The Cold-Dense Plasma Sheet: A Geotail Perspective

GEOTAIL observations of the low-latitude boundary layer (LLBL) in the tail-flanks show that they are the region where the cold-dense plasma appears with stagnant flow signatures accompanied by bi-directional thermal electrons (< 300 eV). It is concluded from these facts that the tail-LLBL is the site of capturing the cold-dense plasma of the magnetosheath origin on to the closed field lines of the magnetosphere. There are also cases that strongly suggest that the cold-dense plasma entry from the flanks can be significant to fill a substantial part of the magnetotail. In such cases, the cold-dense plasma is not spatially restricted to a layer attached to the magnetopause (that is, the LLBL), but continues to well inside the magnetotail, constituting the cold-dense plasma sheet. Inspired by the fact that these remarkable cases are found for northward interplanetary magnetic field (IMF), a statistical study on the status of the near-Earth plasma sheet is made. The results show that the plasma sheet becomes significantly colder and denser when the northward IMF continues than during southward IMF periods, and that the cold-dense status appears most prominently near the dawn and dusk flanks. These are consistent with the idea that, during northward IMF periods, the supply of cold-dense ions to the near-Earth tail from the flanks dominates over the hot-tenuous ions transported from the distant tail.     

Primary sources of large-scale Birkeland currents

We review generation mechanisms of Birkeland currents (field-aligned currents) in the magnetosphere and the ionosphere. Comparing Birkeland currents predicted theoretically with those studied observationally by spacecraft experiments, we present a model for driving mechanism, which is unified by the solar wind-magnetosphere interaction that allows the coexistence of steady viscous interaction and unsteady magnetic reconnection. The model predicts the following: (1) the Region 1 Birkeland currents (which are located at poleward part of the auroral Birkeland-current belt, and constitute quasi-permanently and stably a primary part of the overall system of Birkeland currents) would be fed by vorticity-induced space charges at the core of two-cell magnetospheric convection arisen as a result of viscous interaction between the solar wind and the magnetospheric plasma, (2) the Region 2 Birkeland currents (which are located at equatorward part of the auroral Birkeland-current belt, and exhibit more variable and localized behavior) would orginate from regions of plasma pressure inhomogeneities in the magnetosphere caused by the coupling between two-cell magnetospheric convection and the hot ring current, where the gradient-B current and/or the curvature current (presumably the hot plasma sheet-ring current) are forced to divert to the ionosphere, (3) the Cusp Birkeland currents (which are located poleward of and adjacent to the Region 1 currents and are strongly controlled by the interplanetary magnetic field (IMF)) might be a diversion of the inertia current which is newly and locally produced in the velocity-decelerated region of earthward solar wind where the magnetosphere is eroded by dayside magnetic reconnection, (4) the nightside Birkeland currents which are connected to a part of the westward auroral electrojet in the Harang discontinuity sector might be a diversion of the dusk-to-dawn tail current resulting from localized magnetic reconnection in the magnetotail plasma sheet where plasma density and pressure are reduced.     

Cross-Scale Coupling Within Rolled-Up MHD-Scale Vortices and Its Effect on Large Scale Plasma Mixing Across the Magnetospheric Boundary

Kelvin-Helmholtz Instability (KHI) is an MHD-scale instability that grows in a velocity shear layer such as the low-latitude boundary layer of the magnetosphere. KHI is driven unstable when a velocity shear is strong enough to overcome the stabilization effect of magnetic field. When the shear is significantly strong, vortices in the nonlinear stage of KHI is so rolled-up as to situate magnetospheric plasma outward of the magnetosheath plasma and vice versa. The big question is if such highly rolled-up vortices contribute significantly to the plasma transport across the boundary and to the filling of the plasma sheet by cool magnetosheath component, which is observed under northward Interplanetary Magnetic Field (IMF) condition. Here we review our recent results from two-fluid simulations of MHD-scale KHI with finite electron inertia taken into account. The results indicate that there is coupling between the MHD-scale dynamics and electron-scale dynamics in the rolled-up stage of the vortices. While the details differ depending on the initial magnetic geometry, the general conclusion is that there is significant modification of the MHD-scale vortex flow pattern via coupling to the micro-physics. The kick-back from the parasitic micro-physics enhances highly the potential for large-scale plasma mixing of the parent MHD-scale vortices, which is prohibited by definition in ideal-MHD. We also review our recent 3-D MHD simulation results indicating that KHI vortex can indeed roll-up in the magnetotail-flank situation despite the strong stabilization by the lobe magnetic field. These results encouraged us to search for evidence of rolled-up vortices in the Cluster formation flying observations. As reviewed in this paper, a nice event was found during northward IMF interval. This interval is when the plasma transport via large scale reconnection becomes less efficient. The finding supports the argument that KHI is playing some role in transporting solar wind into the magnetosphere when the normal mode of transport cannot dominate.     

Review of Ionospheric Effects of Solar Wind Magnetosphere Coupling in the Context of the Expanding Contracting Polar Cap Boundary Model

This paper reviews the coupling between the solar wind, magnetosphere and ionosphere. The coupling between the solar wind and Earth’s magnetosphere is controlled by the orientation of the Interplanetary Magnetic Field (IMF). When the IMF has a southward component, the coupling is strongest and the ionospheric convection pattern that is generated is a simple twin cell pattern with anti-sunward flow across the polar cap and return, sunward flow at lower latitudes. When the IMF is northward, the ionospheric convection pattern is more complex, involving flow driven by reconnection between the IMF and the tail lobe field, which is sunward in the polar cap near noon. Typically four cells are found when the IMF is northward, and the convection pattern is also more contracted under these conditions. The presence of a strong Y (dawn-dusk) component to the IMF leads to asymmetries in the flow pattern. Reconnection, however, is typically transient in nature both at the dayside magnetopause and in the geomagnetic tail. The transient events at the dayside are referred to as flux transfer events (FTEs), while the substorm process illustrates the transient nature of reconnection in the tail. The transient nature of reconnection lead to the proposal of an alternative model for flow stimulation which is termed the expanding/contracting polar cap boundary model. In this model, the addition to, or removal from, the polar cap of magnetic flux stimulates flow as the polar cap boundary seeks to return to an equilibrium position. The resulting average patterns of flow are therefore a summation of the addition of open flux to the polar cap at the dayside and the removal of flux from the polar cap in the nightside. This paper reviews progress over the last decade in our understanding of ionospheric convection that is driven by transient reconnection such as FTEs as well as by reconnection in the tail during substorms in the context of a simple model of the variation of open magnetic flux. In this model, the polar cap expands when the reconnection rate is higher at the dayside magnetopause than in the tail and contracts when the opposite is the case. By measuring the size of the polar cap, the dynamics of the open flux in the tail can be followed on a large scale.     

IMF control of the Earth's magnetosphere

We review recent progress in the understanding of the IMF control on the Earth's magnetosphere through the reconnection process. Major points include, (1) the identification of the magnetopause structure under the southward IMF polarity to be the rotational discontinuity and the resulting inference that the reconnection line is formed in the equatorial region, and (2) the confirmation from several observational aspects that under the northward IMF the reconnection takes place in the polar cusp. The point (1) is consistent with the observed correlations of geomagnetic indices with IMF but raises an important theoretical issue, and the point (2) is accompanied by an interesting issue of explaining why the polar cap electron precipitation is more energetic under such IMF conditions. Critical studies have reaffirmed the view that the energy supplied by reconnection is partly transported directly to the ionosphere to drive the DP-2 type current system but at the same time it is partly stored in the magnetic field of the tail to be unloaded 0.5 1 hr later to produce the expansion phase of substorm.Presented at the Fifth International Symposium on Solar-Terrestrial Physics, held at Ottawa, Canada, May 1982.     

The relationship between field-aligned currents and the auroral electrojets: A review

The recent development of several new observational techniques as well as of advanced computer simulation codes has contributed significantly to our understanding of dynamics of the three-dimensional current system during magnetospheric substorms. This paper attempts to review the main results of the last decade of research in such diverse fields as electric fields and currents in the high-latitude ionosphere and field-aligned currents and their relationship to the large-scale distribution of auroras and auroral precipitation. It also contains discussions on some efforts in synthesizing the vast amount of the observations to construct an empirical model which connects the ionospheric currents with field-aligned currents. While our understanding has been greatly improved during the last decade, there is much that is as yet unsettled. For example, we have reached only a first approximation model of the three-dimensional current system which is not inconsistent with integrated, ground-based and space observations of electric and magnetic fields. We have just begun to unfold the cause of the field-aligned currents both in the magnetosphere and ionosphere. Dynamical behaviour of the magnetosphere-ionosphere coupling relating to substorm variability can be an important topic during the coming years.On leave of absence from Kyoto Sangyo University, Kyoto 603, Japan.     

Dayside Proton Aurora: Comparisons between Global MHD Simulations and IMAGE Observations

The IMAGE mission provides a unique opportunity to evaluate the accuracy of current global models of the solar wind interaction with the Earth's magnetosphere. In particular, images of proton auroras from the Far Ultraviolet Instrument (FUV) onboard the IMAGE spacecraft are well suited to support investigations of the response of the Earth's magnetosphere to interplanetary disturbances. Accordingly, we have modeled two events that occurred on June 8 and July 28, 2000, using plasma and magnetic field parameters measured upstream of the bow shock as input to three-dimensional magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) simulations. This paper begins with a discussion of images of proton auroras from the FUV SI-12 instrument in comparison with the simulation results. The comparison showed a very good agreement between intensifications in the auroral emissions measured by FUV SI-12 and the enhancement of plasma flows into the dayside ionosphere predicted by the global simulations. Subsequently, the IMAGE observations are analyzed in the context of the dayside magnetosphere's topological changes in magnetic field and plasma flows inferred from the simulation results. Finding include that the global dynamics of the auroral proton precipitation patterns observed by IMAGE are consistent with magnetic field reconnection occurring as a continuous process while the IMF changes in direction and the solar wind dynamic pressure varies. The global simulations also indicate that some of the transient patterns observed by IMAGE are consistent with sporadic reconnection processes. Global merging patterns found in the simulations agree with the antiparallel merging model, though locally component merging might broaden the merging region, especially in the region where shocked solar wind discontinuities first reach the magnetopause. Finally, the simulations predict the accretion of plasma near the bow shock in the regions threaded by newly open field lines on which plasma flows into the dayside ionosphere are enhanced. Overall the results of these initial comparisons between global MHD simulation results and IMAGE observations emphasize the interplay between reconnection and dynamic pressure processes at the dayside magnetopause, as well as the intricate connection between the bow shock and the auroral region.     

Auroral flares and solar flares

The morphology of development of auroral flares (magnetospheric substorms) for both electron and proton auroras is summarized, based on ground-based as well as rocket-borne and satellite-borne data with specific reference to the morphology of solar flares.The growth phase of an auroral flare is produced by the inflow of the solar wind energy into the magnetosphere by the reconnection mechanism between the solar wind field and the geomagnetic field, thus the neutral and plasma sheets in the magnetotail attaining their minimum thickness with a great stretch of the geomagnetic fluxes into the tail.The onset of the expansion phase of an auroral flare is represented by the break-up of electron and proton auroras, which is associated with strong auroral electrojets, a sudden increase in CNA, VLF hiss emissions and characteristic ULF emissions. The auroral break-up is triggered by the relaxation of stretched magnetic fluxes caused by cutting off of the tail fluxes at successively formed X-type neutral lines in the magnetotail.The resultant field-aligned currents flowing between the tailward magnetosphere and the polar ionosphere produce the field-aligned anomalous resistivity owing to the electrostatic ion-cyclotron waves; the electrical potential drop thus increased further accelerates precipitating charged particles with a result of the intensification of both the field-aligned currents and the auroral electrojet. It seems that the rapid building-up of this positive feedback system for precipitating charged particles is responsible for the break-up of an auroral flare.     

A study of the polar current systems using the IMS meridian chains of magnetometers

Magnetic field data from a meridian chain of observatories and the recently developed computer codes constitute a powerful tool in studying substorm current systems in the polar region. In this paper, we summarize some of the results obtained from the IMS Alaska meridian chain of observatories. The basic data are the average daily magnetic field variations for 50 successive days (March 9–April 27, 28) which represent a moderately disturbed period. With the aid of the two computer codes, we obtained the distribution of the following quantities in the polar ionosphere in invariant-MLT coordinates: (1) the total ionospheric current; (2) the Pedersen current; (3) the Hall current; (4) the field-aligned currents; (5) the Pedersen-associated field-aligned currents; (6) the Hall-associated field-aligned currents; (7) the electric potential; (8) the Joule heat production rate; (9) the auroral particle energy injection rate; (10) the total energy dissipation rate. All these quantities are related to each other self-consistently at every point under the initial assumptions used in the computation. By using a model of the magnetosphere, the following quantities in the polar ionosphere are projected onto the equatorial plane and the Y — Z plane at X = -20 R _E: (11) the Pedersen current counterpart; (12) the Hall current counterpart; (13) the electric potential; (14) the Pedersen-associated field-aligned currents; (15) the Hall-associated field-aligned currents. These distribution patterns serve as an important basis for studying the generation mechanisms of substorm current systems and the magnetosphere-ionosphere coupling process.     

Energy flux in the Earth's magnetosphere: Storm – substorm relationship

Three ways of the energy transfer in the Earth's magnetosphere are studied. The solar wind MHD generator is an unique energy source for all magnetospheric processes. Field-aligned currents directly transport the energy and momentum of the solar wind plasma to the Earth's ionosphere. The magnetospheric lobe and plasma sheet convection generated by the solar wind is another magnetospheric energy source. Plasma sheet particles and cold ionospheric polar wind ions are accelerated by convection electric field. After energetic particle precipitation into the upper atmosphere the solar wind energy is transferred into the ionosphere and atmosphere. This way of the energy transfer can include the tail lobe magnetic field energy storage connected with the increase of the tail current during the southward IMF. After that the magnetospheric substorm occurs. The model calculations of the magnetospheric energy give possibility to determine the ground state of the magnetosphere, and to calculate relative contributions of the tail current, ring current and field-aligned currents to the magnetospheric energy. The magnetospheric substorms and storms manifest that the permanent solar wind energy transfer ways are not enough for the covering of the solar wind energy input into the magnetosphere. Nonlinear explosive processes are necessary for the energy transmission into the ionosphere and atmosphere. For understanding a relation between substorm and storm it is necessary to take into account that they are the concurrent energy transferring ways. This revised version was published online in August 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

ISEE Ion Composition Data with Implications for Solar Wind Entry into Earth's Magnetotail

Energetic (0.1-16 keV/e) ion data from a plasma composition experiment on the ISEE-1 spacecraft show that Earth's plasma sheet (inside of 23 RE) always has a large population of H+ and He++ ions, the two principal ionic components of the solar wind. This population is the largest, in terms of both number density and spatial thickness, during extended periods of northward interplanetary magnetic field (IMF) and is then also the most "solar wind-like" in the sense that the He++/H+ density ratio is at its peak (about 3% on average in 1978 and 79) and the H+ and He++ have mean (thermal) energies that are in the ratio of about 1:4 and barely exceed the typical bulk flow energy in the solar wind. During geomagnetically active times, associated with southward turnings of the IMF, the H+ and He++ are heated in the central plasma sheet, and reduced in density. Even when the IMF is southward, these ions can be found with lower solar wind-like energies closer to the tail lobes, at least during plasma sheet thinning in the early phase of substorms, when they are often seen to flow tailward, approximately along the magnetic field, at a slow to moderate speed (of order 100 km s-1 or less). These tailward flows, combined with the large density and generally solar wind-like energies of plasma sheet H+ and He++ ions during times of northward IMF, are interpreted to mean that the solar wind enters along the tail flanks, in a region between the lobes and the central plasma sheet, propelled inward by ExB drift associated with the electric fringe field of the low latitude magnetopause boundary layer (LLBL). In order to complete this scenario, it is argued that the rapid (of order 1000 km s-1) earthward ion flows (mostly H+ ions), also along the magnetic field, that are more typically the precursors of plasma sheet "recovery" during substorm expansion, are not proof of solar wind entry in the distant tail, but may instead be a time-of-flight effect associated with plasma sheet redistribution in a dipolarizing magnetic field.     

Magnetosphere–Ionosphere Convection as a Compound System

Convection is the most fundamental process in understanding the structure of geospace and disturbances observed in the magnetosphere–ionosphere (M–I) system. In this paper, a self-consistent configuration of the global convection system is considered under the real topology as a compound system. Investigations are made based on the M–I coupling scheme by analyzing numerical results obtained from magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) simulations which guarantee the self-consistency in the whole system under the Bv (magnetic field and velocity) paradigm. It is emphasized in the M–I coupling scheme that convection and field-aligned current (FAC) are different aspects of same physical process characterizing the open magnetosphere. Special attention is given in this paper to the energy supplying (dynamo) process that drives the FAC system. In the convection system, the dynamo must be constructed from shear motion together with plasma population regimes to steadily drive the convection. Convection patterns observed in the ionosphere are also the manifestation of achievement in global self-consistency. A primary approach to apply these concepts to the study of geospace is to consider how the M–I system adjusts the relative motion between the compressible magnetosphere and the incompressible ionosphere when responding to given solar-wind conditions. The above principle is also applicable for the study of disturbance phenomena such as the substorm as well as for the study of apparently unique processes such as the flux transfer event (FTE), the sudden commencement (SC), and the theta aurora. Finally, an attempt is made to understand the substorm as the extension of enhanced convection under the southward interplanetary magnetic field (IMF) condition.     

MESSENGER: Exploring Mercury’s Magnetosphere

The MErcury Surface, Space ENvironment, GEochemistry, and Ranging (MESSENGER) mission to Mercury offers our first opportunity to explore this planet’s miniature magnetosphere since the brief flybys of Mariner 10. Mercury’s magnetosphere is unique in many respects. The magnetosphere of Mercury is among the smallest in the solar system; its magnetic field typically stands off the solar wind only ∼1000 to 2000 km above the surface. For this reason there are no closed drift paths for energetic particles and, hence, no radiation belts. Magnetic reconnection at the dayside magnetopause may erode the subsolar magnetosphere, allowing solar wind ions to impact directly the regolith. Inductive currents in Mercury’s interior may act to modify the solar wind interaction by resisting changes due to solar wind pressure variations. Indeed, observations of these induction effects may be an important source of information on the state of Mercury’s interior. In addition, Mercury’s magnetosphere is the only one with its defining magnetic flux tubes rooted beneath the solid surface as opposed to an atmosphere with a conductive ionospheric layer. This lack of an ionosphere is probably the underlying reason for the brevity of the very intense, but short-lived, ∼1–2 min, substorm-like energetic particle events observed by Mariner 10 during its first traversal of Mercury’s magnetic tail. Because of Mercury’s proximity to the sun, 0.3–0.5 AU, this magnetosphere experiences the most extreme driving forces in the solar system. All of these factors are expected to produce complicated interactions involving the exchange and recycling of neutrals and ions among the solar wind, magnetosphere, and regolith. The electrodynamics of Mercury’s magnetosphere are expected to be equally complex, with strong forcing by the solar wind, magnetic reconnection, and pick-up of planetary ions all playing roles in the generation of field-aligned electric currents. However, these field-aligned currents do not close in an ionosphere, but in some other manner. In addition to the insights into magnetospheric physics offered by study of the solar wind–Mercury system, quantitative specification of the “external” magnetic field generated by magnetospheric currents is necessary for accurate determination of the strength and multi-polar decomposition of Mercury’s intrinsic magnetic field. MESSENGER’s highly capable instrumentation and broad orbital coverage will greatly advance our understanding of both the origin of Mercury’s magnetic field and the acceleration of charged particles in small magnetospheres. In this article, we review what is known about Mercury’s magnetosphere and describe the MESSENGER science team’s strategy for obtaining answers to the outstanding science questions surrounding the interaction of the solar wind with Mercury and its small, but dynamic, magnetosphere.     

Studies of polar current systems using the IMS Scandinavian magnetometer array

As a contribution to the International Magnetospheric Study (IMS, 1976–1979) a two-dimensional array of 42 temporary magnetometer stations was run in Scandinavia, supplementary to the permanent observatories and concentrated in the northern part of the region. This effort aimed at the time-dependent (periods above about 100 s) determination of the two-dimensional structure of substorm-related magnetic fields at the Earth's surface with highest reasonable spatial resolution (about 100 km, corresponding to the height of the ionosphere) near the footpoints of field-aligned electric currents that couple the disturbed magnetosphere to the ionosphere at auroral latitudes. It has been of particular advantage for cooperative studies that not only simultaneous data were available from all-sky cameras, riometers, balloons, rockets, and satellites, but also from the STARE radar facility yielding colocated two-dimensional ionospheric electric field distributions. In many cases it therefore was possible to infer the three-dimensional regional structure of substorm-related ionospheric current systems. The first part of this review outlines the basic relationships and methods that have been used or have been developed for such studies. The second short part presents typical equivalent current patterns observed by the magnetometer array in the course of substorms. Finally we review main results of studies that have been based on the magnetometer array observations and on additional data, omitting studies on geomagnetic pulsations. These studies contributed to a clarification of the nature of auroral electrojets including the Harang discontinuity and of ionospheric current systems related to auroral features such as the break-up at midnight, the westward traveling surge, eastward drifting omega bands, and spirals.     

Electric fields and currents in the ionosphere

In this paper some theories and experimental data on the electric fields and currents in the ionosphere are reviewed. Electric fields originating in the polarization of the ionosphere as well as in local irregularities are considered. Special attention is paid to field-aligned currents as a regulator of the intensity and configuration of the ionospheric polarization field, the anomalous resistivity being one of the most important characteristics of the magnetospheric plasma. Present-day models of the magnetosphere and corresponding electric field generation mechanisms are discussed. Various models of the DP1 current system are considered and the main characteristics that allow us to distinguish between them are listed. Experimental data on the ionospheric electric field are considered; a modified model of Silsbee and Vestine is shown to fit these data reasonably well.     

Magnetic reconnection,merging, and viscous interaction in the magnetosphere

Two ideas were advanced for the process of solar wind-magnetospheric interaction in the same year 1961. Dungey suggested that the interplanetary magnetic field (IMF), although weak, might determine the nature of this process by magnetic reconnection as the solar wind plasma flows across the separatrix surface which divides the IMF from the geomagnetic field. Axford and Hines pointed out that the flow inside the magnetopause is in the same sense as the magnetosheath flow and appears to be viscously coupled. Within a few years the dependence of geomagnetic activity on the IMF predicted by Dungey's mechanism was observed, and reconnection began to dominate current theories. One difficulty, that of the implied dissipation at the magnetopause, was troublesome; however, the ISEE-1/2 observations of the predicted high speed flows on several occasions was enough to convince many persons that reconnection ideas were basically correct. Several investigators found some evidence in the ISEE-3 data in the distant magnetotail for the steady-state reconnection line, as demanded by the Dungey model, in the form of a southward sense of the magnetic field through the current sheet. Here, again, there is some hard contrary evidence when the data are analyzed exactly at the cross-tail current sheet: the instantaneous values show a northward sense, even at high values of auroral activity. Coupled with the anti-Sunward plasma flow, this repudiates the steady-state Dungey model. On the other hand, it lends strong support to some kind of viscous effect through the medium of the magnetospheric boundary layer. This is not a semantic problem, as the sense of the electric field (as well as the magnetic field) is opposite for the two cases. The downfall of the reconnection model is its implicit use of frozen-field convection; this problem is obvious when the problem is viewed in three dimensions. Instead, the view is taken that the relevant process must be essentially time-dependent, three-dimensional, and localized. It is proposed that the term merging be used for this generalized timedependent form of reconnection. The merging process (whatever it is) must permit solar wind plasma to cross the magnetopause onto closed field lines of the boundary layer. Once it is there, it provides the viscous-like effect that Axford and Hines had envisaged.     

High latitude electrodynamics: Observations from S3-2

The high spatial-temporal resolution of instrumentation on the polar-orbiting S3-2 satellite has allowed a wide variety of measurements of the electrodynamic characteristics of both large- and small-scale structures at high latitudes. Analyses of large scale features observed by S3-2 have shown that: (i) The IMF B _ydependence of polar cap convection, first observed in June 1969 by OGO-6 persists in other seasons. During periods of northward IMF B _zextensive regions of sunward convection may be found in the sunlit polar cap. (ii) In the dawn and dusk MLT sectors >90% of the region 1 currents lie equatorward of the convection reversal line. Potentials across the ionospheric projection of the low-latitude boundary layer are typically a few kV. (iii) The location of extra field-aligned currents, near the dayside cusp and poleward of the region 1 current sheet is dependent on the IMF B _ycomponent. (iv) Simultaneous observations by TRIAD and S3-2 show that sheets of field-aligned current extend uniformly for several hours in MLT, but may have an altitude dependence in the 1000–8000 km range. (v) During magnetic storms ionospheric irregularities occur in regions of poleward density gradients and downward field-aligned currents near the equatorward boundary of diffuse auroral precipitation. In the winter polar cap, density irregularities were also found in regions of highly structured electric fields and soft electron precipitation. (vi) During an intense magnetic storm the auroral zone height-integrated Pederson conductivity was calculated to be in the range 10–30 mho and downcoming energetic electron fluxes accounted for between 50% and 70% of the upward Birkeland currents.Analysis of small-scale structures (latitudinal width < 1°), observed by S3-2, have shown that: (i) Intense meridional electric fields (50–250 mV m^-1) generated by charge separation near the inner edge of the plasma sheet drive intense subauroral convection and are associated with field-aligned currents, on the order of 1–2 A m^-2. (ii) Case studies of discrete arcs in the auroral oval have shown that arcs are associated with pairs of small-scale, field-aligned currents embedded in the large-scale region 1/region 2 field-aligned current sheets. The maximum observed field-aligned current was an upward current of 135 A m^-2, confined to a latitudinal width of 2km and carried by field-aligned accelerated electrons. Return (downward) currents associated with arcs are limited to intensities of 10–15 A m^-2. At this limit the ionospheric plasma becomes marginally stable to the onset of ion-cyclotron turbulence. Two instances of plasma vortices, characteristic of auroral curls, have been observed in the region between the paired current sheets. (iii) Sun-aligned arcs in the polar cap are found in a region of negative electric field divergence, embedded in an irregular electric field pattern. The electrons producing the arcs have a temperature of 200 eV and have been accelerated through potential drops of 1 kV along the magnetic field. Return currents may appear on both sides of polar-cap arcs.     

Electrodynamic coupling of the magnetosphere and ionosphere

The auroral zone ionosphere is coupled to the outer magnetosphere by means of field-aligned currents. Parallel electric fields associated with these currents are now widely accepted to be responsible for the acceleration of auroral particles. This paper will review the theoretical concepts and models describing this coupling. The dynamics of auroral zone particles will be described, beginning with the adiabatic motions of particles in the converging geomagnetic field in the presence of parallel potential drops and then considering the modifications to these adiabatic trajectories due to wave-particle interactions. The formation of parallel electric fields can be viewed both from microscopic and macroscopic viewpoints. The presence of a current carrying plasma can give rise to plasma instabilities which in a weakly turbulent situation can affect the particle motions, giving rise to an effective resistivity in the plasma. Recent satellite observations, however, indicate that the parallel electric field is organized into discrete potential jumps, known as double layers. From a macroscopic viewpoint, the response of the particles to a parallel potential drop leads to an approximately linear relationship between the current density and the potential drop.The currents flowing in the auroral circuit must close in the ionosphere. To a first approximation, the ionospheric conductivity can be considered to be constant, and in this case combining the ionospheric Ohm's Law with the linear current-voltage relation for parallel currents leads to an outer scale length, above which electric fields can map down to the ionosphere and below which parallel electric fields become important. The effects of particle precipitation make the picture more complex, leading to enhanced ionization in upward current regions and to the possibility of feedback interactions with the magnetosphere.Determining adiabatic particle orbits in steady-state electric and magnetic fields can be used to determine the self-consistent particle and field distributions on auroral field lines. However, it is difficult to pursue this approach when the fields are varying with time. Magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) models deal with these time-dependent situations by treating the particles as a fluid. This class of model, however, cannot treat kinetic effects in detail. Such effects can in some cases be modeled by effective transport coefficients inserted into the MHD equations. Intrinsically time-dependent processes such as the development of magnetic micropulsations and the response of the magnetosphere to ionospheric fluctuations can be readily treated in this framework.The response of the lower altitude auroral zone depends in part on how the system is driven. Currents are generated in the outer parts of the magnetosphere as a result of the plasma convection. The dynamics of this region is in turn affected by the coupling to the ionosphere. Since dissipation rates are very low in the outer magnetosphere, the convection may become turbulent, implying that nonlinear effects such as spectral transfer of energy to different scales become important. MHD turbulence theory, modified by the ionospheric coupling, can describe the dynamics of the boundary-layer region. Turbulent MHD fluids can give rise to the generation of field-aligned currents through the so-called -effect, which is utilized in the theory of the generation of the Earth's magnetic field. It is suggested that similar processes acting in the boundary-layer plasma may be ultimately responsible for the generation of auroral currents.     

The magnetotail and substorms

The tail plays a very active and important role in substorms. Magnetic flux eroded from the dayside magnetosphere is stored here. As more and more flux is transported to the magnetotail and stored, the boundary of the tail flares more, the field strength in the tail increases, and the currents strengthen and move closer to the Earth. Further, the plasma sheet thins and the magnetic flux crossing the neutral sheet lessens. At the onset of the expansion phase, the stored magnetic flux is returned from the tail and energy is deposited in the magnetosphere and ionosphere. During the expansion phase of isolated substorms, the flaring angle and the lobe field strength decrease, the plasma sheet thickens and more magnetic flux crosses the neutral sheet.In this review, we discuss the experimental evidence for these processes and present a phenomenological or qualitative model of the substorm sequence. In this model, the flux transport is driven by the merging of the magnetospheric and interplanetary magnetic fields. During the growth phase of substorms the merging rate on the dayside magnetosphere exceeds the reconnection rate in the neutral sheet. In order to remove the oversupply of magnetic flux in the tail, a neutral point forms in the near earth portion of the tail. If the new reconnection rate exceeds the dayside merging rate, then an isolated substorm results. However, a situation can occur in which dayside merging and tail reconnection are in equilibrium. The observed polar cap electric field and its correlation with the interplanetary magnetic field is found to be in accord with open magnetospheric models.