Abstract
Abstract. This paper presents a numerical model for predicting the evolution of the pattern of ionospheric convection in response to general time-dependent magnetic reconnection at the dayside magnetopause and in the cross-tail current sheet of the geomagnetic tail. The model quantifies the concepts of ionospheric flow excitation by Cowley and Lockwood (1992), assuming a uniform spatial distribution of ionospheric conductivity. The model is demonstrated using an example in which travelling reconnection pulses commence near noon and then move across the dayside magnetopause towards both dawn and dusk. Two such pulses, 8min apart, are used and each causes the reconnection to be active for 1min at every MLT that they pass over. This example demonstrates how the convection response to a given change in the interplanetary magnetic field (via the reconnection rate) depends on the previous reconnection history. The causes of this effect are explained. The inherent assumptions and the potential applications of the model are discussed. Key words. Ionosphere (ionosphere-magnetosphere interactions; plasma convection) – Magnetospheric physics (magnetosphere-ionosphere interactions; solar wind-magnetosphere interactions)
Highlights
Cowley and Lockwood (1992) developed a conceptual model of how ionospheric flow is excited on timescales shorter than the substorm cycle
The top panel shows the variation with simulation time ts of two key voltages: the blue line gives the reconnection voltage XL produced by the input scheme discussed in the previous section, the red line shows the polar cap voltage
The results presented in the previous section reveal some interesting features of the convection response to reconnection pulses and, in particular, how that response depends upon the pre-existing flow that remains following prior reconnection activity
Summary
Cowley and Lockwood (1992) developed a conceptual model of how ionospheric flow is excited on timescales shorter than the substorm cycle. Cowley, 1984; Heelis et al, 1982; Heppner and Maynard, 1987; Holt et al, 1987; Hairston and Heelis, 1990; Reiff and Burch, 1985; Weimer, 1995). Such models did not consider the previous history
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