Dipole Tilt Effects Research Articles

Northern and Southern Hemisphere Polar Cap Indices: To What Extent Do They Agree and to What Extent Should They Agree?

AbstractThe IAGA‐endorsed Polar Cap Indices for the northern and southern hemispheres, PCN and PCS, are compared for 1998–2018, inclusive. Potential effects of the slightly different, and changing, magnetic coordinates of the two magnetic stations employed, Thule (Qaanaaq) in Greenland and Vostok in Antarctica, are investigated. It is shown that the agreement in overall behavior of the two indices is very close indeed but that PCS consistently correlates slightly better with solar wind parameters than PCN. Optimum lags for these correlations are 19 min for 1‐min data and 37 min for hourly averages. The correlations are significantly highest for the predicted magnetopause reconnection voltage, which is a linear predictor of PCN and PCS for all 1‐hr data and for all but the largest 0.1% of 1‐min values. The indices show lower correlation and marked non‐linearity (tending to saturation) at all levels with the estimated magnetopause reconnection electric field or the estimated power input into the magnetosphere. The PCN index is shown to correlate closely with the transpolar voltage measured by the northern‐hemisphere SuperDARN radar network and both PCN and PCS clearly show the Russell‐McPherron effect of dipole tilt and the Y‐component of the interplanetary magnetic field. However the patterns in time‐of‐year and Universal Time (UT) are complicated by lobe reconnection during northward‐IMF, the effect of which on the indices is shown to be predominantly a summer hemisphere phenomenon and gives a UT dependence on the IMF Y‐component that is predicted theoretically.

Universal Time variations in the magnetosphere

We study the dependencies of Earth’s magnetosphere on Universal Time, UT. These are introduced because Earth’s magnetic axis is not aligned with the rotational axis and complicated because it is eccentric, which makes the offset of the magnetic and rotation poles considerably greater in the Southern hemisphere and the longitudinal separation of the magnetic poles less than 180°: hence consequent UT variations in the two hemispheres are not in equal in amplitude nor in exact antiphase and do not cancel, as they would for a geocentric dipole. We use long series of a variety of geomagnetic data to demonstrate the inductive effect of motions of the polar caps in a “geocentric-solar” frame, which is phase-locked to the Russell-McPherron (R-M) effect on solar-wind magnetosphere coupling. This makes the response of the magnetosphere-ionosphere system different for the two polarities of the Y-component of the Interplanetary Magnetic Field in the GSEQ reference frame, explaining the difference in response to the March and September equinox peaks in solar wind forcing. The sunward/antisunward pole-motion effect is detected directly in satellite transpolar voltage data and is shown to have a greater effect on the geomagnetic data than the full dipole tilt effect which generates the equinoctial pattern, the potential origins of which are discussed in terms of the dipole tilt effect on ionospheric conductivities and the stability of the near-Earth tail. Persistent UT variations in Region-1 and Region-2 field-aligned currents and in partial ring current indices are presented: their explanation is an important challenge for numerical modelling of the magnetosphere-ionosphere-thermosphere system which we need to quantify the relative contributions of the various mechanisms and to give understanding of the effect of arrival time on the response of the system to large, geoeffective disturbances in interplanetary space.Plain language summary: The effect on terrestrial space weather of Earth’s magnetic axis not being aligned with the rotational axis is investigated. It is complex because not only do these two axes not align in direction (the “dipole tilt”), the magnetic axis does not pass through the centre of the Earth, which sets a requirement for an “eccentric” model of the field and not the commonly-used “geocentric” one. For many years, it has been known that the dipole tilt gives a peak in geomagnetic activity at the equinoxes (the semi-annual variation) through the “Russell-McPherron” (R-M) effect. However, although the variation with Universal Time is consistent with the R-M effect for the September equinox, it is not for the March equinox. We here solve this long-standing puzzle by investigating the effects of the motions of the two poles in a frame fixed with respect to both the Earth and the Sun for an eccentric dipole model. But solving one puzzle generates many others. We present observations of the Universal Time variations that these mechanisms combine to generate, which set an important challenge to the numerical modelling of the near-Earth space environment.

Semi-annual, annual and Universal Time variations in the magnetosphere and in geomagnetic activity: 4. Polar Cap motions and origins of the Universal Time effect

We use theam,an, asand theaσgeomagnetic indices to the explore a previously overlooked factor in magnetospheric electrodynamics, namely the inductive effect of diurnal motions of the Earth’s magnetic poles toward and away from the Sun caused by Earth’s rotation. Because the offset of the (eccentric dipole) geomagnetic pole from the rotational axis is roughly twice as large in the southern hemisphere compared to the northern, the effects there are predicted to be roughly twice the amplitude of those in the northern hemisphere. Hemispheric differences have previously been discussed in terms of polar ionospheric conductivities generated by solar photoionization, effects which we allow for by looking at the dipole tilt effect on the time-of-year variations of the indices. The electric field induced in a geocentric frame is shown to also be a significant factor and gives a modulation of the voltage applied by the solar wind flow in the southern hemisphere that is typically a ±30% diurnal modulation for disturbed intervals rising to ±76% in quiet times. For the northern hemisphere these are 15% and 38% modulations. Motion away from/towards the Sun reduces/enhances the directly-driven ionospheric voltages and reduces/enhances the magnetic energy stored in the tail and we estimate that approximately 10% of the effect appears in directly driven ionospheric voltages and 90% in changes of the rate of energy storage or release in the near-Earth tail. The hemispheric asymmetry in the geomagnetic pole offsets from the rotational axis is shown to be the dominant factor in driving Universal Time (UT) variations and hemispheric differences in geomagnetic activity. Combined with the effect of solar wind dynamic pressure and dipole tilt on the pressure balance in the near-Earth tail, the effect provides an excellent explanation of how the observed Russell-McPherron pattern with time-of-yearFandUTin the driving power input into the magnetosphere is converted into the equinoctialF-UTpattern in average geomagnetic activity (after correction is made for dipole tilt effects on ionospheric conductivity), added to a pronouncedUTvariation with minimum at 02–10 UT. In addition, we show that the predicted and observedUTvariations in average geomagnetic activity has implications for the occurrence of the largest events that also show the nettUTvariation.

Semi-annual, annual and Universal Time variations in the magnetosphere and in geomagnetic activity: 3. Modelling

This is the third in a series of papers that investigate the semi-annual, annual and Universal Time variations in the magnetosphere. In this paper, we use the Lin et al. (2010) empirical model of magnetopause locations, along with the assumption of pressure equilibrium and the Newtonian approximation of magnetosheath pressure, to show that the equinoctial pattern arises in both the cross-tail current at the tail hinge point and in the total energy stored in the tail. The model allows us to study the effects of both dipole tilt and hemispheric asymmetries. As a test of the necessary assumptions made to enable this analysis, we also study simulations by the BATSRUS global MHD magnetosphere model. These also show that the reconnection voltage in the tail is greatest when the dipole tilt is small but this only applies at low solar wind dynamic pressurepSWand does not, on its own, explain why the equinoctial effect increases in amplitude with increasedpSW, as demonstrated by Paper 2. Instead, the effect is consistent with the dipole tilt effect on the energy stored in the tail around the reconnection X line. A key factor is that a smaller/larger fraction of the open polar cap flux threads the tail lobe in the hemisphere that is pointed toward/away from the Sun. The analysis using the empirical model uses approximations and so is not definitive; however, because the magnetopause locations in the two hemispheres were fitted separately in generating the model, it gives a unique insight into the effect of the very different offsets of the magnetic pole from the rotational pole in the two hemispheres. It is therefore significant that our analysis using the empirical model does predict aUTvariation that is highly consistent with that found in both transpolar voltage data and in geomagnetic activity.

Seasonal and Solar Wind Control of the Reconnection Line Location on the Earth's Dayside Magnetopause

AbstractWe investigate the average location of magnetic reconnection on the Earth's dayside magnetopause, based on spatial distributions of northward and southward reconnection jets observed by the THEMIS spacecraft at the near‐noon (10–14 magnetic local time) magnetopause. A total of 711 reconnection jets were identified by applying the Walén relation, the tangential stress balance relation to be satisfied for a reconnected (rotational discontinuity) magnetopause, to magnetopause crossings identified from 10 years of THEMIS observations. The directions and positions of jets indicate that during southward interplanetary magnetic field (IMF) conditions, the dayside X‐line location shifts from the subsolar point toward the winter hemisphere by about 6 Earth radii under the largest tilt of the geomagnetic dipole axis. The X‐line location also shifts northward (southward) by at most 2.5 Earth radii when the IMF is predominantly radial and its x component is positive (negative). The dipole tilt effect on the shift of the X‐line location becomes smaller for higher solar wind Alfvén Mach numbers. The dipole tilt effect being larger than the IMF Bx effect suggests that the X‐line location has a seasonal dependence. Since models and theory show that the reconnection rate away from the subsolar magnetopause is lower than that at the subsolar magnetopause, the dipole tilt dependence of the X‐line location suggests that the efficiency of solar wind energy transfer into the magnetosphere may decrease under larger dipole tilt; this may partially account for seasonal variations of geomagnetic activity, which is known to decrease under larger dipole tilts.

On the Relation Between Soft Electron Precipitations in the Cusp Region and Solar Wind Coupling Functions

AbstractIn this study, the correlations between the fluxes of precipitating soft electrons in the cusp region and solar wind coupling functions are investigated utilizing the Lyon‐Fedder‐Mobarry global magnetosphere model simulations. We conduct two simulation runs during periods from 20 March 2008 to 16 April 2008 and from 15 to 24 December 2014, which are referred as “Equinox Case” and “Solstice Case,” respectively. The simulation results of Equinox Case show that the plasma number density in the high‐latitude cusp region scales well with the solar wind number density (ncusp/nsw=0.78), which agrees well with the statistical results from the Polar spacecraft measurements. For the Solstice Case, the plasma number density of high‐latitude cusp in both hemispheres increases approximately linearly with upstream solar wind number density with prominent hemispheric asymmetry. Due to the dipole tilt effect, the average number density ratio ncusp/nsw in the Southern (summer) Hemisphere is nearly 3 times that in the Northern (winter) Hemisphere. In addition to the solar wind number density, 20 solar wind coupling functions are tested for the linear correlation with the fluxes of precipitating cusp soft electrons. The statistical results indicate that the solar wind dynamic pressure p exhibits the highest linear correlation with the cusp electron fluxes for both equinox and solstice conditions, with correlation coefficients greater than 0.75. The linear regression relations for equinox and solstice cases may provide an empirical calculation for the fluxes of cusp soft electron precipitation based on the upstream solar wind driving conditions.

Do we know the actual magnetopause position for typical solar wind conditions?

AbstractWe compare predicted magnetopause positions at the subsolar point and four reference points in the terminator plane obtained from several empirical and numerical MHD models. Empirical models using various sets of magnetopause crossings and making different assumptions about the magnetopause shape predict significantly different magnetopause positions (with a scatter >1 RE) even at the subsolar point. Axisymmetric magnetopause models cannot reproduce the cusp indentations or the changes related to the dipole tilt effect, and most of them predict the magnetopause closer to the Earth than nonaxisymmetric models for typical solar wind conditions and zero tilt angle. Predictions of two global nonaxisymmetric models do not match each other, and the models need additional verification. MHD models often predict the magnetopause closer to the Earth than the nonaxisymmetric empirical models, but the predictions of MHD simulations may need corrections for the ring current effect and decreases of the solar wind pressure that occur in the foreshock. Comparing MHD models in which the ring current magnetic field is taken into account with the empirical Lin et al. model, we find that the differences in the reference point positions predicted by these models are relatively small for Bz=0. Therefore, we assume that these predictions indicate the actual magnetopause position, but future investigations are still needed.

On the origins and timescales of geoeffective IMF

AbstractSouthward interplanetary magnetic field (IMF) in the geocentric solar magnetospheric (GSM) reference frame is the key element that controls the level of space weather disturbance in Earth's magnetosphere, ionosphere, and thermosphere. We discuss the relation of this geoeffective IMF component to the IMF in the geocentric solar ecliptic (GSE) frame, and using the almost continuous interplanetary data for 1996–2015 (inclusive), we show that large geomagnetic storms are always associated with strong southward, out‐of‐ecliptic field in the GSE frame: Dipole tilt effects, which cause the difference between the southward field in the GSM and GSE frames, generally make only a minor contribution to these strongest storms. The time‐of‐day/time‐of‐year response patterns of geomagnetic indices and the optimum solar wind coupling function are both influenced by the timescale of the index response. We also study the occurrence spectrum of large out‐of‐ecliptic field and show that for 1 h averages it is, surprisingly, almost identical in ICMEs (interplanetary coronal mass ejections), around CIRs/SIRs (corotating and stream interaction regions) and in the “quiet” solar wind (which is shown to be consistent with the effect of weak SIRs). However, differences emerge when the timescale over which the field remains southward is considered: for longer averaging timescales the spectrum is broader inside ICMEs, showing that these events generate longer intervals of strongly southward average IMF and consequently stronger geomagnetic storms. The behavior of out‐of‐ecliptic field with timescale is shown to be very similar to that of deviations from the predicted Parker spiral orientation, suggesting the two share common origins.

Statistical maps of small‐scale electric field variability in the high‐latitude ionosphere

Statistical maps of small‐scale electric field variability in the high‐latitude ionosphere are derived for the Northern and Southern Hemispheres using 48 months of data from the Super Dual Auroral Radar Network (SuperDARN). Maps of variability magnitude (from scales of 45–450 km and 2–20 min) are derived for a range of interplanetary magnetic field (IMF) orientations and dipole tilt angles (the angle between the best fit dipole axis and the plane perpendicular to the Sun‐Earth line). It is found that the observed spatial distribution of average variability is significantly modified as the IMF and dipole tilt conditions change. Under negative (winter‐like) and neutral (equinox‐like) dipole tilt angles, variability is concentrated in the auroral and dayside cusp regions, and the spatial distributions of variability appear to be correlated to those of large‐ and small‐scale field‐aligned currents (FACs). Additionally, variability on the nightside is found to be more enhanced in the downward FAC region than it is in the upward FAC region. Under positive (summer‐like) dipole tilt angles, the average variability magnitudes across the high‐latitude regions are smaller than those observed under negative dipole tilt angles, and the spatial distributions are more uniform. These dipole tilt effects suggest that scale‐size‐ and conductivity‐dependent field‐aligned potential drops and conductivity‐dependent changes in the processes that generate variability are possible factors that impact the observed small‐scale electric field variability. In general, Southern Hemisphere maps appear very similar to Northern Hemisphere maps, although some minor differences are observed that may result from interhemispheric asymmetries in the geomagnetic field.

Observations of a unique type of ULF wave by low-altitude Space Technology 5 satellites

We report a unique type of ULF waves observed by low-altitude Space Technology 5 (ST-5) constellation mission. ST-5 is a three micro-satellite constellation deployed into a 300 x 4500 km, dawn-dusk, and sun synchronous polar orbit with 105.6deg inclination angle. Due to the Earth s rotation and the dipole tilt effect, the spacecraft s dawn-dusk orbit track can reach as low as subauroral latitudes during the course of a day. Whenever the spacecraft traverse across the dayside closed field line region at subauroral latitudes, they frequently observe strong transverse oscillations at 30-200 mHz, or in the Pc 2-3 frequency range. These Pc 2-3 waves appear as wave packets with durations in the order of 5-10 minutes. As the maximum separations of the ST-5 spacecraft are in the order of 10 minutes, the three ST-5 satellites often observe very similar wave packets, implying these wave oscillations occur in a localized region. The coordinated ground-based magnetic observations at the spacecraft footprints, however, do not see waves in the Pc 2-3 band; instead, the waves appear to be the common Pc 4-5 waves associated with field line resonances. We suggest that this unique Pc 2-3 waves seen by ST-5 are in fact the Doppler-shifted Pc 4-5 waves as a result of rapid traverse of the spacecraft across the resonant field lines azimuthally at low altitudes. The observations with the unique spacecraft dawn-disk orbits at proper altitudes and magnetic latitudes reveal the azimuthal characteristics of field-aligned resonances.

Origins of plasma sheetBy

[1] With 11 years of Geotail measurements we analyzed sources of plasma sheet By and constructed a model, depending on IMF By, coordinates X, Y, and geodipole tilt angle. By dependence on dipole tilt due to the neutral sheet warping and hinging has an odd (antisymmetric) profile with respect to Y. In addition, a new, even with respect to Y, By component was discovered, which is positively correlated with dipole tilt with the maximal amplitude ±1–2 nT. In the postmidnight sector the dipole tilt effects in By almost cancel each other, while at the premidnight sector they are summed up and are comparable with the IMF penetration. Such season-dependent net By creates a principal azimuthal asymmetry of the magnetotail and is consistent with some polar convection and aurora observations. Plasma sheet By is often substantially larger than the statistically expected value. This effect can be understood as “amplification” due to internal plasma sheet dynamics. As a result an asymmetric tail of the By distribution forms, causing certain overestimation of the regression coefficients in statistical models.

Dipole tilt effects on the magnetosphere‐ionosphere convection system during interplanetary magnetic field BY‐dominated periods: MHD modeling

Using numerical magnetohydrodynamic simulations, we examine the dipole tilt effects on the magnetosphere‐ionosphere convection system when the interplanetary magnetic field is oblique northward (BY = 4 nT and BZ = 2 nT). In particular, we clarify the relationship between viscous‐driven convection and reconnection‐driven convection. The azimuthal locations of the two viscous cell centers in the equatorial plane rotate eastward (westward) when the dipole tilt increases as the Northern Hemisphere turns toward (away from) the Sun. This rotation is associated with nearly the same amount of eastward (westward) rotation of the equatorial crossing point of the dayside separator. The reason for this association is that the viscous cell is spatially confined within the Dungey‐type merging cell whose position is controlled by the separator location. The ionospheric convection is basically a round/crescent cell pattern, but the round cell in the winter hemisphere is significantly deformed. Between its central lobe cell portion and its outer Dungey‐type merging cell portion, the round cell streamlines are deformed owing to the combined effects of the viscous cell and the hybrid merging cell, the latter of which is driven by both Dungey‐type reconnection and lobe‐closed reconnection.

Evolution of the outer radiation belt during the November 1993 storms driven by corotating interaction regions

Evolution of energetic electron fluxes, related solar wind conditions, and relevant plasma waves in the inner magnetosphere are examined during the two corotating interaction region (CIR)‐driven magnetic storms in November 1993. In this paper we focus on the fact that the flux of the outer radiation belt electrons increased significantly during the 3 November storm, while it did not increase above the prestorm level during the 18 November storm. The recovery phase of the 3 November storm is associated with the prolonged substorm activity; continuous injections of hot and subrelativistic electrons, and enhanced chorus wave activity which can accelerate subrelativistic electrons to MeV energies by means of wave‐particle interactions. In contrast, the recovery phase of the 18 November storm is associated with reduced substorm activity, weak injections of hot and subrelativistic electrons, and low chorus wave activity. These differences in the recovery phase can be related to the southward offset of interplanetary magnetic field (IMF) in the high‐speed coronal hole stream, which is influenced by the IMF sector polarity via the Russell‐McPherron effect (dipole tilt effect associated with the IMF polarity).

Annual and semiannual variations of the location and intensity of large‐scale field‐aligned currents

The present study examines seasonal variations of large‐scale field‐aligned current (FAC) systems in terms of the dipole tilt and clock angles. Magnetic field measurements from the DMSP F7 and F12‐F15 satellites are used. This data set consists of a total of ∼185,000 auroral oval crossings, out of which ∼121,000 crossings were selected for the present analysis. Focus is placed on the latitude at the demarcation between the region 2 (R2) and region 1 (R1) currents and the intensities of these currents. It is found that the dayside FAC moves poleward and equatorward in the summer and winter hemispheres, respectively, and the nightside FAC has the opposite seasonal dependence. In the midday sector the peak‐to‐peak variation of the FAC latitude over the entire range of the dipole tilt is ∼5°, whereas it is ∼4° around midnight. In the flank sectors the average FAC latitude is higher around the solstices than around the equinoxes irrespective of hemisphere. The corresponding dependence on the dipole clock angle can actually be found for almost all local time sectors, although the peak‐to‐peak variation of the expected semiannual variation, 2° around noon and <1° in other local time sectors, is smaller than that of the annual variation except for the flank sectors. A comparison with a model magnetic field strongly suggests that the dipole tilt effect on the magnetospheric configuration is the primary cause of the annual variation, whereas the semiannual variation is inferred to reflect the fact that geomagnetic activity tends to be higher around the equinoxes. The average dayside FAC intensity is larger in the summer hemisphere than in the winter hemisphere, which can be explained in terms of the seasonal variation of the ionospheric conductivity. The dayside R1 current intensity depends more strongly on the dipole tilt than the dayside R2 current intensity, and it changes by a factor of 2–3 over the entire range of the dipole tilt angle. In contrast, the annual variation of the nightside FAC intensity is more complicated, and the nightside R2 current seems to be more intense in the winter hemisphere than in the summer hemisphere. The dependence of the FAC intensity on the dipole clock angle is less significant especially for the R1 system. Nevertheless, the result suggests that the FAC tends to be more intense around the equinoxes, which is consistent with the semiannual variation of geomagnetic activity.

Signatures of the ionospheric cusp in digital ionosonde measurements of plasma drift above Casey, Antarctica

Signatures of the ionospheric cusp in HF digital ionosonde measurements of plasma drift made at the polar cap station Casey, Antarctica (−80.8° geomagnetic latitude), are investigated. Measurements recorded during the campaign interval February 13–17, 1996, are considered in this case study because the summer dipole tilt effect, and an interplanetary magnetic field (IMF) northward condition on February 16, were favorable for the detection of the cusp at a higher than usual latitude. On February 14 and 15 the magnitude of the IMF was about 4–6 nT, and the station probably passed just poleward of the cusp. The most general signatures of the cusp were enhanced electric field and electric field turbulence shown by increased drift velocity and velocity scatter in the convection throat, respectively. Broadband, unstructured fluctuations in the geomagnetic field measured by magnetometers near to noon are well known to be a signature of cusp currents and were associated with the intervals of enhanced convection turbulence. A major cusp event occurred above Casey on February 16, when the magnitude of the IMF increased from about 5 to > 10 nT. Cusp signatures during this event included the drift velocity surging to large values just before and after an interval during which the F region echoes were lost because of an absence of F region ionization and the formation of electron density patches. The loss of echoes was only partly explained by increased absorption and scatter of the transmitted radio waves. Although the spectral width of Doppler peaks increased, this, by itself, was not a unique signature of the cusp because the obliquity of echoes also controlled the spectral width in our near‐vertical interferometry. However, signatures of the cusp were easily recognized in digisonde data, and the cusp's location and dynamics can be monitored using digisondes.

Calculation of shapes of dipolar domains in two-dimensional films: Effect of dipole tilt

Dispersed domains in two-dimensional two-phase systems often exhibit complex and intriguing morphologies. For many of these systems, it is possible to predict the shape of such a domain through an evaluation of the free energy. In this paper, we extend our previous numerical technique for calculating domain shapes by allowing for titled dipoles; the original technique assumed dipole moments oriented normal to the system plane. The solution diagram is presented in the vicinity of the primary shape transition for varying tilt angles. We find that circular domains are only stable in the absence of dipole tilt. Moreover, we find that the discontinuous transition found when the dipoles are vertical gives way to continuous elongation with increasing dipole tilt. Interestingly, it appears that the critical angle is independent of domain size.

A satellite study of dayside auroral conjugacy

Abstract. A study of dayside auroral conjugacy has been done using the cleft/boundary layer auroral particle boundaries observed by the DMSP-F7 satellite in the southern hemisphere and the global UV auroral images taken by the Viking spacecraft in the northern hemisphere. The 22 events have been studied on the basis of an internal IGRF 1985 magnetic field; it is shown that there is a displacement of up to 4° in latitude from the conjugate points with the northern aurora appearing to be located poleward of the conjugate point. No local time dependence of the north-south auroral location difference was seen. The use of a more realistic magnetic field model for tracing field lines which incorporates the dipole tilt angle and Kp index, the Tsyganenko 1987 long model plus the IGRF 1985 internal magnetic field model, appears to organize the data better. Although with this external plus internal model some tracings did not close in the opposite hemisphere, 70% of those that did indicated satisfactory conjugacy. The study shows that the degree of auroral conjugacy is dependent upon the accuracy of the magnetic field model used to trace to the conjugate point, especially in the dayside region where the field lines can either go to the dayside magnetopause near the subsolar point or sweep all the way back to the flanks of the magnetotail. Also the discrepancy in the latitude of northern and southern aurora can be partially explained by the displacement of the neutral sheet (source region of the aurora) by the dipole tilt effect.

BX control of polar cap potential for northward interplanetary magnetic field

We have examined how the magnitude of the polar cap potential for northward interplanetary magnetic field (IMF) changes with the angle of the field in the BX/BZ plane. From the dawn‐dusk passes (November–December 1981, May–June 1982, and November–December 1982) of the Dynamics Explorer 2 satellite, we selected 363 passes by requiring the IMF hourly value BZ ≥ 1 nT for the preceding 2‐hour interval. Of these, 72 cases displayed a reverse convection pattern in the electric field data, i.e., sunward at the highest latitudes and antisunward at lower latitudes. The potential difference across the region of sunward convection correlates well with various functions that consist of all or some of the IMF parameters, BZ, BY, the BY/BZ angle, and the solar wind velocity. We “normalize” the potential, using these functions. To test for a BX dependence while eliminating dipole tilt effects, we introduce ϕh*, the angle between the IMF vector projected to the X‐Z meridian and the Earth dipole axis. The normalized potential F for the northern hemisphere is the largest when ϕh*, measured from the northern dipole axis toward the Sun, is negative and large (∼ −100°), and decreases as ϕh* approaches zero and turns positive. An approximate equation for this relation is F(ϕh*) = a + b / (ϕh* + 125°), where the values for a and b lie between 0.0086 and 0.015 and between 1.6 and 1.9, respectively. This relation can be interpreted in terms of a model of magnetosheath field line motion which predicts that the reconnection belt on the magnetopause poleward of the cusp becomes longer as the magnetosheath field lines tilt toward the tail lobe.

A satellite study of dayside auroral conjugacy

<strong class="journal-contentHeaderColor">Abstract.</strong> A study of dayside auroral conjugacy has been done using the cleft/boundary layer auroral particle boundaries observed by the DMSP-F7 satellite in the southern hemisphere and the global UV auroral images taken by the Viking spacecraft in the northern hemisphere. The 22 events have been studied on the basis of an internal IGRF 1985 magnetic field; it is shown that there is a displacement of up to 4^° in latitude from the conjugate points with the northern aurora appearing to be located poleward of the conjugate point. No local time dependence of the north-south auroral location difference was seen. The use of a more realistic magnetic field model for tracing field lines which incorporates the dipole tilt angle and <i>Kp</i> index, the Tsyganenko 1987 long model plus the IGRF 1985 internal magnetic field model, appears to organize the data better. Although with this external plus internal model some tracings did not close in the opposite hemisphere, 70% of those that did indicated satisfactory conjugacy. The study shows that the degree of auroral conjugacy is dependent upon the accuracy of the magnetic field model used to trace to the conjugate point, especially in the dayside region where the field lines can either go to the dayside magnetopause near the subsolar point or sweep all the way back to the flanks of the magnetotail. Also the discrepancy in the latitude of northern and southern aurora can be partially explained by the displacement of the neutral sheet (source region of the aurora) by the dipole tilt effect.

Imaging the effect of dipole tilt on magnetotail boundaries

Eight years of IMP 8, four years of ISEE 2, and one year of IMP 7 magnetometer data have been combined to produce an "image" of the average magnetic field for a YZ cross section (aberrated GSM) of the magnetotail at a downtail distance of 25 RE. The shape of the neutral sheet and magnetopause boundaries can be observed directly from the images. A fitting function that qualitatively matches the observed boundary shape can then be chosen. This approach improves on previous fits to possibly unsuitable functional forms specified independently of the data. In addition, as a refinement of previous studies, we have corrected for varying solar wind dynamic pressure and the effects of tail flaring. We find the magnetopause is displaced above the XY plane with increasing dipole tilt. The neutral sheet is found to curve slightly more than the model of Fairfield (1980) during times of large dipole tilt and near the flanks appears to differ substantially from the neutral sheet shape given by the analytic model of Voigt [1984], the more recent neutral sheet model of Dandouras (1988) based on the Voigt model, and the semi‐empirical model of Tsyganenko (1989).