Polarization of the auroral electrojet

Abstract

Consideration of an idealized model of electrojet polarization. Precipitation from the inner edge of the electron plasma sheet creates a density maximum in the auroral-oval ionosphere, which in turn leads to Hall and Pedersen conductance maximums. It is then assumed that a uniform westward convection electric field is imposed on the lower ionosphere before polarization. Field-aligned currents must flow into the ionosphere equatorward and out of the ionosphere poleward of the Hall conductance maximum. As the convection field and ionospheric density increase during the substorm growth phase, the field-aligned current densities should eventually reach an instability threshold beyond which anomalous resistance should produce field-aligned electric fields. The partial blockage of the field-aligned currents produces an equatorward electric field and therefore a partial Cowling conductivity in the lower ionosphere. Rough numerical estimates indicate that the expected field-aligned currents can exceed the stability threshold estimated by Kindel and Kennel (1971), that 1- to 5-kV field-aligned potential drops correspond to significant electrojet enhancement, and that the required energy dissipation of field-aligned currents in the topside ionosphere, a few ergs/per sq cm per sec column, suggests significant topside modification following auroral breakup.