Spatial distribution of the field-aligned current density in the polar ionosphere and the contribution of magnetosound waves

Abstract

The regular appearance of the chain of oppositely directed field-aligned current (FAC) pairs near the noon-midnight meridian during three considered substorms has been described. The FAC pairs (FACs flowing into the ionosphere in the morning and flowing out of this region in the evening and vice versa) are observed in each of three Iijima and Potemra zones. The FAC direction in the fixed LT sector periodically varies along the chain. The scenario, according to which each FAC pair (seven pairs) is identified with a hump or trough of one of the waves propagating from the Earth and toward the Earth in different magnetospheric domains, has been described. The estimated wave velocities differ from ∼100 to >1000 km/s depending on the propagation region but everywhere agree with the corresponding velocities of magnetosound waves (MSWs). The hypothesis is proposed, according to which these MSWs are excited by plasma ejection during current disruption and reconnection near the dayside magnetopause and in the near/middle regions of the nightside tail.