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1.
Cusp properties have been investigated with an open-field line particle precipitation model and Defense Meteorological Satellite Program (DMSP) satellite observations. Particular emphasis is placed on the effects of IMF By, since previous studies focus mostly on IMF Bz. The model-data comparisons for various IMF configurations show that the model captures the large-scale features of the particle precipitation very well, not only in the cusp region, but also in other open-field line regions such as the mantle, polar rain, and open-field line low-altitude boundary layer (LLBL). When the IMF is strongly duskward/dawnward and weakly southward, the model predicts the occurrence of double cusp near noon: one cusp at lower latitude and one at higher latitude. The lower latitude cusp ions originate from the low-latitude magnetosheath whereas the higher latitude ions originate from the high-latitude magnetosheath. The lower latitude cusp is located in the region of weak azimuthal E × B drift, resulting in a dispersionless cusp. The higher latitude cusp is located in the region of strong azimuthal and poleward E × B drift. Because of a significant poleward drift, the higher latitude cusp dispersion has some resemblance to that of the typical southward IMF cusp. Occasionally, the two parts of the double cusp have such narrow latitudinal separation that they give the appearance of just one cusp with extended latitudinal width. From the 40 DMSP passes selected during periods of large (positive or negative) IMF By and small negative IMF Bz, 30 (75%) of the passes exhibit double cusps or cusps with extended latitudinal width. The double cusp result is consistent with the following statistical results: (1) the cusp’s latitudinal width increases with |IMF By| and (2) the cusp’s equatorward boundary moves to lower latitude with increasing |IMF By|.  相似文献   

2.
Magnetic merging is a primary means for coupling energy from the solar wind into the magnetosphere–ionosphere system. The location and nature of the process remain as open questions. By correlating measurements from diverse locations and using large-scale MHD models to put the measurements in context, it is possible to constrain our interpretations of the global and meso-scale dynamics of magnetic merging. Recent evidence demonstrates that merging often occurs at high latitudes in the vicinity of the cusps. The location is in part controlled by the clock angle in the interplanetary magnetic field (IMF) YZ plane. In fact, BY bifurcates the cusp relative to source regions. The newly opened field lines may couple to the ionosphere at MLT locations of as much as 3 hr away from local noon. On the other side of noon the cusp may be connected to merging sites in the opposite hemisphere. In fact, the small convection cell is generally driven by opposite hemisphere merging. BX controls the timing of the interaction and merging sites in each hemisphere, which may respond to planar features in the IMF at different times. Correlation times are variable and are controlled by the dynamics of the tilt of the interplanetary electric field phase plane. The orientation of the phase plane may change significantly on time scales of tens of minutes. Merging is temporally variable and may be occurring at multiple sites simultaneously. Accelerated electrons from the merging process excite optical signatures at the foot of the newly opened field lines. All-sky photometer observations of 557.7 nm emissions in the cusp region provide a “television picture” of the merging process and may be used to infer the temporal and spatial variability of merging, tied to variations in the IMF.  相似文献   

3.
This paper gives an overview of Cluster observations in the high-altitude cusp region of the magnetosphere. The low and mid-altitude cusps have been extensively studied previously with a number of low-altitude satellites, but only little is known about the distant part of the magnetospheric cusps. During the spring-time, the trajectory of the Cluster fleet is well placed for dayside, high-altitude magnetosphere investigations due to its highly eccentric polar orbit. Wide coverage of the region has resulted and, depending on the magnetic dipole tilt and the solar wind conditions, the spacecraft are susceptible to encounter: the plasma mantle, the high-altitude cusp, the dayside magnetosphere (i.e. dayside plasma sheet) and the distant exterior cusp diamagnetic cavity. The spacecraft either exit into the magnetosheath through the dayside magnetopause or through the exterior cusp–magnetosheath interface. This paper is based on Cluster observations made during three high-altitude passes. These were chosen because they occurred during different solar wind conditions and different inter-spacecraft separations. In addition, the dynamic nature of the cusp allowed all the aforementioned regions to be sampled with different order, duration and characteristics. The analysis deals with observations of: (1) both spatial and temporal structures at high-altitudes in the cusp and plasma mantle, (2) signatures of possible steady reconnection, flux transfer events (FTE) and plasma transfer events (PTE), (3) intermittent cold (<100 eV) plasma acceleration associated with both plasma penetration and boundary motions, (4) energetic ions (5–40 keV) in the exterior cusp diamagnetic cavity and (5) the global structure of the exterior cusp and its direct interface with the magnetosheath. The analysis is primarily focused on ion and magnetic field measurements. By use of these recent multi-spacecraft Cluster observations we illustrate the current topics under debate pertaining to the solar wind–magnetosphere interaction, for which this region is known to be of major importance.  相似文献   

4.
The high-altitude dayside cusps (both northern and southern) are extremely dynamic regions in geospace. Large diamagnetic cavities with significant fluctuations of the local magnetic field strength have been observed there. These cusp diamagnetic cavities are always there day after day and are as large as 6 RE Associated with these cavities are charged particles with energies from 20 keV up to 10 MeV. The intensities of the cusp energetic ions have been observed to increase by as much as four orders of the magnitude when compared with regions adjacent to the cusp which includes the magnetosheath. Their seed populations are a mixture of ionospheric and solar wind particles. The measured energetic ion fluxes in the high-altitude cusp are higher than that in both the regions upstream and downstream from the bow shock. Turbulent electric fields with an amplitude of about 10 mV/m are also present in the cusp, and a cusp resonant acceleration mechanism is suggested. The observations indicate that the dayside high-altitude cusp is a key region for transferring the solar wind mass, momentum, and energy into the Earth’s magnetosphere.  相似文献   

5.
Based on the magnetopause observations near the Earth by the Prognoz/Interball satellites in 1972–2000, the empirical model of this boundary has been proposed, and the magnetopause behavior at different parameters of the oncoming solar wind has been studied. For the first time, it has been detected that the Earth’s magnetopause is compressed by ∼5% in the direction perpendicular to the plane including the vectors of the solar wind velocity and IMF. At the same time, any dependence of the subsolar magnetopause position on the IMF B z component has not been revealed in the Progrnoz/Interball data. The proposed magnetopause model can be used to model the position and shape of the near-Earth bow shock.  相似文献   

6.
Cusp geometry in MHD simulations   总被引:2,自引:0,他引:2  
The MHD simulations described here show that the latitude of the high-altitude cusp decreases as the IMF swings from North to South, that there is a pronounced dawn–dusk asymmetry at high-altitude associated with a dawn–dusk component of the IMF, and that at the same time there is also a pronounced dawn–dusk asymmetry at low-altitude. The simulations generate a feature that represents what has been called the cleft. It appears as a tail (when the IMF has a By component) attached to the cusp, extending either toward the dawn flank or the dusk flank depending on the dawn–dusk orientation of the IMF. This one-sided cleft connects the cusp to the magnetospheric sash. We compare cusp geometry predicted by MHD simulations against published observations based on Hawkeye and DMSP data. Regarding the high-altitude predictions, the comparisons are not definitive, mainly because the observations are incomplete or mutually inconsistent. Regarding the low-altitude prediction of a strong dawn–dusk asymmetry, the observations are unambiguous and are in good qualitative agreement with the prediction.  相似文献   

7.
A fully three-dimensional (3D), time-dependent, MHD interplanetary global model (3D IGM) has been used, for the first time, to study the relationship between different forms of solar activity and transient variations of the north-south component, Bz, of the interplanetary magnetic field (IMF) at 1 AU. One form of solar activity, the flare, is simulated by using a pressure pulse at different locations near the solar surface and observing the simulated IMF evolution of B (=-Bz) at 1 AU. Results show that, for a given pressure pulse, the orientation of the corresponding transient variation of Bz has a strong relationship to the location of the pressure pulse and the initial conditions of the IMF. Two initial IMF conditions are considered: a unipolar Archimedean spiral with outward polarity and a flat heliospheric current sheet (HCS) with outward polarity in the northern hemisphere and which gradually reverses polarity in the solar equatorial plane to inward polarity in the southern heliospheric hemisphere. The wave guide effect of the HCS is also demonstrated.  相似文献   

8.
The statistical features of the magnetic field and ion flux fluctuations in the boundary regions of the Earth’s magnetosphere have been studied on different timescales based on the Interball satellite measurements. Changes in the form and parameters of the probability density function have been studied for the periods when the satellite was in the solar wind plasma, different magnetosheath regions, and the turbulent boundary layer (TBL) at the polar cusp outer boundary. Variations in the probability density function maximum (P 0) and the kurtosis value as characteristics of the turbulence property evolution on different timescales have been studied. Two asymptotic regimes of P 0, which are characterized by different power laws, have been found. The structural functions of different orders and the types of diffusion processes in different regions, depending on time variations in the generalized diffusion coefficient, have been studied in order to analyze the character of diffusion processes. For the magnetosheath regions, TBL, and polar cusp, it has been found that the diffusion coefficient increases in the course of time (i.e., the regime of superdiffusion has been obtained). In the foreshock region before the main shock, turbulent processes are described by the Kolmogorov model of classical diffusion.  相似文献   

9.
We present data from conjugate SuperDARN radars describing the high-latitude ionospheres response to changes in the direction of IMF By during a period of steady IMF Bz southward and Bx positive. During this interval, the radars were operating in a special mode which gave high-time resolution data (30 s sampling period) on three adjacent beams with a full scan every 3 min. The location of the radars around magnetic local noon at the time of the event allowed detailed observations of the variations in the ionospheric convection patterns close to the cusp region as IMF By varied. A significant time delay was observed in the ionospheric response to the IMF By changes between the two hemispheres. This is explained as being partially a consequence of the location of the dominant merging region on the magnetopause, which is 8/12RE closer to the northern ionosphere than to the southern ionosphere (along the magnetic field line) due to the dipole tilt of the magnetosphere and the orientation of the IMF. This interpretation supports the anti-parallel merging hypothesis and highlights the importance of the IMF Bx component in solar wind-magnetosphere coupling.  相似文献   

10.
Energetic electrons (e.g., 50 keV) travel along field lines with a high speed of around 20 REs−1. These swift electrons trace out field lines in the magnetosphere in a rather short time, and therefore can provide nearly instantaneous information about the changes in the field configuration in regions of geospace. The energetic electrons in the high latitude boundary regions (including the cusp) have been examined in detail by using Cluster/RAPID data for four consecutive high latitude/cusp crossings between 16 March and 19 March 2001. Energetic electrons with high and stable fluxes were observed in the time interval when the IMF had a predominately positive Bz component. These electrons appeared to be associated with a lower plasma density exhibiting no obvious tailward plasma flow (<20 keV). On the other hand, no electrons or only spike-like electron events have been observed in the cusp region during southward IMF. At that time, the plasma density was as high as that in the magnetosheath and was associated with a clear tailward flow. The fact that no stable energetic electron fluxes were observed during southward IMF indicates that the cusp has an open field line geometry. The observations indicate that both the South and North high latitude magnetospheric boundary regions (including both North and South cusp) can be energetic particle trapping regions. The energetic electron observations provide new ways to investigate the dynamic cusp processes. Finally, trajectory tracing of test particles has been performed using the Tsyganenko 96 model; this demonstrates that energetic particles (both ions and electrons) may be indeed trapped in the high latitude magnetosphere.  相似文献   

11.
Using data from the Cluster spacecraft from January 2003 to December 2004, we perform a statistical study on some properties of the field-aligned electron (FAE) events and interplanetary magnetic field (IMF) By dependence of FAE events with different durations in high-altitude polar regions. A total of 1335 FAE events were observed by the C3 spacecraft. More down-flowing events were observed in the Southern Hemisphere, and more up-flowing events were observed in the Northern Hemisphere. It proves that down-flowing events mainly originate from magnetosphere or solar wind and up-flowing events are mainly derived from ionosphere. Short-lifetime events showed a morning concentration in the magnetic local time distribution, and long-lifetime events were concentrated both before and after noon. For the IMF By dependence of the FAE events, short-lifetime events were much affected by IMF By and resulted in a morning concentration, while the long-lifetime events were almost unaffected by IMF By. With further analysis, we determined that the short-lifetime and long-lifetime events had different sources.  相似文献   

12.
Observations of a unique cusp feature at low and mid altitudes are reported. This feature has a consistent double-peaked or “V”-shaped structure at the equatorward edge of high-latitude particle precipitation flux, and is predominantly present for high IMF By conditions. The observations are consistent with the Crooker (‘A split separator line merging model of the dayside magnetopause’, J. Geophys. Res. 90 (1985) 12104, ‘Mapping the merging potential from the magnetopause to the ionosphere through the dayside cusp’, J. Geophys. Res. (1988) 93 7338.) antiparallel merging model, which predicts a narrow wedge-shaped cusp whose geometry depends greatly on the dawn/dusk component of the IMF. Various observations are presented at low altitudes (DE-2, Astrid-2, Munin, UARS, DMSP) and at mid altitudes (DE-1, Cluster) that suggest a highly coherent cusp feature that is consistent with the narrow, wedge-shaped cusp of Crooker (1988), and contains persistent wave signatures that are compatible with previously reported high-altitude measurements. A statistical survey of Astrid-2 and DMSP satellite data is also presented, which shows this feature to be persistent and dependent on the IMF angle at the magnetopause, as expected. Thus, the cusp signatures observed at a wide range of altitudes present a coherent picture that may be interpreted in terms of a footprint of the magnetopause current layer.  相似文献   

13.
A long series of polar patches was observed by ionosondes and an all-sky imager during a disturbed period (Kp = 7- and IMF Bz <0). The ionosondes measured electron densities of up to 9 × 1011 m−3 in the patch center, an increase above the density minimum between patches by a factor of ≈4.5. Bands of F-region irregularities generated at the equatorward edge of the patches were tracked by HF radars. The backscatter bands were swept northward and eastward across the polar cap in a fan-like formation as the afternoon convection cell expanded due to the IMF By > 0. Near the north magnetic pole, an all-sky imager observed the 630-nm emission patches of a distinctly band-like shape drifting northeastward to eastward. The 630-nm emission patches were associated with the density patches and backscatter bands. The patches originated in, or near, the cusp footprint where they were formed by convection bursts (flow channel events, FCEs) structuring the solar EUV-produced photoionization and the particle-produced auroral/cusp ionization by segmenting it into elongated patches. Just equatorward of the cusp footprint Pc5 field line resonances (FLRs) were observed by magnetometers, riometers and VHF/HF radars. The AC electric field associated with the FLRs resulted in a poleward-progressing zonal flow pattern and backscatter bands. The VHF radar Doppler spectra indicated the presence of steep electron density gradients which, through the gradient drift instability, can lead to the generation of the ionospheric irregularities found in patches. The FLRs and FCEs were associated with poleward-progressing DPY currents (Hall currents modulated by the IMF By) and riometer absorption enhancements. The temporal and spatial characteristics of the VHF backscatter and associated riometer absorptions closely resembled those of poleward moving auroral forms (PMAFs). In the solar wind, IMP 8 observed large amplitude Alfvén waves that were correlated with Pc5 pulsations observed by the ground magnetometers, riometers and radars. It is concluded that the FLRs and FCEs that produced patches were driven by solar wind Alfvén waves coupling to the dayside magnetosphere. During a period of southward IMF the dawn-dusk electric field associated with the Alfvén waves modulated the subsolar magnetic reconnection into pulses that resulted in convection flow bursts mapping to the ionospheric footprint of the cusp.  相似文献   

14.
Based on the DMSP F6 and F7 satellite observations, the characteristics of precipitating particles in different auroral precipitation regions of the dayside sector have been studied depending on the solar wind plasma density. Under quiet geomagnetic conditions (|AL| < 100 nT and B z > 0), a considerable increase in the fluxes of precipitating ions is observed in the zones of structured auroral oval precipitation (AOP) and soft diffuse precipitation (SDP). A decrease in the mean energy of precipitating ions is observed simultaneously with the flux growth in these regions. The global pattern of variations in the fluxes of precipitating ions, which shows the regions of effective penetration of solar wind particles into the magnetosphere at a change in the solar wind density from 2 to 20 cm?3, has been constructed. The maximal flux variation (ΔJ i = 1.8 · 107 cm?2 s?1, i.e., 3.5% of an increase in the solar wind particle flux) is observed in the SDP region on the dayside of the Earth. The dependence of precipitating ion fluxes in the low-latitude boundary layer (LLBL), dayside polar cusp, and mantle on the solar wind density at positive and negative values of the IMF B z component has been studied. In the cusp region, an increase in the precipitating ion flux is approximately 17% of an increase in the solar wind density. The IMF southward turning does not result in an appreciable increase in the ion precipitation fluxes either in the cusp or in the mantle. This fact can indicate that the reconnection of the geomagnetic field with southward IMF is not the most effective mechanism for penetration of solar wind particles into these regions.  相似文献   

15.
In the present study, the deterministic chaotic behaviour of interplanetary magnetic field (IMF) under various geomagnetic conditions of low and high solar active periods was analyzed, using the time series of IMF |B| and Bz, by employing chaotic quantifiers like, Lyapunov exponent, Tsallis entropy, correlation dimension, and non-linear prediction error. We have investigated whether the chaotic behaviour of interplanetary magnetic field would modify, when it produces major geomagnetic storms, and how it depends on the phase of solar activity. The yearly average values of Lyapunov exponent for the time series of IMF |B| and Bz, show solar flux dependence, whereas those values of entropy, correlation dimension and non-linear prediction error had no significant solar flux dependence. The yearly average values of entropy for quiet periods are higher compared to those values for major storm periods belonging to low/high solar active conditions, for both the time series |B| and Bz.  相似文献   

16.
A model of the magnetosheath structure proposed in a recent paper from the authors is extended to estimate the magnetopause stand-off distance from solar wind data. For this purpose, the relationship of the magnetopause location to the magnetosheath and solar wind parameters is studied. It is shown that magnetopause erosion may be explained in terms of the magnetosheath magnetic field penetration into the magnetosphere. The coefficient of penetration (the ratio of the magnetospheric magnetic field depression to the intensity of the magnetosheath magnetic field Bmz = -Bm sin2/2, is estimated and found approximately to equal 1. It is shown that having combined a magnetosheath model presented in an earlier paper and the magnetosheath field penetration model presented in this paper, it is possible to predict the magnetopause stand-off distance from solar wind parameters.  相似文献   

17.
Auroral and airglow emissions over Eureka (89° CGM) during the 1997/98 winter show striking variations in relation to solar wind IMF changes. The period January 19 to 22, 1998, was chosen for detailed study, as the IMF was particularly strong and variable. During most of the period, Bz was northward and polar arcs were observed. Several overpasses by DMSP satellites during the four day period provided a clear picture of the particle precipitation producing the polar arcs. The spectral character of these events indicated excitation by electrons of average energy 300 to 500 eV. Only occasionally were electrons of average energy up to 1 keV observed and these appeared transitory from the ground optical data. It is noted that polar arcs appear after sudden changes in IMF By, suggesting IMF control over arc initiation. When By is positive there is arc motion from dawn to dusk, while By is negative the motion is consistently dusk to dawn. F-region (anti-sunward) convections were monitored through the period from 630.0 nm emissions. The convection speed was low (100/150 m/s) when Bz was northward but increased to 500 m/s after Bz turned southward on January 20.  相似文献   

18.
The antiparallel merging hypothesis states that reconnection takes place on the dayside magnetopause where the solar and geomagnetic fields are oppositely directed. With this criterion, we have mapped the predicted merging regions to the ionosphere using the Tsyganenko 96 magnetic field model, distinguishing between regions of sub-Alfvénic and super-Alfvénic magnetosheath flow, and identifying the day-night terminator. We present the resulting shape, width and latitude of the ionospheric dayside merging regions in both hemispheres, showing their dependence on the Earths dipole tilt. The resulting seasonal variation of the longitudinal width is consistent with the conjugate electric fields in the northern and southern cusps, as measured by the SuperDARN HF radars, for example. We also find a seasonal shift in latitude similar to that observed in satellite cusp data.  相似文献   

19.
The results of the previous studies, where the expressions were obtained for the electric current, which is generated at the bow shock front and is closed through the magnetosphere, and for the magneto-pause potential as a function of such solar wind parameters as the plasma density and velocity and the IMF intensity, are used. The power (W) consumed by the magnetosphere is equal to the Poynting vector flux S through the magnetopause. According to the special case of the Poynting theorem applied by Heikkila to the-magnetosphere, the energy flux can be expressed in terms of the electric potential (the integration is carried out over the entire surface of the magnetosphere). As a result, the required dependence, which is quadratic with respect to the IMF B z component, has been obtained for W. It is discussed why the magnetosphere is energy-isolated at the northward IMF B z component despite this.  相似文献   

20.
We present both statistical and case studies of magnetosheath interaction with the high-latitude magnetopause on the basis of Interball-1 and other ISTP spacecraft data. We discuss those data along with recently published results on the topology of cusp-magnetosheath transition and the roles of nonlinear disturbances in mass and energy transfer across the high-latitude magnetopause. For sunward dipole tilts, a cusp throat is magnetically open for direct interaction with the incident flow that results in the creation of a turbulent boundary layer (TBL) over an indented magnetopause and downstream of the cusp. For antisunward tilts, the cusp throat is closed by a smooth magnetopause; demagnetized ‘plasma balls’ (with scale ∼ few RE, an occurrence rate of ∼25% and trapped energetic particles) present a major magnetosheath plasma channel just inside the cusp. The flow interacts with the ‘plasma balls’ via reflected waves, which trigger a chaotization of up to 40% of the upstream kinetic energy. These waves propagate upstream of the TBL and initiate amplification of the existing magnetosheath waves and their cascade-like decays during downstream passage throughout the TBL. The most striking feature of the nonlinear interaction is the appearance of magnetosonic jets, accelerated up to an Alfvenic Mach number of 3. The characteristic impulsive local momentum loss is followed by decelerated Alfvenic flows and modulated by the TBL waves; momentum balance is conserved only on time scales of the Alfvenic flows (1/fA ∼12 min). Wave trains at fA∼1.3 mHz are capable of synchronizing interactions throughout the outer and inner boundary layers. The sonic/Alfvenic flows, bounded by current sheets, control the TBL spectral shape and result in non-Gaussian statistical characteristics of the disturbances, indicating the fluctuation intermittency. We suggest that the multi-scale TBL processes play at least a comparable role to that of macro-reconnection (remote from or in the cusp) in solar wind energy transformation and population of the magnetosphere by the magnetosheath plasma. Secondary micro-reconnection constitutes a necessary chain at the small-scale (∼ion gyroradius) edge of the TBL cascades. The thick TBL transforms the flow energy, including deceleration and heating of the flow in the open throat, ‘plasma ball’ and the region downstream of the cusp.  相似文献   

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