ULF wave occurrence statistics in a high-latitude HF Doppler sounder

Ultra low frequency (ULF) wave activity in the high-latitude ionosphere has been observed by a high frequency (HF) Doppler sounder located at Tromsø, Norway (69.71°N, 19.2°E geographic coordinates). A statistical study of the occurrence of these waves has been undertaken from data collected between 1979 and 1984. The diurnal, seasonal, solar cycle and geomagnetic activity variations in occurrence have been investigated. The findings demonstrate that the ability of the sounder to detect ULF wave signatures maximises at the equinoxes and that there is a peak in occurrence in the morning sector. The occurrence rate is fairly insensitive to changes associated with the solar cycle but increases with the level of geomagnetic activity. As a result, it has been possible to characterise the way in which prevailing ionospheric and magnetospheric conditions affect such observations of ULF waves.     

Sausage mode instability of thin current sheets as a cause of magnetospheric substorms

Observations have shown that, prior to substorm explosions, thin current sheets are formed in the plasma sheet of the Earth’s magnetotail. This provokes the question, to what extent current-sheet thinning and substorm onsets are physically, maybe even causally, related. To answer this question, one has to understand the plasma stability of thin current sheets. Kinetic effects must be taken into account since particle scales are reached in the course of tail current-sheet thinning. We present the results of theoretical investigations of the stability of thin current sheets and about the most unstable mode of their decay. Our conclusions are based upon a non-local linear dispersion analysis of a cross-magnetic field instability of Harris-type current sheets. We found that a sausage-mode bulk current instability starts after a sheet has thinned down to the ion inertial length. We also present the results of three-dimensional electromagnetic PIC-code simulations carried out for mass ratios up to M_i/m_e = 64. They verify the linearly predicted properties of the sausage mode decay of thin current sheets in the parameter range of interest.     

A study on the multi-component substrom current

A new technique of eigen mode analysis, Method of Natural Orthogonal Components (MNOC) is used to analyze the ionospheric equivalent current systems obtained on the basis of magnetic data at six meridian magnetometer chains in the northern hemisphere during March 17 - 19, 1978. The results show that the whole current pattern for any given instant consists of a few eigen modes with different intensities. The first eigen mode exhibits a two-cell current construction, characterizing the large-scale magnetospheric convection and directly driven process, while the second eigen mode shows a concentrated westward electrojet at midnight sector, characterizing the substorm current wedge and the loading-unloading process. The first mode consistently exists whenever during quiet periods or at substorms, and its intensity increases from the beginning of the growth phase of substorms, then quickly intensifies in the expansion phase, followed by a gradual decrease in the recovery phase. On the other hand, the intensity of the second mode remains to be near zero during both quiet time and the growth phase of substorrns. Its rapid enhancement occurs in the expansion phase. These characteristics in the current patterns and the intensity variations coincide with the defined physical processes of the directly driven and loading-unloading components.     

Features of discrete VLF emissions observed at Gulmarg,India during the magnetic storm of 6–7 March, 1986

During the analysis of archived VLF data from Indian low latitude ground stations, some discrete VLF emissions recorded at the low latitude ground station Gulmarg (geomagnetic latitude 24°26′N; geomagnetic longitude 147°09′E, L = 1.28) during moderate magnetic storm activity (Σ K _P ⁻ = 32, K _P index varies from 4 to 6 during the observation period) on 6/7 March, 1986 are presented in this paper. The dynamic spectra of these discrete VLF emissions were observed along with tweeks and its harmonics, which is interesting and complex to explain. In most of the events the harmonic frequency of tweeks correlates with the starting frequency of harmonics of discrete emissions. In order to explain the observed features of discrete VLF emissions, we propose cyclotron resonance interaction between whistler mode wave and energetic electrons of inner radiation belt as possible generation mechanism. An attempt is also made to determine parallel energy, anisotropy and wave growth relevant to the generation process of VLF emissions.     

Two-dimensional electric field measurements in the ionospheric footprint of a flux transfer event

Line-of-sight Doppler velocities from the SuperDARN CUTLASS HF radar pair have been combined to produce the first two-dimensional vector measurements of the convection pattern throughout the ionospheric footprint of a flux transfer event (a pulsed ionospheric flow, or PIF). Very stable and moderate interplanetary magnetic field conditions, along with a preceding prolonged period of northward interplanetary magnetic field, allow a detailed study of the spatial and the temporal evolution of the ionospheric response to magnetic reconnection. The flux tube footprint is tracked for half an hour across six hours of local time in the auroral zone, from magnetic local noon to dusk. The motion of the footprint of the newly reconnected flux tube is compared with the ionospheric convection velocity. Two primary intervals in the PIFs evolution have been determined. For the first half of its lifetime in the radar field of view the phase speed of the PIF is highly variable and the mean speed is nearly twice the ionospheric convection speed. For the final half of its lifetime the phase velocity becomes much less variable and slows down to the ionospheric convection velocity. The evolution of the flux tube in the magnetosphere has been studied using magnetic field, magnetopause and magnetosheath models. The data are consistent with an interval of azimuthally propagating magnetopause reconnection, in a manner consonant with a peeling of magnetic flux from the magnetopause, followed by an interval of anti-sunward convection of reconnected flux tubes.     

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.     

Experimental study of the formation of inverted-V structures and their stratification using AUREOL-3 observations

Multiple inverted-V structures are commonly observed on the same auroral zone crossing by a lowaltitude orbiting satellite. Such structures appear grouped and apparently result from an ionospheric and/or magnetospheric mechanism of stratification. More than two years of AUREOL-3 satellite observations were analyzed to study their properties and their formation in the framework of the ionosphere-magnetosphere coupling model proposed by Tverskoy. This model predicts some natural periodicity in the electrostatic potential profile (and subsequently in the field-aligned current profiles) that could account for oscillations experimentally observed in the auroral zone, such as successive inverted-Vs. Experimental results obtained during quiet or moderately active periods demonstrate that the number of structures observed within a given event is well described by a scaling parameter provided by the hot plasma stratification theory and expressed in terms of the field-aligned current density, the total width of the current band, the plasma sheet ion temperature, and the height-integrated Pedersen conductivity of the ionosphere. The latitudinal width, in the order of 100/200 km at ionospheric altitudes, is relatively independent of the current density, and is determined not only by the existence of a potential difference above the inverted-Vs, but also by basic oscillations of the ionosphere-magnetosphere coupling system predicted by Tverskoy. The large number of cases studied by the AUREOL-3 satellite provides reliable statistical trends which permits the validation of the model and the inference that the multiple structures currently observed can be related directly to oscillations of the magnetospheric potential (or the pressure gradients) on a scale of 1000/2000 km in the near-Earth plasma sheet. These oscillations arise in the Tverskoy model and may naturally result when the initial pressure gradients needed to generate a large-scale field-aligned current have a sufficiently wide equatorial scale, of about 1 R_E or more.     

Polar ionospheric responses to solar wind IMF changes

Auroral and airglow emissions over Eureka (89° CGM) during the 1997/98 winter show striking variations in relation to solar wind IMF changes. The period January 19 to 22, 1998, was chosen for detailed study, as the IMF was particularly strong and variable. During most of the period, B_z was northward and polar arcs were observed. Several overpasses by DMSP satellites during the four day period provided a clear picture of the particle precipitation producing the polar arcs. The spectral character of these events indicated excitation by electrons of average energy 300 to 500 eV. Only occasionally were electrons of average energy up to 1 keV observed and these appeared transitory from the ground optical data. It is noted that polar arcs appear after sudden changes in IMF B_y, suggesting IMF control over arc initiation. When B_y is positive there is arc motion from dawn to dusk, while B_y is negative the motion is consistently dusk to dawn. F-region (anti-sunward) convections were monitored through the period from 630.0 nm emissions. The convection speed was low (100/150 m/s) when B_z was northward but increased to 500 m/s after B_z turned southward on January 20.     

磁暴期间太阳风-磁层-电离层间的耦合过程

本文用行星际和地面磁场以及电离层资料,讨论了三次磁暴期间高、中纬电离层电场对太阳风和磁层内变化的响应。 分析表明,当IMF的B_x分量由北向转为南向时,太阳风驱动的磁层对流变化能直接反映出高纬电离层电位的变化。但持续南向的B_x再次增强时,太阳风输入的主要能量耗损于内磁层过程;电离层的响应表现为一个弛豫过程。当B_x由南转北时,环电流的消失对电离层的作用同样有弛豫的特点。此时,驱动电位已撤消,环电流是维持电离层电位的唯一外源。 本文用电路类比及简单模式法结论对上述几种实测情况进行了讨论。