Abstract
Northward interplanetary magnetic field (IMF) causes a “reverse” convection in the dayside polar ionosphere, i.e., flow having a sunward component at the highest latitudes and anti‐sunward flow on both sides of the sunward flow region. Previous studies have shown that this sunward flow region is shifted in the dawn‐dusk direction depending on IMF BY. This paper reports another new mode of the IMF controlled configuration of the sunward flow region. Seventy‐two reverse convection events identified in the Dynamics Explorers 2 dawn‐dusk passes were analyzed. Results of statistical analyses show that the sunward flow region expands in the dawn‐dusk direction as the magnitude of IMF in the Y‐Z plane becomes large. This result can be interpreted by a model which predicts that the dawn‐dusk dimension of the high‐latitude magnetopause reconnection region from which sunward flow is created extends with the increase of the magnitude of IMF in the Y‐Z plane.
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