Tilt of the ring current during the main phases of intense geomagnetic storms

Abstract

Based on the data from the SuperMAG collaboration in 2000–2014, the magnetic latitude (MLAT) location of the ring current (RC) denoted by the MLAT of the maximum horizontal magnetic disturbance during the main phase of 67 intense geomagnetic storms (Dst ≤ −100 nT) are derived. The results show that the maximum horizontal magnetic disturbance does not always occur in the magnetic equator, indicating that the RC might be tilted in the latitudinal direction during these storms. Specifically, the tilt of the RC near the day-night line is affected by the direction of solar wind. When the solar wind flows southward against the magnetic equatorial plane, the RC is more likely to show a dayside-lifted tilt. When the solar wind flows northward, the pattern is opposite. Tilts of the RC near the dawn-dusk line are also found in most of these storms. The location of the RC is mainly lifted in the dusk side and declined in the dawn side for positive IMF BY, while the tilt is reversed for negative IMF BY. A possible interpretation might be the IMF BY-related twisting of the geomagnetic field. Besides, the monthly averaged MLAT of the fitted RC also varies with seasons. It is shifted to the southern hemisphere in the northern summer and to the northern hemisphere in the northern winter, which might indicate that the RC is not centered on a single plane. Such a seasonal variation might be related to the angle between the solar wind and the magnetic equatorial plane.