The contribution of magnetospheric currents toSq

Abstract

Since the discovery of the magnetosphere, it has been known that the currents flowing in the magnetosphere contribute to Sq, the regular daily variation in the earth’s surface magnetic field. The early models, however, were not very accurate in the vicinity of the earth. The magnetospheric contribution to Sq has therefore been recalculated by direct integration over the three major magnetospheric current systems; magnetopause, tail and ring. The finite electrical conductivity of the earth, which increases the horizontal and decreases the vertical components of the magnetospheric field at the earth’s surface, has been taken into account. The magnetospheric currents are found to contribute 12 nanotesla to the day to night difference in the mid-latitude Sq pattern for steady, quiet magnetospheric conditions. They also contribute to the annual variation in the surface field and must be considered an important source of the observed day to day variation in the Sq pattern.