Statistical analysis of dayside equatorial ionospheric electric fields and electrojet currents produced by magnetospheric substorms during sawtooth events

Abstract

Substorms cause significant disturbances in the ionosphere. However, it has not been well understood how the electric field and electrojet in the dayside equatorial ionosphere respond to substorm onset. Previous studies found that the equatorial electric field, after substorm onset, could be eastward or westward. Because the onset of isolated substorms is often related to a northward turning of the interplanetary magnetic field (IMF), the measured total electric field is determined by contributions from both IMF northward turning and substorm onset and is not necessarily the signature of the onset. In order to exclude the effect of IMF northward turning, we analyze the variations of ionospheric electric field and electrojet during storm time substorms when the IMF remains stable. Thus, the ionospheric variations can be identified to be caused solely by substorms. The electric field data are measured by the Jicamarca radar, and the electrojet is derived from magnetometers at Jicamarca and Piura. It is found that substorm onset induces an eastward electric field and electrojet in the dayside equatorial ionosphere when the IMF remains continuously southward across the onset. The equatorial electrojet starts to increase at the onset, reaches a maximum value ∼30 min after the onset, and then decreases to the pre‐onset value ∼60 min after the onset. Westward electric field and counter‐electrojet occur only if the substorm onset is associated with a northward turning of the IMF. It is concluded that the effect of substorm onset on the dayside equatorial ionosphere, without involvement of IMF reorientations, is an enhanced eastward electric field.