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.     

The coherence between the IMF and high-latitude ionospheric flows: The dayside magnetosphere–ionosphere low-pass filter

This study seeks to establish a new system characteristic describing dayside convective flows in the coupled magnetosphere–ionosphere: the low-pass filter function through which interplanetary magnetic field (IMF) fluctuations are processed as they are communicated from the magnetopause to the high-latitude ionosphere near local noon. In doing so, this study confirms that variations in the ionospheric flows at high-latitudes near local noon are well correlated with variations in the IMF orientation and magnitude on short timescales. We construct the filter function by comparing time series of the ionospheric equivalent flows at a fixed location at magnetic local noon and 80° latitude with time series of the IMF. The coherence spectra of these two parameters—averaged over 330 h of comparison—indicate that there is a low-pass cutoff in the ionospheric response to IMF driving at a periods shorter than 20 min (frequencies higher than 0.8 mHz). When there is sufficient power in the IMF fluctuations, this cutoff is relatively sharp—the coherence drops by roughly a factor of three between the periods 32 and 21 min (0.5 and 0.8 mHz). The results also show that on average the coherence between the east–west component of the equivalent flows and IMF B_y tends to be less than the coherence between the north–south component of the equivalent flows and IMF B_z.     

一次行星际磁场南向突变的高纬电离层对流响应特征

本文利用北半球的超级双极光雷达网数据,考察了一次行星际磁场南向突变时高纬电离层对流的响应特征,着重分析了响应的时间尺度. 对所研究的事件,行星际磁场南北分量在1.5 min内从+7 nT突变到-8 nT,而在突变前后约40 min内都保持相对稳定. 结果表明,电离层对流的初始响应发生在磁正午附近,相对于行星际磁场突变到达磁层顶的时间有大约3 min的滞后;响应与磁地方时有明显依赖关系,离磁正午越远,响应的滞后时间越长,晨昏两侧的对流响应比磁正午滞后约6 min,磁午夜的对流响应比磁正午滞后约12 min;对流重新趋于稳定的时间与磁地方时没有明显的依赖关系,该时间尺度约为10～14 min.     

Earthquake responses in the high-latitude ionosphere

The data, obtained using the methods of partial reflections and ionosphere vertical sounding on the Kola Peninsula and in Scandinavia, at Tumannyi (69.0° N, 35.7° E) and Sodankyla (67.37°N, 26.63°E) observatories, have been analyzed in order to detect earthquake responses. The strong earthquakes have been considered: one earthquake with a magnitude of 7.7 occurred at 0819:25 UT on July 17, 2006, on the western coast of Indonesia (9.33° S, 107.26° E), and another earthquake with a magnitude of 6.2 occurred 2253:59 UT on May 26, 2006, on Yava (7.94° S, 110.32° E). These earthquakes, the epicenters of which were located in the same region and at identical depths (10 km), were observed under quiet conditions in the geomagnetic field (ΣK _p = 5.7 and 6.3) and during small solar flares. The response of the ionosphere to these flares was mainly observed in the parameters of the lower ionosphere in the D and E regions. It has been found out that the period of variations in the ordinary component of the partially reflected signal at altitudes of the E region increased before the earthquake that occurred on July 17, 2006. The f _min variations at Sodankyla observatory started 20 h before the earthquake. The periods of these variations were 3–6 h. The same periods were found in the variations in other ionospheric parameters (foEs and h’Es). The variations in the ordinary component of partially reflected signals with periods of 2–5 hours were observed on the day of another earthquake (May 26, 2006). Internal gravity waves with periods of several hours, which can be related to the earthquakes, were detected in the amplitude spectra of the ordinary component of partially reflected signals and in other parameters in the lower ionosphere.     

Excitation of ion-acoustic waves in the high-latitude ionosphere

The broadband electrostatic turbulence generally observed in the high-latitude ionosphere is a superposition of nonlocal waves of ion-acoustic and ion-cyclotron types. In the presence of a shear of ion parallel velocity, ion-acoustic modes can be induced by an instability emerging due to an inhomogeneous distribution of energy density. This paper is devoted to the studies of excitation of oblique ion-acoustic wave in background configurations with inhomogeneous profiles of both electric field and ion parallel velocity. A numerical algorithm has been developed, and instability was simulated at various parameters of background plasma. The general possibility of oblique ion-acoustic wave generation by a gradient of ion parallel velocity is shown. In this case, the wave spectrum is found to be broadband, which agrees with satellite observations.     

Generation of internal gravity vortices in the high-latitude ionosphere

It is shown that ionosphere heating by DC electric field leads to instability of acoustic-gravity waves and to the formation of solitary internal gravity vortex structures. These dipole type vortices with characteristic transverse size of the order of several kilometers are propagated in the lower ionosphere with subsonic velocity. The threshold values of the electric field needed to suppress the wave damping caused by the interaction of induced current with the geomagnetic field and to provide the vortex generation are found. The considered physical mechanism is applicable to the generation of internal gravity vortices and related ionospheric disturbances when the ionosphere is influenced by the electric field of seismic origin exceeding the threshold value.     

Imaging of structures in the high-latitude ionosphere: model comparisons

The tomographic reconstruction technique generates a two-dimensional latitude versus height electron density distribution from sets of slant total electron content measurements (TEC) along ray paths between beacon satellites and ground-based radio receivers. In this note, the technique is applied to TEC values obtained from data simulated by the Sheffield/UCL/SEL Coupled Thermosphere/Ionosphere/Model (CTIM). A comparison of the resulting reconstructed image with the input modelled data allows for verification of the reconstruction technique. All the features of the high-latitude ionosphere in the model data are reproduced well in the tomographic image. Reconstructed vertical TEC values follow closely the modelled values, with the F-layer maximum density (NmF2) agreeing generally within about 10%. The method has also been able successfully to reproduce underlying auroral-E ionisation over a restricted latitudinal range in part of the image. The height of the F2 peak is generally in agreement to within about the vertical image resolution (25 km).     

Topology of currents in the high-latitude magnetosphere and magnetospheric response to variations in solar wind parameters

We consider a number of new approaches that arise when the topology of currents in the high-latitude magnetosphere is investigated. We note that the high correlation between magnetospheric processes and solar wind parameters is a well-known feature of the magnetospheric dynamics. The proposed explanations of the observed dependences run into difficulties related to the high level of observed turbulence in the magnetosheath and inside the magnetosphere. The topology of the high-latitude magnetosphere in the transition region from dipole magnetic field lines to those extending into the tail is also poorly known. We consider the topology of transverse magnetospheric currents using satellite measurements of the plasma pressure distribution. The currents of the nearest plasma sheet are shown to be closed inside the magnetosphere. The generation of field-aligned currents in Iijima and Potemra region currents 1 and large-scale magnetospheric convection are discussed.     

The IMF structure effects in vernal and autumnal midlatitude ionosphere

au a u naam u a nu¶rt; 1963–1973 . naam, m aum mun ma m mm nam aum n (II) na¶rt;am m u a uu ¶rt; u u,¶rt; ua ma u¶rt;, u u¶rt;a ma mn muna. mu u m ¶rt;u mam nm nmum n¶rt;auma amu m m mm II u a¶rt; ¶rt; n.     

Nowcasting convection velocity in the high-latitude ionosphere using statistical models

The Weimer and IZMEM statistical convection models are driven with a time series of interplanetary magnetic field (IMF) measurements made onboard the Wind spacecraft. The model outputs are used to infer the ionospheric convection velocity at Casey, Antarctica (80.8°S geomagnetic latitude), and then compared with measurements of Doppler velocity made using a Digisonde, and measurements of F-region convection implied by a collocated magnetometer. During a single, representative campaign interval, 13–17 February 1996, the Weimer model explained 19% (42%) of the variation in Doppler speed (direction) observed by the Digisonde, and 21% (14%) of the equivalent convection components observed by the magnetometer. This compares with IZMEM which explained 16% (46%) of the variation in Doppler speed (direction) observed by the Digisonde, and 34% (32%) of the equivalent convection components observed by the magnetometer. In general, there was better agreement between convection direction than convection speed. Some of the disagreement was probably due to differences between the IMF measured by Wind located ∼170 R_E upstream in the solar wind and the IMF actually arriving at the magnetopause. However, the results of this study do show that measurements of ionospheric velocity using different experimental techniques need heavy averaging to identify a common component of velocity controlled by the IMF vector. The present time series approach was also used to estimate 16±5 min as the time required for the ionospheric convection to reconfigure in response to IMF changes occurring at the magnetopause.     

Multi-instrument probing of the polar ionosphere under steady northward IMF

Observations are presented of the polar ionosphere under steady, northward IMF. The measurements, made by six complementary experimental techniques, including radio tomography, all-sky and meridian scanning photometer optical imaging, incoherent and coherent scatter radars and satellite particle detection, reveal plasma parameters consistent with ionospheric signatures of lobe reconnection. The optical green-line footprint of the reconnection site is seen to lie in the sunward plasma convection of the lobe cells. Downstream in the region of softer precipitation the reverse energy dispersion of the incoming ions can be identified. A steep latitudinal density gradient at the equatorward edge of the precipitation identifies the general location of an adiaroic boundary, separating the open field lines of polar lobe cells from the closed field of viscous-driven cells. Enhancements in plasma density to the south of the gradient are interpreted as ionisation being reconfigured as it is thrust against the boundary by the antisunward flow of the viscous cells near noon. Each of the instruments individually provides valuable information on certain aspects of the ionosphere, but the paper demonstrates that taken together the different experiments complement each other to give a consistent and comprehensive picture of the dayside polar ionosphere.On sabbatical leave from Artic Geophysics, University Courses on Svalbard, N-9170 Longyearbyen, Norway     

Reaction of the high-latitude lower ionosphere to solar proton events from observations in the ELF range

The reaction of the lower ionosphere to the solar proton events that occurred in 2011–2012 is studied in this paper based on the results of measurements of the propagation velocity and the E _z /H _τ ratio of the low-frequency electromagnetic pulses (atmospherics) in the ELF range at the high-latitude observatories Lovozero and Barentsburg. With numerical modeling methods, it is shown that horizontal local irregularities of the lower ionosphere conductivity profile could be a cause of the splashes in the E _z /H _τ ratio observed in the experiment during the solar proton event of March 7, 2012, which was a unique event in both the proton flux value and energy.     

Effects of the IMF pro- and anti-sectors in the winter midlatitude ionosphere

Summary On the basis of the 1966–73 data, the effect of the difference between pro- and anti-sectors of the IMF is found to be negligible in the winter midlatitude (Central Europe) ionosphere contrary to the dominant effect of this difference in the high-latitude ionosphere found earlier.

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a ¶rt;a a 1966–73. u¶rt;m u m amu ¶rt; pro- u anti- mau . na a u ¶rt;um (¶rt; na) u, , a naa a, naum um u.

     

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.     

Yearly variations in the low-latitude topside ionosphere

Observations made by the Hinotori satellite have been analysed to determine the yearly variations of the electron density and electron temperature in the low-latitude topside ionosphere. The observations reveal the existence of an equinoctial asymmetry in the topside electron density at low latitudes, i.e. the density is higher at one equinox than at the other. The asymmetry is hemisphere-dependent with the higher electron density occurring at the March equinox in the Northern Hemisphere and at the September equinox in the Southern Hemisphere. The asymmetry becomes stronger with increasing latitude in both hemispheres. The behaviour of the asymmetry has no significant longitudinal and magnetic activity variations. A mechanism for the equinoctial asymmetry has been investigated using CTIP (coupled thermosphere ionosphere plasmasphere model). The model results reproduce the observed equinoctial asymmetry and suggest that the asymmetry is caused by the north-south imbalance of the thermosphere and ionosphere at the equinoxes due to the slow response of the thermosphere arising from the effects of the global thermospheric circulation. The observations also show that the relationship between the electron density and electron temperature is different for daytime and nighttime. During daytime the yearly variation of the electron temperature has negative correlation with the electron density, except at magnetic latitudes lower than 10°. At night, the correlation is positive.     

The structure of the mid- and high-latitude ionosphere during the November 2004 storm event obtained from GPS observations

GPS data from the International GNSS Service (IGS) network were used to study the development of the severe geomagnetic storm of November 7–12, 2004, in the total electron content (TEC) on a global scale. The TEC maps were produced for analyzing the storm. For producing the maps over European and North American sectors, GPS measurements from more than 100 stations were used. The dense network of GPS stations provided TEC measurements with a high temporal and spatial resolution. To present the temporal and spatial variation of TEC during the storm, differential TEC maps relative to a quiet day (November 6, 2004) were created. The features of geomagnetic storm attributed to the complex development of ionospheric storm depend on latitude, longitude and local time. The positive, as well as negative effects were detected in TEC variations as a consequence of the evolution of the geomagnetic storm. The maximal effect was registered in the subauroral/auroral ionosphere during substorm activity in the evening and night period. The latitudinal profiles obtained from TEC maps for Europe gave rise to the storm-time dynamic of the ionospheric trough, which was detected on November 7 and 9 at latitudes below 50°N. In the report, features of the response of TEC to the storm for European and North American sectors are analyzed.     

Observations of the response time of high-latitude ionospheric convection to variations in the interplanetary magnetic field using EISCAT and IMP-8 data

We have combined ∼300 h of tristatic measurements of the field-perpendicular F region ionospheric flow measured overhead at Tromsø by the EISCAT UHF radar, with simultaneous IMP-8 measurements of the solar wind and interplanetary magnetic field (IMF) upstream of the Earth’s magnetosphere, in order to examine the response time of the ionospheric flow to changes in the north-south component of the IMF (B_z). In calculating the flow response delay, the time taken by field changes observed by the spacecraft to first effect the ionosphere has been carefully estimated and subtracted from the response time. Two analysis methods have been employed. In the first, the flow data were divided into 2 h-intervals of magnetic local time (MLT) and cross-correlated with the “half-wave rectifier” function V²B_s, where V is the solar wind speed, and B_s is equal to IMF B_z if the latter is negative, and is zero otherwise. Response delays, determined from the time lag of the peak value of the cross-correlation coefficient, were computed versus MLT for both the east-west and north-south components of flow. The combined data set suggests minimum delays at ∼1400 MLT, with increased response times on the nightside. For the 12-h sector centred on 1400 MLT, the weighted average response delay was found to be 1.3 ± 0.8 min, while for the 12-h sector centred on 0200 MLT the weighted average delay was found to increase to 8.8 ± 1.7 min. In the second method we first inspected the IMF data for sharp and enduring (at least ∼5 min) changes in polarity of the north-south component, and then examined concurrent EISCAT flow data to determine the onset time of the corresponding enhancement or decay of the flow. For the case in which the flow response was timed from whichever of the flow components responded first, minimum response delays were again found at ∼1400 MLT, with average delays of 4.8 ± 0.5 min for the 12-h sector centred on 1400 MLT, increasing to 9.2 ± 0.8 min on the nightside. The response delay is thus found to be reasonably small at all local times, but typically ∼6 min longer on the nightside compared with the dayside. In order to make an estimate of the ionospheric information propagation speed implied by these results, we have fitted a simple theoretical curve to the delay data which assumes that information concerning the excitation and decay of flow propagates with constant speed away from some point on the equatorward edge of the dayside open-closed field line boundary, taken to lie at 77° magnetic latitude. For the combined cross-correlation results the best-fit epicentre of information propagation was found to be at 1400 MLT, with an information propagation phase speed of 9.0 km s⁻¹. For the combined event analysis, the best-fit epicentre was also found to be located at 1400 MLT, with a phase speed of 6.8 km s⁻¹.     

Diurnal variations of the temperature in the middle ionosphere

Summary For the temperature of the middle ionosphere (100–180 km) variations proportional to the solar height are supposed with a certain inertia. The coefficients of these variations are computed on the basis of some rocket experiments and the asymetry in the daily variations of the electron density in theE-layer, the intermediateE-F region and theF1-layer. The diurnal vairations of the temperature are obtained for different constant heights.