Large scale magnetospheric turbulence and the topology of magnetospheric currents

Abstract

Interball project includes comparison of experimental observations with existing magnetospheric theory predictions and the development of new approaches to the description of magnetospheric processes. As a result of such an investigation a self-consistent theory of large- and medium-scale magnetospheric convection was suggested. The main source of large-scale magnetospheric convection in this theory is the topology of magnetospheric currents. The observed reconnection processes on the magnetopause and in the tail are treated as the result of the modulation of inner magnetospheric currents by the interplanetary magnetic field (IMF). The dawn-dusk electric field and smaller scale electric fields arise as the harmonics of the unstable plasma distribution. The observed quasi-stationary plasma distribution and the existence of the periods of stable convection in the magnetosphere are explained due to the development of medium- and small-scale electric fields and intense plasma sheet plasma mixing. The theory naturally explains dawn-dusk electric field dependence on IMF orientation, maximum dawn-dusk potential drop mapping on the inner magnetosphere regions, daytime magnetopause erosion and tail current growth when IMF has a southward orientation and many other effects.