The energy coupling function and the power generated by the solar wind-magnetosphere dynamo

Abstract

A solar wind parameter ε, known as the energy coupling function, has been shown to correlate with the power consumption in the magnetosphere. It is shown in the present paper that the parameter ε can be identified semi-quantitatively as the dynamo power delivered from the solar wind to an open magnetosphere. This identification not only provides a theoretical basis for the energy coupling function, but also constitutes an observational verification of the solar wind-magnetosphere dynamo along the magnetotail. Moreover, one can now conclude that a substorm results when the dynamo power exceeds 10 18 ergs −1.