Convection Electric Field Research Articles

High-latitude thermospheric winds: Satellite data and model calculations

The thermospheric crosswind velocities at an altitude of 400 km measured by an accelerometer on board of the CHAMP satellite are compared with the results of model calculations performed using the Upper Atmosphere Model (UAM). The results of measurements averaged over the year in 2003 reveal a two-vortex structure of high-latitude winds corresponding to magnetospheric-ionospheric convection of ions in the F2 ionosphere region. A similar picture with similar speed values was obtained in model calculations. A comparison of the crosswind speed obtained in individual measurements on October 28, 2003 with the corresponding model values revealed close agreement between them in some flights and differences in others. Taking into account the dependence of convection electric field on the By component of interplanetary magnetic field sometimes improved agreement between thermospheric crosswind speeds obtained in model calculations and measured using the satellite.

A statistical study of the inner edge of the electron plasma sheet and the net convection potential as a function of geomagnetic activity

[1] A widely accepted explanation of the location of the inner edge of the electron plasma sheet and its dependence on electron energy is based on drift motions of individual particles. The boundary is identified as the separatrix between drift trajectories linking the tail to the dayside magnetopause (open paths) and trajectories closed around the Earth. A statistical study of the inner edge of the electron plasma sheet using THEMIS Electrostatic Analyzer plasma data from November 2007 to April 2009 enabled us to examine this model. Using a dipole magnetic field and a Volland‐Stern electric field with shielding, we find that a steady state drift boundary model represents the average location of the electron plasma sheet boundary and reflects its variation with the solar wind electric field in the local time region between 21:00 and 06:00, except at high activity levels. However, the model does not reproduce the observed energy dispersion of the boundaries. We have also used the location of the inner edge of the electron plasma sheet to parameterize the potential drop of the tail convection electric field as a function of solar wind electric field (Esw) and geomagnetic activity. The range of Esw examined is small because the data were acquired near solar minimum. For the range of values tested (meaningful statistics only for Esw < 2 mV/m), reasonablygoodagreementisfoundbetweenthepotentialdropofthetailconvectionelectric field inferred from the location of the inner edge and the polar cap potential drop calculated from the model of Boyle et al. (1997).

Numerical modeling of ionospheric effects in the middle‐ and low‐latitude F region during geomagnetic storm sequence of 9–14 September 2005

This study presents the Global Self‐Consistent Model of the Thermosphere, Ionosphere and Protonosphere (GSM TIP) numerical simulations of the 9–14 September 2005 geomagnetic storm effects in the middle‐ and low‐latitude ionosphere. Recent modifications to the GSM TIP model include adding an empirical model of high‐energy electron precipitation and introducing a high‐resolution (1 min) calculation of region 2 field‐aligned currents and a cross‐cap potential difference. These modifications resulted in better representation of such effects as penetration of the magnetospheric convection electric field to lower latitudes and the overshielding. The model also includes simulation of solar flare effects. Comparison of model results with observational data at Millstone Hill (42.6°N, 71.5°W, USA), Arecibo (18.3°N, 66.8°W, Puerto Rico), Jicamarca (11.9°S, 76.9°W, Peru), Palmas (10.2°S, 48.2°W, Brazil), and San Jose Campos (23.2°S, 45.9°W, Brazil) shows good agreement of ionospheric disturbances caused by this storm sequence. In this paper we consider in detail the formation mechanism of the additional layers in an equatorial ionosphere during geomagnetic storms. During geomagnetic storms, the nonuniform in height zonal electric field is generated at the geomagnetic equator. This electric field forms the additional layers in the F region of equatorial ionosphere.

Forces on a spherical conducting particle in E × B fields

The forces acting on a spherical conducting particle in a transversely flowing magnetized plasma are calculated in the entire range of magnetization and Debye length, using the particle code SCEPTIC3D (Patacchini and Hutchinson 2010 Plasma Phys. Control. Fusion 52 035005, 2011 Plasma Phys. Control. Fusion 53 025005). In short Debye length (i.e. high density) plasmas, both the ion-drag and Lorentz force arising from currents circulating inside the dust show strong components antiparallel to the convective electric field, suggesting that a free dust particle should gyrate faster than what predicted by its Larmor frequency. In intermediate to large Debye length conditions, by a downstream depletion effect already reported in unmagnetized strongly collisional regimes, the ion-drag in the direction of transverse flow can become negative. The internal Lorentz force, however, remains in the flow direction, and large enough in magnitude so that no spontaneous dust motion should occur.

Observational evidence of alpha‐particle capture at Mars

Solar wind alpha‐particles are suggested to be the most important source of helium in the Martian atmosphere. Recent hybrid simulations show that as much as 30% of the alpha‐particles passing through the planetary cross section can be lost from the solar wind due to charge‐exchange processes associated with the Mars/solar wind interaction. We use ion data from the ASPERA‐3 instrument on Mars Express to investigate the penetration of alpha‐particles into the Martian atmosphere. We conclude that solar wind alpha‐particles contribute to the helium observed in the atmosphere. In accordance with simulations we see an asymmetry in the capture efficiency related to the solar wind convection electric field.

Three-dimensional, multifluid, high spatial resolution MHD model studies of the solar wind interaction with Mars

[1] Our newly developed 3‐D, multifluid MHD model is used to study the interaction of the solar wind with Mars. This model is based on the BATS‐R‐US code, using a spherical grid and a radial resolution equal to 10 km in the ionospheric regions. We solve separate continuity, momentum, and energy equations for each ion fluid and run our model for both solar minimum and maximum conditions. We obtain asymmetric densities, velocities, and magnetic pileup in the plane containing both the direction of the solar wind and the convective electric field. These asymmetries are the result of the decoupling of the individual ions; therefore, our model is able to account for the respective dynamics of the ions and to show new physical processes that could not be observed by the single‐fluid model. Our results are consistent with the measured bow shock and magnetic pileup locations and with the Viking‐observed ion densities. We also compute the escape fluxes for both solar minimum and solar maximum conditions and compare them to the single‐fluid results and the observed values from Mars Express.

Variational symplectic algorithm for guiding center dynamics in the inner magnetosphere

Charged particle dynamics in magnetosphere has temporal and spatial multiscale; therefore, numerical accuracy over a long integration time is required. A variational symplectic integrator (VSI) [H. Qin and X. Guan, Phys. Rev. Lett. 100, 035006 (2008) and H. Qin, X. Guan, and W. M. Tang, Phys. Plasmas 16, 042510 (2009)] for the guiding-center motion of charged particles in general magnetic field is applied to study the dynamics of charged particles in magnetosphere. Instead of discretizing the differential equations of the guiding-center motion, the action of the guiding-center motion is discretized and minimized to obtain the iteration rules for advancing the dynamics. The VSI conserves exactly a discrete Lagrangian symplectic structure and has better numerical properties over a long integration time, compared with standard integrators, such as the standard and adaptive fourth order Runge-Kutta (RK4) methods. Applying the VSI method to guiding-center dynamics in the inner magnetosphere, we can accurately calculate the particles’orbits for an arbitrary long simulating time with good conservation property. When a time-independent convection and corotation electric field is considered, the VSI method can give the accurate single particle orbit, while the RK4 method gives an incorrect orbit due to its intrinsic error accumulation over a long integrating time.

Testing the necessity of transient spikes in the storm time ring current drivers

[1] Inner magnetospheric numerical simulations of the 17 April 2002 storm are conducted to explore the importance of transient spikes in the driving parameters at controlling the strength of the storm time ring current. The two main factors considered in this study are convection electric field strength and nightside plasma boundary condition. These quantities were smoothed and/or despiked across intervals of 20–180 min. It is found that the spikes contribute linearly to the ring current total energy content. Exceptions to this finding include too much resulting ring current after despiking or smoothing (relative to a linear response). This indicates that at best the relationship is linear and, if the timing of transient spikes in one driving parameter is not coincident with high values in the other main driving parameter, then the response is sublinear (that is, the transient spikes could be less effective than long-time duration increases in the input parameters).

Transport and loss of the inner plasma sheet electrons: THEMIS observations

[1] Using the electron data from the Time History of Events and Macroscale Interactions during Substorms (THEMIS) spacecraft measurements from 2007 to 2009, we derived global phase space density (PSD) distributions of plasma sheet electrons (2–100 eV/nT) to examine the transport process of the electrons to the inner magnetosphere and possible loss mechanisms of plasma sheet electrons during the convective transport. The inner boundaries of the electron plasma sheet were determined by the observed global distributions and compared with the Alfven boundaries that were calculated by the sum of the simple corotation and convection electric field models. This comparison confirms the previous results that the large-scale convection electric field controls the electron transport to the inner magnetosphere. The gradual decrease in PSD is observed from the dawn to the dayside sector, indicating the existence of some loss mechanisms in the morning sector. The loss time scales estimated from the PSD distributions were compared with the theoretical ones based on the quasi-linear diffusion theory using an empirical wave model of whistler mode chorus. We also estimated the required wave amplitudes that can explain the estimated loss time scales. It is shown that whistler mode chorus has a sufficient power to scatter the plasma sheet electrons, and the required wave amplitudes are roughly consistent with the CRRES statistical survey of the chorus wave amplitude. We suggest that the loss of plasma sheet electrons in the morning sector is mainly induced by pitch angle scattering by whistler mode chorus.

The statistical studies of the inner boundary of plasma sheet

Abstract. The penetration of plasma sheet ions into the inner magnetosphere is very important to the inner magnetospheric dynamics since plasma sheet ions are one of the major particle sources of ring current during storm times. However, the direct observations of the inner boundary of the plasma sheet are fairly rare due to the limited number of satellites in near equatorial orbits outside 6.6 RE. In this paper, we used the ion data recorded by TC-1 from 2004 to 2006 to study the distribution of inner boundary of ion plasma sheet (IBIPS) and for the first time show the observational distribution of IBIPS in the equatorial plane. The IBIPS has a dawn-dusk asymmetry, being farthest to the Earth in the 06:00 08:00 LT bin and closest to the Earth in the 18:00–20:00 LT bin. Besides, the IBIPS has also a day-night asymmetry, which may be due to the fact that the ions on the dayside are exposed more time to loss mechanisms on their drift paths. The radial distance of IBIPS decrease generally with the increase of Kp index. The mean radial distance of IBIPS is basically larger than 6.6 RE during quiet times and smaller than 6.6 RE during active times. When the strength of convection electric field increases, the inward shift of IBIPS is most significant on the night side (22:00–02:00 LT). For Kp ≤ 0+, only 16% of IBIPSs penetrate inside the geosynchronous orbit. For 2 ≤ Kp &lt; 3+, however, 70% of IBIPSs penetrate inside the geosynchronous orbit. The IBIPS has weak correlations with the AE and Dst indexes. The average correlation coefficient between Ri and Kp is −0.58 while the correlation coefficient between Ri and AE/Dst is only −0.29/0.17. The correlation coefficients are local time dependent. Particularly, Ri and Kp are highly correlated (r=−0.72) in the night sector, meaning that the radial distance of IBIPS Ri in the night sector has the good response to the Kp index These observations indicate that Kp plays a key role in determining the position of IBIPS.

The effects of dynamic ionospheric outflow on the ring current

[1] The importance of ionospheric O+ on the development of the storm time ring current is recognized but not well understood. The addition of this outflow in global MHD models has the potential to change the magnetic field configuration, particle densities and temperatures, and the convection electric field. This makes including heavy ion outflow in ring current simulations difficult, as this addition cannot be easily decoupled from a host of other changes. This study attempts to overcome this problem by using three coupled models, PWOM, RIM, and BATS-R-US, to drive a ring current model, RAM-SCB. The differences in drivers when outflow is included and is not included are compared to see how outflow changes ring current input. It is found that including this outflow reduces the convection electric field, lowers the plasma sheet number density and temperature, and increases the complexity of the plasma sheet ion composition both temporally and spatially. These changes cause an overall reduction in ring current energy density. Further simulations that attempt to isolate these effects find that the most important change in terms of ring current development is the drop in convection electric field. Local time dependencies of O+ injections are found to be nontrivial as well. Capturing all of these effects requires a whole system, first-principles approach.

Spherical conducting probes in finite Debye length plasmas and E × B fields

The particle-in-cell code SCEPTIC3D (Patacchini and Hutchinson 2010 Plasma Phys. Control. Fusion 52 035005) is used to calculate the interaction of a transversely flowing magnetized plasma with a negatively charged spherical conductor, in the entire range of magnetization and Debye length. The results allow the first fully self-consistent analysis of probe operation where neither the ion Larmor radius nor the Debye length are approximated by zero or infinity. An important transition in plasma structure occurs when the Debye length exceeds the average ion Larmor radius, as the sphere starts to shield the convective electric field driving the flow. A remarkable result is that in those conditions, the ion current can significantly exceed the unmagnetized orbital motion limit. When both the Debye length and the Larmor radius are small compared with the probe dimensions, however, their ratio does not affect the collection pattern significantly, and Mach-probe calibration methods derived in the context of quasineutral strongly magnetized plasmas (Patacchini and Hutchinson 2009 Phys. Rev. E 80 036403) hold for Debye lengths and ion Larmor radii smaller than about 10% of the probe radius.

The Relief of Plasma Pressure and Generation of Field-Aligned Currents in the Magnetosphere

A combined action of plasma convection and pitch-angle diffusion of electrons and protons leads to the formation of plasma pressure distribution in the magnetosphere on the night side, and, as it is known, steady electric bulk currents are connected to distribution of gas pressure. The divergence of these bulk currents brings about a spatial distribution of field-aligned currents, i.e. magnetospheric sources of ionospheric current. The projection (mapping) of the plasma pressure relief onto the ionosphere corresponds to the form and position of the auroral oval. This projection, like the real oval, executes a motion with a change of the convection electric field, and expands with an enhancement of the field. Knowing the distribution (3D) of the plasma pressure we can determine the places of MHD-compressor and MHD-generators location in the magnetosphere. Unfortunately, direct observations of plasma distribution in the magnetosphere are faced with large difficulties, because pressure must be known everywhere in the plasma sheet at high resolution, which in situ satellites have been unable to provide. Modeling of distribution of plasma pressure (on ~ 3-12 Re) is very important, because the data from multisatellite magnetospheric missions for these purposes would be a very expensive project.

The transition to overshielding after sharp and gradual interplanetary magnetic field northward turning

Overshielding is referred to a shielding status, during which the dawnward shielding electric field dominates over the duskward penetration electric field in the inner magnetosphere, typically appearing when the interplanetary magnetic field (IMF) suddenly turns northward after a prolonged southward orientation. It is expected that the transition to overshielding after IMF northward turning can be affected by the shape of northward turning (sharp or gradual). Moreover, the initial shielding status (undershielding or goodshielding) prior to the transition may also have influence on the transition. Here we analyze two groups of cases, in which the transitions appear after sharp (duration less than 5 min) and gradual (duration more than 30 min) northward turning. Each group includes two cases, in which the transition initiated from undershielding and goodshielding. These cases show that (1) the beginning of the transition to overshielding coincides with sharp IMF northward turning but appears in the midst of gradual IMF northward turning; (2) the transition from goodshielding to overshielding is always associated with convection electric field drop and/or polar cap shrinkage, regardless of the shape of IMF northward turning; and (3) the typical solar wind condition in which the IMF suddenly turns northward after a prolonged southward orientation is neither a necessary condition nor a sufficient condition for overshielding. Furthermore, we will discuss the effect of substorm processes on overshielding.

Plasma transition at the flanks of the Venus ionosheath: Evidence from the Venus Express data

[1] Measurements conducted with the Analyzer of Space Plasmas and Energetic Atoms (ASPERA-4) instrument in the Venus Express spacecraft reveal the presence of a plasma transition within a boundary layer that extends along at the flanks of the Venus ionosheath and where the solar wind exhibits changes similar to those reported from previous missions (Mariner 5, Venera, and Pioneer Venus). At the plasma transition there is a sharp downstream decrease in the density of the solar wind electrons and a sudden increase in their temperature embedded within the boundary layer where more gradual changes in the speed, temperature, and density of the solar wind ions are observed. The ASPERA-4 data also show important fluxes of planetary ions measured downstream from the plasma transition and whose dominant velocity component is in the Sun-Venus direction. The speed of those ions is slower than the local solar wind speed and thus is different from that expected from the convective electric field acceleration in which both speed values should be comparable. The boundary layer is interpreted as representing a feature that results from the transport of solar wind momentum to the Venus upper ionosphere, and the ASPERA-4 data provide information on the kinetic properties of the eroded planetary ion population that is seen to stream mostly in the Sun-Venus direction. From the comparison of the ASPERA-4 measurements with those of the magnetic field obtained with the magnetometer of the Venus Express, it is found that in the near wake crossing of the plasma transition the magnetic field intensity decreases to lower values with downstream distance from the planet in agreement with measurements conducted with the Mariner 5 and the PVO. From the analysis of data for orbits with evidence of the plasma transition within the boundary layer, it is found that the momentum flux of planetary ions measured in the wake can be accounted for from the incident momentum flux of the solar wind protons implying an approximate balance as would result from the transport of solar wind momentum to the planetary particles.

Direct measurements of the Poynting flux associated with convection electric fields in the magnetosphere

Observations of Poynting fluxes associated with onset of convection electric fields are essential for understanding of electromagnetic energy transport from the solar wind toward the magnetosphere leading to changes in the convection electric field, which is one of the most fundamental parameters in the magnetosphere‐ionosphere coupled system. We present Cluster multispacecraft observations of Poynting fluxes associated with abrupt changes in large‐scale electric fields during sudden commencements and southward turning of the interplanetary magnetic field (IMF). The Cluster spacecraft detected Poynting fluxes dominated by the field‐aligned upward component during the preliminary impulse of sudden commencements and in the initial period after southward turning of the IMF. The upward Poynting flux indicates existence of Alfvén waves transporting electromagnetic energy from the ionosphere toward the magnetosphere leading to magnetospheric convection changes. The waveguide model and global magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) simulation calculating evolution of the Poynting flux following solar wind pressure enhancements also show upward Poynting fluxes propagating from the ionosphere toward the magnetosphere faster than the propagation of compressional waves. We conclude that the ionosphere acts as a channel to transmit electromagnetic energy supplied as field‐aligned currents toward a wide region in the magnetosphere‐ionosphere system instantaneously, leading to changes in magnetospheric convection electric fields.

Long‐lasting goodshielding at the equatorial ionosphere

During magnetic storm times, a dawnward electric field may build up at the Alfven layer in the inner magnetosphere to cancel an enhanced duskward magnetospheric convection electric field. This effect is known as “shielding” because the dawnward electric field prevents the duskward electric field from penetrating into the inner magnetosphere. The term “goodshielding” refers to the perfect shielding status, in which the penetration electric field is almost completely canceled by shielding electric field. Observational evidence of goodshielding has rarely been reported before. Here we present two long‐lasting (16 and 23 min) goodshielding cases as unambiguous evidence. Both cases show similar historical patterns of shielding status: long‐duration electric field penetration (undershielding), goodshielding, and then overshielding. The goodshielding time periods, featuring quiet‐level ionospheric electric field at the dayside equator, are not directly related to the changes of interplanetary magnetic field (IMF) BZ, but the transitions from goodshielding to overshielding coincide with reduction of convection electric field. Both cases show that the equatorial electric field does not significantly respond to convection electric field enhancements during goodshielding, indicating that the shielding electric field may quickly adjust to shield newly enhanced convection electric fields. The quick shielding is possibly attributed to the fact that the ring current has become stronger and has been brought closer to the Earth. These new features may provide some clues to understand the magnetosphere‐ionosphere coupling processes during storm times.

Mechanisms of ionospheric mass escape

The dependence of ionospheric O+ escape flux on electromagnetic energy flux and electron precipitation into the ionosphere is derived for a hypothetical ambipolar pickup process, powered the relative motion of plasmas and neutral upper atmosphere, and by electron precipitation, at heights where the ions are magnetized but influenced by photo‐ionization, collisions with gas atoms, ambipolar and centrifugal acceleration. Ion pickup by the convection electric field produces “ring‐beam” or toroidal velocity distributions, as inferred from direct plasma measurements, from observations of the associated waves, and from the spectra of incoherent radar echoes. Ring beams are unstable to plasma wave growth, resulting in rapid relaxation via transverse velocity diffusion, into transversely accelerated ion populations. Ion escape is substantially facilitated by the ambipolar potential, but is only weakly affected by centrifugal acceleration. If, as cited simulations suggest, ion ring beams relax into nonthermal velocity distributions with characteristic speed equal to the local ion‐neutral flow speed, a generalized “Jeans escape” calculation shows that the escape flux of ionospheric O+ increases with Poynting flux and with precipitating electron density in rough agreement with observations.

Formation of a sodium ring in Mercury's magnetosphere

We have performed a statistical analysis of exospheric sodium ion paths in Mercury's magnetosphere under northward interplanetary magnetic field conditions. Electric and magnetic field models used in the simulation were obtained from a global MHD simulation model, whereas the initial conditions of test Na+ ions were derived from a sodium exosphere model. We observe the formation of a ring‐shaped high‐pressure region consisting of energetic sodium ions traveling around the planet close to the equatorial plane. The configuration of this “sodium ring” as well as the acceleration processes leading to its formation strongly depend on the solar wind conditions. When the dynamic pressure is low, most of the Na+ are picked up in the magnetosphere and accelerated by the large‐scale convective electric field. In contrast, in the case of high dynamic pressure, ions that are picked up in the magnetosheath and penetrate into the magnetosphere significantly contribute to the sodium ring. The configuration of this ring also depends upon the intensity of the solar wind electric field. Our analysis reveals that the pressure built by the Na+ ions may be significant as compared to the MHD pressure around the planet.

Statistical comparison of interplanetary conditions causing intense geomagnetic storms (Dst ≤ −100 nT)

It is well known that intense southward magnetic field and convection electric field (V × B) in the interplanetary medium are key parameters that control the magnitude of geomagnetic storms. By investigating the interplanetary conditions of 82 intense geomagnetic storms from 1998 to 2006, we have compared many different criteria of interplanetary conditions for the occurrence of the intense geomagnetic storms (Dst ≤ −100 nT). In order to examine if the magnetosphere always favors such interplanetary conditions for the occurrence of large geomagnetic storms, we applied these conditions to all the interplanetary data during the same period. For this study, we consider three types of interplanetary conditions as follows: Bz conditions, Ey conditions, and their combination. As a result, we present contingency tables between the number of events satisfying the condition and the number of observed geomagnetic storms. Then we obtain their statistical parameters for evaluation such as probability of detection yes, false alarm ratio, bias, and critical success index. From a comparison of these statistical parameters, we suggest that three conditions are promising candidates to trigger an intense storm: Bz ≤ −10 nT for &gt;3 h, Ey ≥ 5 mV/m for &gt;2 h, and Bz ≤ −15 nT or Ey ≥ 5 mV/m for &gt;2 h. Also, we found that more than half of the “miss” events, when an intense storm occurs that was not expected, are associated with sheath field structures or corotating interacting regions. Our conditions can be used for not only the real‐time forecast of geomagnetic storms but also the survey of interplanetary data to identify candidate events for producing intense geomagnetic storms.