but not previously discussed collectively, which can be organized by a single unifying principle. The key polar rain properties are favored hemisphere (controlled by the interplanetary magnetic field B_x), dawn/dusk gradient (IMF B_y), merging rate (IMF B_z or more generally dΦ_MP/dt), nightside/dayside gradient, and seasonal effect. We argue that all five properties involve variants on a single theme: the further downstream a field line exits the magnetosphere (or less directly points toward the solar wind electron heat flux), the weaker the polar rain. This effect is the result of the requirements of charge quasi-neutrality, and because the ion thermal velocity declines and the tailward ion bulk flow velocity rises moving down tail from the frontside magnetopause.Polar cap arcs (or more properly, high-latitude sun-aligned arcs) are largely complementary to the polar rain, occurring most frequently when the dayside merging rate is low, and thus when polar rain is weak. Sun-aligned arcs are often considered as originating either in the polar rain or the expansion of the plasma sheet into the polar cap. In fact three quite distinct types of sun-aligned high-latitude arcs exist, two common, and one rare. One type of arc occurs as intensifications of the polar rain, and is common, but weak, typically <0.1 ergs/cm² s, and lacks associated ion precipitation. A second category of Sun-aligned arcs with energy flux >0.1 ergs/cm² s usually occurs adjacent to the auroral oval, and includes ion precipitation. The plasma regime of these common, and at times intense, arcs is often distinct from the oval which they abut. Convection alone does not specify the open/closed nature of these arcs, because multiple narrow convection reversals are common around such arcs, and the arcs themselves can be embedded within flows that are either sunward or anti-sunward. These observational facts do not neatly fit into either a plasma sheet origin or a polar rain origin (e.g., the necessity to abut the auroral oval, and the presence of ions does not fit the properties of polar rain, which can in any event be nearly absent for northward interplanetary magnetic field). One theory is that such arcs are associated with merging tailward of the cusp. Both of these common types of sun-aligned arcs fade within about 30 min of a southward IMF turning.The third, and rarest, category of sun-aligned arcs are intense, well detached from the auroral oval, contain plasma sheet origin ion precipitation as well as electrons, and persist for hours after a southward turning. These intense detached sun-aligned arcs can rapidly cross the polar cap, sometimes multiple times. Most events discussed in the literature as “theta-aurora” do not fit into this category (for example, although they may appear detached in images, they abut the oval in particle data, and do not have the persistence of detached events under southward IMF turnings). It is possible that no single theory can account for all three types of sun-aligned arcs.Solar energetic particle (SEP) events are at times used to demarcate polar cap open/closed boundaries. Although this works at times, examples exist where this method fails (e.g., very quiet conditions for which SEP reaches below L=4), and the method should be used with caution. Finally, it is shown that, although it is rare, the polar cap can at times completely close.     

Multiple Flux Rope Events at the High-Latitude Magnetopause: Cluster/Rapid Observation on 26 January, 2001

Cluster measurements of the cusp and high latitude magnetopause boundary on 26 January, 2001 confirm that the cusp is a dynamic region full of energetic charged particles and turbulence. An energetic ion layer at high-latitudes beyond and adjacent to the duskside magnetopause exists when the Interplanetary Magnetic Field (IMF) has a southward orientation. Multiple energetic ion flux bursts were observed in the energetic ion layer. Each energetic ion flux burst was closely related to a magnetic flux rope. The axes of the flux ropes lie in the direction pointing duskward/tailward and somewhat upward. An intense axis-aligned current flows inside the ropes, with the current density reaching ∼10⁻⁸ A/m². The main components of the energetic ions are protons, helium and CNO ions, which originate from the magnetosphere, flowing out into the magnetosheath along the axis of the flux ropes. The velocity of the magnetosheath thermal plasma relative to the deHoffman-Teller (DHT) frame is found to be basically along the axis of the flux ropes also, but towards the magnetosphere. These flux ropes seem to be produced somewhere away via magnetic reconnection and move at similar DHT velocities passing over the spacecraft. These observations further confirm that the high-latitude magnetopause boundary region plays an important role in the solar wind-magnetopause coupling.     

Diurnal and seasonal occurrence of polar patches

Analysis of the diurnal and seasonal variation of polar patches, as identified in two years of HF-radar data from Halley, Antarctica during a period near sunspot maximum, shows that there is a broad maximum in occurrence centred about magnetic noon, not local noon. There are minima in occurrence near midsummer and midwinter, with maxima in occurrence between equinox and winter. There are no significant correlations between the occurrence of polar patches and the corresponding hourly averages of the solar wind and IMF parameters, except that patches usually occur when the interplanetary magnetic field has a southward component. The results can be understood in terms of UT and seasonal differences in the plasma concentration being convected from the dayside ionosphere into the polar cap. In summer and winter the electron concentrations in the polar cap are high and low, respectively, but relatively unstructured. About equinox, a tongue of enhanced ionisation is convected into the polar cap; this tongue is then structured by the effects of the interplanetary magnetic field, but these Halley data cannot be used to separate the various competing mechanisms for patch formation. The observed diurnal and seasonal variation in the occurrence of polar patches are largely consistent with predictions of Sojka et al. (1994) when their results are translated into the southern hemisphere. However, the ionospheric effects of flux transfer events are still considered essential in their formation, a feature not yet included in the Sojka et al. model.     

Influence of the solar wind plasma density on the auroral precipitation characteristics

Based on the DMSP F6 and F7 satellite observations, the characteristics of precipitating particles in different auroral precipitation regions of the dayside sector have been studied depending on the solar wind plasma density. Under quiet geomagnetic conditions (|AL| < 100 nT and B _z > 0), a considerable increase in the fluxes of precipitating ions is observed in the zones of structured auroral oval precipitation (AOP) and soft diffuse precipitation (SDP). A decrease in the mean energy of precipitating ions is observed simultaneously with the flux growth in these regions. The global pattern of variations in the fluxes of precipitating ions, which shows the regions of effective penetration of solar wind particles into the magnetosphere at a change in the solar wind density from 2 to 20 cm^?3, has been constructed. The maximal flux variation (ΔJ _i = 1.8 · 10⁷ cm^?2 s^?1, i.e., 3.5% of an increase in the solar wind particle flux) is observed in the SDP region on the dayside of the Earth. The dependence of precipitating ion fluxes in the low-latitude boundary layer (LLBL), dayside polar cusp, and mantle on the solar wind density at positive and negative values of the IMF B _z component has been studied. In the cusp region, an increase in the precipitating ion flux is approximately 17% of an increase in the solar wind density. The IMF southward turning does not result in an appreciable increase in the ion precipitation fluxes either in the cusp or in the mantle. This fact can indicate that the reconnection of the geomagnetic field with southward IMF is not the most effective mechanism for penetration of solar wind particles into these regions.     

Combined ESR and EISCAT observations of the dayside polar cap and auroral oval during the May 15, 1997 storm

The high-latitude ionospheric response to a major magnetic storm on May 15, 1997 is studied and different responses in the polar cap and the auroral oval are highlighted. Depletion of the F₂ region electron density occurred in both the polar cap and the auroral zone, but due to different physical processes. The increased recombination rate of O⁺ ions caused by a strong electric field played a crucial role in the auroral zone. The transport effect, however, especially the strong upward ion flow was also of great importance in the dayside polar cap. During the main phase and the beginning of the recovery phase soft particle precipitation in the polar cap showed a clear relation to the dynamic pressure of the solar wind, with a maximum cross-correlation coefficient of 0.63 at a time lag of 5 min.     

Stationary magnetospheric convection on November 24, 1981. 2.Small-scale structures in the dayside cusp/cleft

A case study of the dayside cusp/cleft region during an interval of stationary magnetospheric convection (SMC) on November, 24, 1981 is presented, based on detailed measurements made by the AUREOL-3 satellite. Layered small-scale field-aligned current sheets, or loops, superimposed to a narrow V-shaped ion dispersion structure, were observed just equatorward from the region of the “cusp proper”. The equatorward sheet was accompanied by a very intense and short (less than 1 s) ion intensity spike at 100 eV. No major differences were noted of the characteristics of the LLBL, or “boundary cusp”, and plasma mantle precipitation during this SMC period from those typical of the cusp/cleft region for similar IMF conditions. Simultaneous NOAA-6 and NOAA-7 measurements described in Despirak et al. were used to estimate the average extent of the “cusp proper” (defined by dispersed precipitating ions with the energy flux exceeding 10⁻³ erg cm⁻² s⁻¹) during the SMC period, as ≈0.73∼ ILAT width, 2.6–3.4 h in MLT, and thus the recently merged magnetic flux, 0.54–0.70 × 10⁷ Wb. This, together with the average drift velocity across the cusp at the convection throat, ≈0.5 km s⁻¹, allowed to evaluate the cusp merging contribution to the total cross-polar cap potential difference, ≈33.8–43.8 kV. It amounts to a quite significant part of the total cross-polar cap potential difference evaluated from other data. A “shutter” scenario is suggested for the ion beam injection/penetration through the stagnant plasma region in the outer cusp to explain the pulsating nature of the particle injections in the low- and medium-altitude cusp region.     

Numerical modelling of the thermospheric and ionospheric effects of magnetospheric processes in the cusp region

The thermospheric and ionospheric effects of the precipitating electron flux and field-aligned-current variations in the cusp have been modelled by the use of a new version of the global numerical model of the Earths upper atmosphere developed for studies of polar phenomena. The responses of the electron concentration, ion, electron and neutral temperature, thermospheric wind velocity and electric-field potential to the variations of the precipitating 0.23-keV electron flux intensity and field-aligned current density in the cusp have been calculated by solving the corresponding continuity, momentum and heat balance equations. Features of the atmospheric gravity wave generation and propagation from the cusp region after the electron precipitation and field-aligned current-density increases have been found for the cases of the motionless and moving cusp region. The magnitudes of the disturbances are noticeably larger in the case of the moving region of the precipitation. The thermospheric disturbances are generated mainly by the thermospheric heating due to the soft electron precipitation and propagate to lower latitudes as large-scale atmospheric gravity waves with the mean horizontal velocity of about 690 ms^–1. They reveal appreciable magnitudes at significant distances from the cusp region. The meridional-wind-velocity disturbance at 65° geomagnetic latitude is of the same order (100 ms^–1) as the background wind due to the solar heating, but is oppositely directed. The ionospheric disturbances have appreciable magnitudes at the geomagnetic latitudes 70°–85°. The electron-concentration and -temperature disturbances are caused mainly by the ionization and heating processes due to the precipitation, whereas the ion-temperature disturbances are influence strongly by Joule heating of the ion gas due to the electric-field disturbances in the cusp. The latter strongly influence the zonal- and meridional-wind disturbances as well via the effects of ion drag in the cusp region. The results obtained are of interest because of the location of the     

Global aspects of solar wind–ionosphere interactions

Recent observations have quantified the auroral wind O⁺ outflow in response to magnetospheric inputs to the ionosphere, notably Poynting energy flux and precipitating electron density. For moderate to high activity periods, ionospheric O⁺ is observed to become a significant or dominant component of plasma pressure in the inner plasma sheet and ring current regions. Using a global circulation model of magnetospheric fields and its imposed ionospheric boundary conditions, we evaluate the global ionospheric plasma response to local magnetospheric conditions imposed by the simulation and evaluate magnetospheric circulation of solar wind H⁺, polar wind H⁺, and auroral wind O⁺. We launch and track the motions of millions of test particles in the global fields, launched at randomly distributed positions and times. Each particle is launched with a flux weighting and perpendicular and parallel energies randomly selected from defined thermal ranges appropriate to the launch point. One sequence is driven by a two-hour period of southward interplanetary magnetic field for average solar wind intensity. A second is driven by a 2-h period of enhanced solar wind dynamic pressure for average interplanetary field. We find that the simulated ionospheric O⁺ becomes a significant plasma pressure component in the inner plasma sheet and outer ring current region, particularly when the solar wind is intense or its magnetic field is southward directed. We infer that the reported empirical scalings of auroral wind O⁺ outflows are consistent with a substantial pressure contribution to the inner plasma sheet and plasma source surrounding the ring current. This result violates the common assumption that the ionospheric load is entirely confined to the F layer, and shows that the ionosphere is often an important dynamic element throughout the magnetosphere during moderate to large solar wind disturbances.     

Origin of energetic ions in the polar cusp inferred from ion composition measurements by the Viking satellite

The magnetospheric ion composition spectrometer MICS on the Swedish Viking satellite provided measurements of the ion composition in the energy range 10.1 keV/e\leqE/Q\leq326.0 keV/e. Data obtained during orbit 842 were used to investigate the ion distribution in the northern polar cusp and its vicinity. The satellite traversed the outer ring current, boundary region, cusp proper and plasma mantle during its poleward movement. H⁺ and He⁺⁺ ions were encountered in all of these regions. He⁺ ions were present only in the ring current. The number of O⁺ and O⁺⁺ ions was very small. Heavy high-charge state ions typical for the solar wind were observed for the first time, most of them in the poleward part of the boundary region and in the cusp proper. The H⁺ ions exhibited two periods with high intensities. One of them, called the BR/CP event, appeared at energies up to 50 keV. It started at the equatorward limit of the boundary region and continued into the cusp proper. Energy spectra indicate a ring current origin for the BR/CP event. Pitch angle distributions show downward streaming of H⁺ ions at its equatorward limit and upward streaming on the poleward side. This event is interpreted as the result of pitch angle scattering of ring current ions by fluctuations in the magnetopause current layer in combination with poleward convection. The other of the two periods with high H⁺ ion intensities, called the accelerated ion event, was superimposed on the BR/CP event. It was restricted to energies \leq15 keV and occurred in the poleward part of the boundary region. This event is regarded as the high-energy tail of magnetosheath ions that were accelerated while penetrating into the magnetosphere. The cusp region thus contains ions of magnetospheric as well as of magnetosheath origin. The appearance of the ions depends, in addition to the ion source, on the magnetic field configuration and dynamic processes inside and close to the cusp.     

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.     

Polar cap response to the solar wind density jump under constant southward IMF

Sharp changes of the solar wind parameters determining the dynamic pressure jump lead to strong magnetosphere-ionosphere disturbances. Here the effect on the Earth’s ionospheric high latitudes of the solar wind dynamic pressure pulse caused only by the increase of the interplanetary plasma density under southward constant IMF is considered. We investigate reaction of the cross-polar cap potential on the increase of AL index and/or jump of the solar wind density. It is found that for the case of 10 January 1997 the main contribution to the polar cap potential drop increase gave the growth of AL index relative to the input of the solar wind density jump. We also study the influence of the solar wind density increase on the crosspolar cap potential for the quiet magnetospheric conditions. It occurred that the polar cap potential difference decreases with the great increase of the interplanetary plasma density. For the disturbed magnetosphere the main role in the polar cap potential drop increase plays increase of AL. Thus, we found the change of the cross-polar cap potential due to the AL index variations and/or the solar wind density drop even in a case when the interplanetary electric field is constant.     

对流输运在TOI断裂形成等离子体云块中的作用研究

极盖等离子体云块是极区电离层常见特征之一,其形成演化过程是当前重要研究课题.光电离高密度等离子体在对流输送作用下从日侧穿过极隙,通过极盖到达夜侧,已成为共识.日侧磁场重联作用下的极区对流输运过程,在舌状等离子体结构（TOI）"断裂"形成极盖等离子体云块中发挥重要作用.利用极区全域GPS/TEC观测数据,结合SuperDARN雷达实测的对流速度,对等离子体云块形成过程进行案例研究,重点分析两种TOI断裂形成等离子体云块的发生机制.研究结果显示,等离子体对流输运过程在TOI断裂形成等离子体云块过程中发挥关键性作用,对流形态或局部对流速度矢量急剧变化都可能导致TOI结构不稳定,使TOI结构断裂形成等离子体云块.     

The adequacy of the ionospheric source in supplying magnetospheric plasma

More than 30 years after the prediction of the polar wind outflow from the high latitude ionosphere, the exact magnitude and ultimate fate of the ionospheric plasma supply remains unknown. Estimates made more than a decade ago suggested that the polar ion outflow might well be of sufficient strength to populate the different regions of the Earth’s magnetosphere. Direct measurements in the high altitude magnetosphere became possible only with the launch of the Polar spacecraft. The combination of the Thermal Ion Dynamics Experiment and the Plasma Source Instrument has revealed the presence of low energy (<10 eV) ions moving through the polar regions and into the lobes of the magnetotail. These ions would have been invisible to previous un-neutralized satellites because of the high positive spacecraft potentials. Through the use of a recently developed single particle trajectory and energization code, the movement and energy transformation of these measured particles can be estimated. They are found to move into the plasma sheet region and to be energized to typical plasma sheet energies. The magnitude of the flux of the highly variable out-flowing ions mapped to 1000 km altitude is 1 − 3 × 10⁸ ions/cm² s in agreement with the original estimates. Future observations by the TIDE/PSI instruments will be required to determine the extent of the total ionospheric contribution.     

磁暴期间极光椭圆与极盖区电离层效应比较研究——F区负暴

联合利用EISCAT和E-Svalbard非相干散射雷达数据,研究l997年5月强磁暴期间向阳侧极盖与极光椭圆区电离层F区负暴.发现在磁暴主相和恢复相初期,极光椭圆和极盖区电离层都在大约l90km高度出现类似F1的峰,F2主峰完全消失,F区电子密度大幅度下降.但离子温度的变化在两个区域很不相同,在极光椭圆区大幅度升高,而在极盖区没有显著变化,反映出引起F区负暴的主要机制在两个区域不尽相同.强对流电场引起大气焦耳加热与离子增温而使O+离子消失的化学反应速率增大所导致的电离损失,对极光椭圆区负暴起主要作用;而输运过程,特别是持续长达数小时的沿场上行离子流,对极盖区负暴起重要作用.磁暴主相期间,当EISCAT雷达位于等离子体对流涡旋转换区下方时,在无焦耳加热与离子摩擦增温的情况下,观测到由顶部电离层O+离子沿场高速外流引起的F区电子密度耗空.     

The thermospheric effects of a rapid polar cap expansion

In a previous publication we used results from a coupled thermosphere-ionosphere-plasmasphere model to illustrate a new mechanism for the formation of a large-scale patch of ionisation arising from a rapid polar cap expansion. Here we describe the thermospheric response to that polar cap expansion, and to the ionospheric structure produced. The response is dominated by the energy and momentum input at the dayside throat during the expansion phase itself. These inputs give rise to a large-scale travelling atmospheric disturbance (TAD) that propagates both antisunward across the polar cap and equatorward at speeds much greater than both the ion drifts and the neutral winds. We concentrate only on the initially poleward travelling disturbance. The disturbance is manifested in the neutral temperature and wind fields, the height of the pressure level surfaces and in the neutral density at fixed heights. The thermospheric effects caused by the ionospheric structure produced during the expansion are hard to discern due to the dominating effects of the TAD.