Midnight Region Research Articles

Average Ionospheric Middle and Low Latitudes Nighttime Zonal Currents Deduced From CHAMP

AbstractBy utilizing magnetic field measurements collected by CHAMP during the years 2001–2009, average characteristics of nighttime ionospheric zonal currents at middle and low latitudes are investigated. We provide for the first time the detailed dependencies of these currents on location, local time, season, and the level of solar activity. The main results obtained are (1) the nighttime zonal ionospheric currents at F‐region altitude, derived from the vertical magnetic component, exhibit on average height‐integrated current densities up to 10 mA/m. The amplitude varies quasi‐linearly with F10.7 flux level. (2) During equinoxes symmetric current systems at F‐region altitude are found in the two hemispheres. After sunset, eastward currents dominate at low latitudes, fading away toward midnight. After midnight regions of eastward currents are observed at midlatitude. During solstice seasons, eastward currents are enhanced in the summer hemisphere; westward currents are stronger in local winter. (3) Longitudinal variations of F‐region currents show clear wave‐1 patterns. This is related to the effect of the stationary planetary wave‐1 and the diurnal nonmigrating tide, D0. This dominant tidal signal, enhancing eastward currents over the Pacific region, appears at middle and low latitudes and during all seasons. (4) At the magnetic equator, signs of the equatorial electrojet (EEJ) are evident after 02:30 MLT. Intensity of westward currents in the narrow band increases toward sunrise. Longitudinal variations of the EEJ show a similar wave‐1 pattern as F‐region currents. Here the westward current density is enhanced over Africa/India. The EEJ wave‐1 modulation is strongest around June solstice.

Shear Flow‐Interchange Instability in Nightside Magnetotail as Proposed Cause of Auroral Beads as a Signature of Substorm Onset

AbstractA geometric wedge model of the near‐Earth nightside plasma sheet is used to derive a wave equation for low‐frequency shear flow‐interchange waves which transmit sheared zonal flows along magnetic flux tubes toward the ionosphere. Discrepancies with the wave equation result used in Kalmoni et al. (2015, https://doi.org/10.1002/2015JA021470) for shear flow‐ballooning instability are discussed. The shear flow‐interchange instability appears to be responsible for substorm onset. The wedge wave equation is used to compute rough expressions for dispersion relations and local growth rates in the midnight region of the nightside magnetotail where the instability develops, forming the auroral beads characteristic of geomagnetic substorm onset. Stability analysis for the shear flow‐interchange modes demonstrates that nonlinear analysis is necessary for quantitatively accurate results and determines the spatial scale on which the instability varies.

The High‐Latitude Trough in the Southern Hemisphere Observed by Swarm‐A Satellite

AbstractBased on the electron density, field‐aligned currents (FACs) and ion drift velocity data from the Swarm‐A satellite during 2013–2018, we investigate the features of the high‐latitude trough in the Southern Hemisphere. The results show that the high‐latitude trough in the Southern Hemisphere is a persistent postmidnight feature in winter. It is observed mainly in the eastern longitudes under low solar activity conditions and in a smaller longitudinal range under high solar activity conditions. The high‐latitude trough moves to higher latitudes at later local times, which is more obvious under low solar activity conditions. We also find that the features of FACs and ion drift velocity distribution in the high‐latitude trough region depend on longitude. In the longitude sector of 0°–70°E, the high‐latitude trough positions are always located at the poleward boundary of the downward FAC region, and collocated with the convection reversal boundary in the postmidnight region. In the longitude sector of 80°–130°E, the high‐latitude trough positions are located at the poleward boundary of the downward FAC region in the midnight region and at the strong westward or antisunward ion flow region in the postmidnight region. It is suggested that the high‐latitude trough formation and evolution is possibly associated with downward FACs, flow stagnation in the convection reversal boundary, and westward or antisunward ion flow.

Statistical study of ULF waves in the magnetotail by THEMIS observations

Abstract. Ultra-low-frequency (ULF) waves are ubiquitous in the magnetosphere. Previous studies mostly focused on ULF waves in the dayside or near-Earth region (with radial distance R<12 RE). In this study, using the data of the Time History of Events and Macroscale Interactions during Substorms (THEMIS) mission during the period from 2008 to 2015, the Pc5–6 ULF waves in the tail region with XGSM∗<0, 8 RE<R<32 RE (mostly on the stretched magnetic field lines) are studied statistically. A total of 1089 azimuthal oscillating events and 566 radial oscillating events were found. The statistical results show that both the azimuthal and radial oscillating events in the magnetotail region (12 RE<R<32 RE) are more frequently observed in the post-midnight region. The frequency decreases with increasing radial distance from Earth for both azimuthal oscillating events (8 RE<R<16 RE) and radial oscillating events (8 RE<R<14 RE), which is consistent with the field line resonances theory. About 52 % of events (including the azimuthal and radial oscillating events) are standing waves in the region of 8–16 RE, while only 2 % are standing waves in the region of 16–32 RE. There is no obvious dawn–dusk asymmetry of ULF wave frequency for events in 8 RE<R<32 RE, which contrasts with the obvious dawn–dusk asymmetry found by previous studies in the inner magnetosphere (4 RE<R<9 RE). An examination for possible statistical relationships between the ULF wave parameters and substorm occurrences is carried out. We find that the wave frequency is higher after the substorm onset than before it, and the frequency differences are more obvious in the midnight region than in the flank region.

The Distribution of Two Flapping Types of Magnetotail Current Sheet: Implication for the Flapping Mechanism

AbstractFlapping motion of the current sheets of planetary magnetotails is a common dynamic phenomenon. Previous studies of the Earth's magnetotail suggest that its flapping motion has two forms, that is, kink‐like flapping that can propagate as waves toward both flanks and steady flapping that moves up and down but does not propagate. Although some models have been proposed to explain the kink‐like flapping, its mechanism remains unclear. This paper surveys 87 flapping events statistically with respect to their flapping types, using the multipoint measurements of Cluster. The statistical results show that the up‐down steady flapping events tend to occur around the midnight region, and the kink‐like flapping events tend to occur near both flanks of the magnetotail. Thus, we propose that kink‐like flapping motion is causally related to steady flapping motion; that is, the up and down motion of steady flapping around the midnight region induces kink‐like flapping waves, which propagate toward both flanks of the magnetotail.

Plasma Sheet Pressure Variations in the Near‐Earth Magnetotail During Substorm Growth Phase: THEMIS Observations

AbstractWe investigate the plasma sheet pressure variations in the near‐Earth magnetotail (radius distance, R, from 7.5 RE to 12 RE and magnetic local time, MLT, from 18:00 to 06:00) during substorm growth phase with Time History of Events and Macroscale Interactions during Substorms (THEMIS) observations. It is found that, during the substorm growth phase, about 39.4% (76/193) of the selected events display a phenomenon of equatorial plasma pressure (Peq) decrease. The occurrence rates of Peq decrease cases are higher in the dawn (04:00 to 06:00) and dusk (18:00 to 20:00) flanks (> 50%) than in the midnight region (20:00 to 04:00, < 40%). The mean values of the maximum percentages of Peq decrease during the substorm growth phases are larger in the dawn and dusk flanks (~ −20%) than in the midnight region (~ > −16%). The mean value of Peq increase percentages at the end of substorm growth phase is the highest (~ 40%) in the premidnight MLT bin (22:00 to 00:00) and is almost unchanged in the dawn and dusk flanks. Further investigations show that 13.0% of the events have more than 10% of Peq decrease at the end of substorm growth phase comparing to the value before the growth phase, and ~ 28.0% of the events have small changes (< 10%), and ~ 59.0% events have a more than 10% increase. This study also reveals the importance of electron pressure (Pe) in the variation of Peq in the substorm growth phase. The Pe variations often account for more than 50% of the Peq changes, and the ratios of Pe to ion pressure often display large variations (~ 50%). Among the investigated events, during the growth phase, an enhanced equatorial plasma convection flow is observed, which diverges in the midnight tail region and propagates azimuthally toward the dayside magnetosphere with velocity of ~ 20 km/s. It is proposed that the Peq decreases in the near‐Earth plasma sheet during the substorm growth phase may be due to the transport of closed magnetic flux toward the dayside magnetosphere driven by dayside magnetopause reconnection. Both solar wind and ionospheric conductivity effects may influence the distributions of occurrence rates for Peq decrease events and the Peq increase percentages in the investigated region.

Distribution of water-group ion cyclotron waves in Saturn\u2019s magnetosphere

The water-group ion cyclotron waves (ICWs) in Saturn’s magnetosphere were studied using the magnetic field data provided by the MAG magnetometer on board the Cassini satellite. The period from January 2005 to December 2009, when the Cassini radial distance is smaller than 8 RS, was used. ICWs were identified by their left-hand circularly polarized magnetic perturbations and wave frequencies near the water-group ion gyrofrequencies. We obtained the spatial distribution of ICW amplitude and found that the source region of ICWs is mostly located in the low-latitude region, near the equator and inside the 6 RS radial distance. However, it can extend beyond 7 RS in the midnight region. In general, the wave amplitude is peaked slightly away from the equator, for all local time sectors in both the Northern and Southern Hemispheres. By assuming that the water-group ions are composed of pickup ions and background thermal ions, we obtained the local instability condition of the ICWs and estimated their growth rate along the field lines. If the wave amplitude is correlated with the growth rate, the observed latitudinal dependence of the wave amplitude can be well explained by the local stability analysis. Also, latitudinal location of the peak amplitude is found to depend on the local time. This implies a local time dependence for the water-group ion parallel temperature T|, as determined from the theoretical calculations. Graphical abstractFigure 7. The upper panel shows the projected orbit of Cassini in the cylindrical R–Z plane across the L-shell from the Northern Hemisphere to the Southern Hemisphere. The red line denotes Cassini’s orbit and the blue lines denote the L-shell field lines going through points A and B, respectively. The lower panel shows the power spectrum of delta B_{phi }, the blue dotted line shows the local W+ gyrofrequency (flocal), and the black line is the W+ gyrofrequency at the equator (feq) of the dipole L-shell of the Cassini orbit, which moves from A to B

Response of plasmaspheric configuration to substorms revealed by Chang'e 3.

The Moon-based Extreme Ultraviolet Camera (EUVC) of the Chang’e 3 mission provides a global and instantaneous meridian view (side view) of the Earth’s plasmasphere. The plasmasphere is one inner component of the whole magnetosphere, and the configuration of the plasmasphere is sensitive to magnetospheric activity (storms and substorms). However, the response of the plasmaspheric configuration to substorms is only partially understood, and the EUVC observations provide a good opportunity to investigate this issue. By reconstructing the global plasmaspheric configuration based on the EUVC images observed during 20–22 April 2014, we show that in the observing period, the plasmasphere had three bulges which were located at different geomagnetic longitudes. The inferred midnight transit times of the three bulges, using the rotation rate of the Earth, coincide with the expansion phase of three substorms, which implies a causal relationship between the substorms and the formation of the three bulges on the plasmasphere. Instead of leading to plasmaspheric erosion as geomagnetic storms do, substorms initiated on the nightside of the Earth cause local inflation of the plasmasphere in the midnight region.

Survey on the Magnetic Structure of the Neutral Sheets in Earth's Magnetotail

Based on the multipoint magnetic observations of Cluster from 2001 to 2004, the magnetic field structure in magnetotail Neutral Sheet （NS） is statistically surveyed. The results are as follows. In NS, <i>a</i> cubic function is selected to reveal the relation between <i>y</i> （GSM） and positional parameter <i>z</i>. The relation between <i>y</i> and magnetic field values indicates that the magnetic field is weak at midnight region and strengthens gradually at the duskside and dawnside. The relation between <i>y</i> and curvature radius is expressed by <i>a</i> quadratic function. And <i>R</i>_c of flattened CS is less than that of the normal CS. <i>B</i>_<i>y</i> determines the orientation of MFLs' configuration. The polar angle of the curvature vector is affected by the NS configuration. In addition, the correlation between the polar angle of the curvature vector and <i>z</i> is higher. The polar angle of the normal of the osculating plane is uncertain in the center area. The relation between the azimuthal angles of the curvature vector （the normal of the osculating plane） and <i>y</i> is negatively correlated. An empirical model applied to <i>yz</i> plane of the three-dimensional structure of the magnetic field lines in the NS are developed, and it is represented as <i>a</i> function of the positional parameter <i>y</i>. Finally, the current density is also statistically surveyed.

STRONG SOLAR WIND DYNAMIC PRESSURE PULSES: INTERPLANETARY SOURCES AND THEIR IMPACTS ON GEOSYNCHRONOUS MAGNETIC FIELDS

In this investigation, we first present a statistical result of the interplanetary sources of very strong solar wind dynamic pressure pulses (DPPs) detected by WIND during solar cycle 23. It is found that the vast majority of strong DPPs reside within solar wind disturbances. Although the variabilities of geosynchronous magnetic fields (GMFs) due to the impact of positive DPPs have been well established, there appears to be no systematic investigations on the response of GMFs to negative DPPs. Here, we study both the decompression effects of very strong negative DPPs and the compression from strong positive DPPs on GMFs at different magnetic local time sectors. In response to the decompression of strong negative DPPs, GMFs on the dayside near dawn and near dusk on the nightside, are generally depressed. But near the midnight region, the responses of GMF are very diverse, being either positive or negative. For part of the events when GOES is located at the midnight sector, the GMF is found to abnormally increase as the result of magnetospheric decompression caused by negative DPPs. It is known that under certain conditions magnetic depression of nightside GMFs can be caused by the impact of positive DPPs. Here, we find that a stronger pressure enhancement may have a higher probability of producing the exceptional depression of GMF at the midnight region. Statistically, both the decompression effect of strong negative DPPs and the compression effect of strong positive DPPs depend on the magnetic local time, which are stronger at the noon sector.

Characterizing the low‐altitude magnetic belt at Venus: Complementary observations from the Pioneer Venus Orbiter and Venus Express

AbstractUsing Venus Express, Zhang et al. (2012b) identified strong magnetic field enhancements at low altitudes over the north polar region of Venus as giant flux ropes. Strong fields at low altitudes were also observed during the Pioneer Venus Orbiter mission, but at low latitudes near the subsolar and midnight regions. We examine the possibility that the Venus Express observations are not giant flux ropes, but part of a low‐altitude magnetic belt that builds up in the subsolar region, passes over the terminator, and extends to the nightside. Our analysis indicates the magnetic belt is dominantly horizontal over the dayside and gains a radial component nightward. The peak magnetic field strength of the belt and the altitude at which it peaks also varies around the planet, with the lowest altitude and strongest field strength in the subsolar region, consistent with the idea of the belt forming on the dayside. Zhang et al. (2012b) also noted the fields in the polar region had a bias in the +By direction in Venus Solar Orbital coordinates. The multifluid magnetohydrodynamic simulation we present shows an asymmetry in the plasma flow from the subsolar region to the poles due to the oxygen ion and proton mass ratio. This causes the magnetic field to preferentially accumulate in the north for a +By interplanetary magnetic field direction, providing an explanation for this bias.

Radial distribution of magnetic field in earth magnetotail current sheet

Knowing the magnetic field distribution in the magnetotail current sheet (CS) is essential for exploring magnetotail dynamics. In this study, using a joint dataset of Cluster/TC-1, the radial profile of the magnetic field in the magnetotail CS with radial distances covering 8<r<20RE under different geomagnetic activity states (i.e., AE≤100nT for quiet intervals while AE>100nT for active times) and solar wind parameters are statistically surveyed. Our new findings demonstrate that, independent of the activity state, the field strength and Bz component (GSM coordinates) start the monotonic increase prominently as r decreases down to ~11.5RE, which means the dipole field starts to make a significant contribution from there. At least in the surveyed radial range, the Bz component is found to be weaker in the midnight and dusk sectors than that in the dawn sector, displaying a dawn–dusk asymmetry. The occurrence rate of negative Bz in active times also exhibits a similar asymmetric distribution, which implies active dynamics may occur more frequently at midnight and dusk flank. In comparison with that in quiet intervals, several features can be seen in active times: (1) a local Bz minimum between 10.5<r<12.5RE is found in the dusk region, (2) the Bz component around the midnight region is generally stronger and experiences larger fluctuations, and (3) a sharp positive/negative-excursion of the By component occurs at the dawn/dusk flank regions inside r<10RE. The response to solar wind parameters revealed that the Bz component is generally stronger under higher dynamic pressure (Pdy>5nPa), which may support the dawn–dusk squeezing effect as presented by Miyashita et al. (2010). The CS By is generally correlated with the interplanetary magnetic field (IMF) By component, and the correlation quality is found to be better with higher penetration coefficient (the ratio of CS By to IMF By) when IMF Bz is positive. The implications of the present results are discussed.

Mid-latitude Geomagnetic Field Analysis Using BOH Magnetometer: Preliminary Results

Korea Astronomy and Space Science Institute researchers have installed and operated magnetometers at Mt. Bohyun Observatory to measure the Earth`s magnetic field variations in South Korea. We, in 2007, installed a fluxgate magnetometer (RFP-523C) to measure H, D, and Z components of the geomagnetic field. In addition, in 2009, we installed a Overhauser proton sensor to measure the absolute total magnetic field F and a three-axis magneto-impedance sensor for spectrum analysis. Currently three types of magnetometer data have been accumulated. In this paper, we provide the preliminary and the first statistical analysis using the BOH magnetometer installed at Mt. Bohyun Observatory. By superposed analysis, we find that daily variations of H, D, and Z shows similar tendency, that is, about 30 minutes before the meridian (11:28) a minimum appears and the time after about 3 hours and 30 minutes (15:28) a maximum appears. Also, a quiet interval start time (19:06) is near the sunset time, and a quiet interval end time (06:40) is near the sunrise time. From the sunset to the sunrise, the value of H has a nearly constant interval, that is, the sun affects the changes in H values. Seasonal variations show similar dependences to the sun. Local time variations show that noon region has the biggest variations and midnight region has the smallest variations. We compare the correlations between geomagnetic variations and activity indices as we expect the geomagnetic variation would contain the effects of geomagnetic activity variations. As a result, the correlation coefficient between H and Dst is the highest (r

Statistical survey on the magnetic field in magnetotail current sheets: Cluster observations

The distribution properties of the magnetic field in magnetotail current sheets have been explored statistically with the magnetic measurement data of the Cluster mission from June to November of the years 2001–2005. It is found that, on average, the strength of the magnetic field and its Bz component in the current sheet are weaker in the region close to midnight but stronger near the dawnside and duskside flanks, which implies that, in general, a thinner current sheet occurs near midnight and thicker ones near both flanks. The occurrence of tail current sheet flapping is higher on both flanks than in the midnight region, although it is most frequent in the dawn flank. Current sheets with a negative Bz component or a strong By component have a higher probability of occurring at magnetic local times of 21:00–01:00, indicating that magnetic activity, e.g. magnetic reconnection and current disruption occur more frequently there. Statistically, the probability distributions of the By component and the tilt angle of magnetic field lines in the current sheet are approximately normal distributions, and the occurrence probability of the flattened current sheet is about one third that of the normal current sheet. The magnetic field and Bz component in the current sheet mainly vary from 1 nT to 10 nT. The By component in the tail central current sheet is on average twice the IMF By at 1 AU.

Spatiotemporal dynamics of the magnetosphere during geospace storms: Mutual information analysis

The magnetospheric response to strong driving by the solar wind has spatial variations, and corresponding data are essential for the understanding of the spatiotemporal dynamics. A database of ISEE3 and IMP8 spacecraft and ground‐based magnetometer data from high‐latitude stations (Kamide et al., 1998) is used to study the magnetospheric response to solar wind variables during geospace storms. This high‐resolution database for the 6‐month period January–June 1979 is used to compute the mutual information functions representing the correlations inherent in the system. A key feature of the mutual information function is its ability to yield the linear as well as nonlinear correlations and such functions are needed to characterize the inherently nonlinear magnetospheric dynamics. The minimum window length required for computing these functions is about 6 h, and this choice also avoids the diurnal variability. Another window length of 24 h is used to analyze the dynamics on longer timescales. The spreads in the average mutual information of the spatially distributed magnetometers show strong correlations with the convective electric field and dynamic pressure of the solar wind. This correlation is not seen in the linear correlation functions. The mutual information functions show an expansion of the disturbed region starting from the midnight region. From the space weather perspective these functions provide the correlations among the different regions, which are critical elements enabling forecasts of regional, rather than global, conditions.

The distribution characteristics of the flows in the near-Earth region: TC-1 observational results

TC-1 observational results clearly indicate that the velocity of the flows in the near-Earth region is de-pendent on the satellite location. The flow speed decreases while satellite moves close to the Earth. The plasma flow in the region close to the Earth tends to drift into the midnight region from the dawn and dusk region while the flow in the region away from the Earth shows an opposite drift. The obser-vational results also show that the tailward flows are mainly located in the plasma sheet boundary while the earthward flow becomes dominant in the plasma sheet. It is found that both the strong tailward and earthward flows are distributed in the region around X= -11Re, which coincides with the trigger region of the substorm onset. Hence, it may suggest that the flows are related with the trigger of the substorm onset. In addition, the BBFs coming from the mid-tail maily distributed in the region where X<-9RE and |Z|<3RE that differs from the convection.

Geotail observations of two-component protons in the midnight plasma sheet

Abstract. Through the effort to obtain clues toward understanding of transport of cold plasma in the near-Earth magnetotail under northward IMF, we find that two-component protons are observed in the midnight plasma sheet (−10&gt;XGSM&gt;−30 RE, |YGSM| &lt;10 RE) under northward IMF by the Geotail spacecraft. Since the two-component protons are frequently observed on the duskside during northward IMF intervals but hardly on the dawnside, those found in the midnight plasma sheet are thought to come from the dusk flank. The cold proton component in the midnight region occasionally has a parallel anisotropy, which resembles that in the tail flank on the duskside. The flows in the plasma sheet with two-component protons were quite stagnant or slightly going dawnward, which supports the idea that the observed two-component protons in the midnight region are of duskside origin. Because the two-component protons in the midnight plasma sheet emerge under strongly northward IMF with the latitudinal angle larger than 45 degrees, and because the lag from the strongly northward IMF to the emergence can be as short as a few hours, we suggest that prompt plasma transport from the dusk to midnight region occurs under strongly northward IMF. We propose that the dawnward flows result from viscous interaction between the high-latitude portion of the plasma sheet and the lobe cell. Another candidate for plasma transport process from the dusk to the midnight region is turbulent flow due to vortical structures of the Kelvin-Helmholtz instability that developed around the dusk low-latitude boundary under strongly northward IMF. In addition, we also suggest that gradual cooling of hot protons under northward IMF is a global phenomenon in the near-Earth magnetotail.

Observation of two distinct cold, dense ion populations at geosynchronous orbit: local time asymmetry, solar wind dependence and origin

Abstract. We report on the observation of two distinct cold (Ti&lt;5 keV), dense (Ni&gt;2 cm−3) ion populations at geosynchronous orbit. A statistical study was performed on measurements from the geosynchronous Los Alamos plasma instruments, for the period 1990–2004, and complemented by corresponding large-scale plasma sheet data obtained by mapping DMSP observations in the tail. The first population, which has previously been reported in several studies, is observed in the midnight region of geosynchronous orbit. The second population, which has drawn less attention, is detected on the dawn side of geosynchronous orbit. No such cold, dense population is observed on the dusk side of geosynchronous orbit on a frequent basis. The temporal evolution of various plasma parameters as a function of local time shows that the two populations appear at geosynchronous orbit as distinct populations, since the appearance of a midnight population is not usually associated with that of a dawn population, and vice versa. The midnight ion population is typically observed after the IMF has been northward for some time and is convected inward toward geosynchronous orbit after an observed mild southward turning of the average IMF. It is interpreted that the source of the midnight population is the cold, dense plasma sheet (CDPS). The dawn-side cold and dense ion population is associated with previously strong southward IMF and consequently occurs during substantial geomagnetic activity. These events are typically observed around the end of the main phase of the corresponding Dst decrease, down to −50 nT on average. It is unlikely that this dawn population is simply the low-latitude boundary layer (LLBL) moving closer to Earth because (1) no symmetric dusk population is observed and (2) on average a small sunward flow (~15 km/s) is observed for those events. The cold, dense population at dawn is thus observed during active times (based on Dst, Kp and AE indices) in comparison with the midnight case. However, since the dawn population is observed only around the end of the main Dst decrease, it is concluded that this population does not typically contribute to the Dst decrease during the main phase. This population may rather be transported to geosynchronous orbit by means of a compression and convection enhancement in the magnetosphere, with a preferential access from the dawn flank with no apparent counterpart at dusk. DMSP data suggest that a cold and dense plasma source is mainly present at dawn.

Statistical study of effect of solar wind dynamic pressure enhancements on dawn‐to‐dusk ring current asymmetry

In this paper, we statistically investigate the effect of solar wind dynamic pressure enhancements on the dawn‐to‐dusk ring current asymmetry by examining disturbances of the ASY‐H index and low‐latitude and midlatitude ground asymmetric perturbations in the north‐south (H) component of the geomagnetic field during 186 events occurring from 1 June 2003 to 30 September 2004. Both storm time and nonstorm time events are included. It is found that a pressure enhancement further intensifies the ring current asymmetry provided that the ring current is already asymmetric at the time of the onset of the pressure enhancement. This effect strongly depends on the IMF Bz conditions prior to the pressure enhancement. Generally, for negative IMF Bz, pressure enhancements further increase the ring current asymmetry. This effect also depends on the strength of the pressure enhancement. Under the same IMF Bz conditions, the stronger the pressure enhancement is, the stronger the intensification of the asymmetric ring current is. The IMF Bz conditions during a pressure enhancement play a similar role to that of the IMF Bz preconditioning. The results further show that midlatitude H perturbations around the local noon or midnight region as well as the ASY‐H index often include significant contribution from field‐aligned currents, e.g., the region 1 (R1) or region 2 (R2) currents or the substorm current wedge.

Mars Express and MARSIS

The Mars Express mission to be launched in 2003 will provide high resolution measurements of the Martian atmosphere and ionosphere. The neutral density, temperature, and composition will be measured, and MARSIS, a low frequency radar experiment, will probe the Martian plasma environment for electron densities in the range from 100 to 3 x 105 electrons/cm−3. The radar will for the first time make measurements of the ionosphere in the sub-solar and midnight regions which were not accessible to previous missions. The radar will provide global coverage and an increase in spatial resolution of vertical electron density profiles, which can be used to improve understanding relationships between the neutral atmosphere and ionosphere, and the interactions of the solar wind with the planet. The radar may be able to detect effects associated with magnetic merging, plasma clouds, and plasma streams, which have been predicted in the dayside/terminator ionosphere. Measurements on the nightside can be used to search for proposed fine structures (‘holes’) in the electron density. Hydrodynamic waves are predicted to be excited by the solar wind/ionosphere interaction and their influence on the electron densities can be observed with the radar. Neutral density and temperature profiles are required to understand the details of the vertical variations of the electron density. This includes testing for effects induced on the electron density profiles by dust storms and by precipitations of solar wind ions in cusp-like magnetic regions. The search for trace elements by optical spectrometers may reveal magnesium ions in predicted meteoric layer.