aKakioka Magnetic Observatory, Kakioka, Ibaraki Pref. 315-01, Japan
bGeophysics Research Laboratory University of Tokyo, Tokyo 113, Japan
Abstract:
A noticeable depression of the vertical component Z of the geomagnetic field is observed in the polar cap in summer. From the statistical analysis of the equivalent overhead current patterns for daily geomagnetic variations in the summer and winter polar regions for three different conditions of IMF (interplanetary magnetic field), it was concluded that the annual variation of geomagnetic Z in the vicinity of the geomagnetic pole is attributed to the relative spatial shift of the twin-vortex current patterns over the polar cap from summer to winter. In winterthe clockwise current vortex in the dawn sector extends almost over the entire polar cap (except for the periods when the Bz component of IMF has a large positive value), and this will result in the positive variation of the Z-value at the geomagnetic pole. In summer the counter-clockwise current vortex in the dusk sector always extends over the whole polar cap even when Bz of IMF is positiveso that the variation of Z becomes negative. The persistent existence of current vortex in the dawn sector is important for the further study of magnetospheric convection when Bz is positive.