A numerical method to compute Euler potentials for non dipolar magnetic fields     

C. Peymirat  D. Fontaine 《Annales Geophysicae》1999,17(3):328-337

The magnetospheric magnetic field may be conveniently described by two scalar functions (α, β), known as the Euler potentials. They are not uniquely defined, and they may be difficult to derive for configuration more complex than a simple dipole. We propose here a simple numerical method to compute one possible pair (α, β). In magnetospheric regions of closed field lines, α can be chosen as a function of the tube volume of unit magnetic flux. The method can be applied to a wide class of magnetic fields which describe the magnetospheric domain of closed field lines and the conjugated ionosphere. Here, it is used with the T87 Tsyganenko model. The results coincide with the dipolar potentials at close distances from the Earth. At larger distances, they display an increasing distortion with the radial distance (or the invariant latitude in the ionosphere) and the magnetic activity. In the magnetosphere, the contours of α and β are stretched towards the nightside. In the ionosphere, they also extend towards the nightside and present major distortions in a narrow ring at the polar cap boundary, which mapsdistant boundary layers in the magnetosphere.  相似文献   

Stability of stationary and time-varying nongyrotropic particle distributions     

A. L. Brinca 《Annales Geophysicae》1999,17(5):623-630

The ubiquity of nongyrotropic particle populations in space plasmas warrants the study of their characteristics, in particular their stability. The unperturbed nongyrotropic distribution functions in homogeneous media without sources and sinks (closed phase space) must be rotating and time-varying (TNG), whereas consideration of open phase spaces allows for the occurrence of homogeneous and stationary distributions (SNG). The free energy brought about by the introduction of gyrophase organization in a particle population can destabilize otherwise thoroughly stable magnetoplasmas (or, a fortiori, enhance pre-existing gyrotropic instabilities) and feed intense wave growth both in TNG and SNG environments: The nongyrotropic (electron or ion) species can originate unstable coupling among the gyrotropic characteristic waves. The stability properties of these two types of homogeneous nongyrotropy shall be contrasted for parallel (with respect to the ambient magnetic field) and perpendicular propagation, and their potential role as wave activity sources shall be illustrated resorting to solutions of the appropriate dispersion equations and numerical simulations.  相似文献   

Compressional wave events in the dawn plasma sheet observed by Interball-1     

O. Verkhoglyadova  A. Agapitov  A. Andrushchenko  V. Ivchenko  S. Romanov  Yu. Yermolaev 《Annales Geophysicae》1999,17(9):1145-1154

Compressional waves with periods greater than 2 min (about 10–30 min) at low geomagnetic latitudes, namely compressional Pc5 waves, are studied. The data set obtained with magnetometer MIF-M and plasma analyzer instrument CORALL on board the Interball-1 are analyzed. Measurements performed in October 1995 and October 1996 in the dawn plasma sheet at −30 R_E ≤ X_GSM and |Z_GSM| ≤ 10 R_E are considered. Anti-phase variations of magnetic field and ion plasma pressures are analyzed by searching for morphological similarities in the two time series. It is found that longitudinal and transverse magnetic field variations with respect to the background magnetic field are of the same order of magnitude. Plasma velocities are processed for each time period of the local dissimilarity in the pressure time series. VeloCity disturbances occur mainly transversely to the local field line. The data reveal the rotation of the veloCity vector. Because of the field line curvature, there is no fixed position of the rotational plane in the space. These vortices are localized in the regions of anti-phase variations of the magnetic field and plasma pressures, and the vortical flows are associated with the compressional Pc5 wave process. A theoretical model is proposed to explain the main features of the nonlinear wave processes. Our main goal is to study coupling of drift Alfven wave and magnetosonic wave in a warm inhomogeneous plasma. A vortex is the partial solution of the set of the equations when the compression is neglected. A compression effect gives rise to a nonlinear soliton-like solution.  相似文献   

Simultaneous measurements from the Millstone Hill radar and the Active satellite during the SAID/SAR arc event of the March 1990 CEDAR storm     

M. Förster  J. C. Foster  J. Smilauer  K. Kudela  A. V. Mikhailov 《Annales Geophysicae》1999,17(3):389-404

During a nearby passage of the Active satellite above the Millstone Hill radar on 21 March 1990 at local sunset, the satellite and the radar performed simultaneous measurements of upper ionospheric parameters in nearly the same spatial volume. For this purpose the radar carried out a special azimuth-elevation scan to track the satellite. Direct comparisons of radar data and in situ satellite measurements have been carried out quite rarely. In this case, the coincidence of co-ordinated measurements and active ionospheric-magnetospheric processes during an extended storm recovery phase presents a unique occasion resulting in a very valuable data set. The measurements show generally good agreement both during quiet prestorm and storm conditions and the combination of radar and satellite observations gives a more comprehensive picture of the physical processes involved. We find a close relationship between the rapid westward ion drift peak at subauroral latitudes (SAID event) and the occurrence of a stable auroral red (SAR) arc observed after sunset by an all-sky imager and reported in an earlier study of this event. The SAID electric field is caused by the penetration of energetic ions with energies between about 1 keV and 100 keV into the outer plasmasphere to a latitude equatorward of the extent of the plasmasheet electrons. Charge separation results in the observed polarisation field and the SAID. Unusually high molecular ion densities measured by the satellite at altitudes of 700–870 km at subauroral and auroral latitudes point on strong upward-directed ion acceleration processes and an intense neutral gas upwelling. These structures are collocated with a narrow trough in electron density and an electron temperature peak as observed simultaneously by the radar and the satellite probes.  相似文献   

The dynamic cusp aurora on 30 November 1997: response to southward turning of the IMF     

P. E. Sandholt  C. J. Farrugia  B. Lybekk 《Annales Geophysicae》1999,17(9):1155-1165

We document the detailed dynamics of the dayside aurora in the ≈1200–1600 MLT sector in response to a sharp southward turning of the interplanetary magnetic field (IMF) under negative IMF B_y conditions. Features not documented in previous work are elucidated by using two meridan scanning photometers (separated by 2 h) and an all-sky auroral imager in Ny Ålesund, Svalbard (75.5^MLAT) in combination with magnetograms from stations on Svalbard, covering the latitude range 71^–75^MLAT. The initial auroral response may be divided into three phases consisting of: (1) intensification of both the red (630.0 nm) and green (557.7 nm) line emissions in the cusp aurora near 1200 MLT and ≈100 km equatorward shift of its equatorward boundary, at ≈75^MLAT, (2) eastward and poleward expansions of the cusp aurora, reaching the 1430 MLT meridian after 5–6 min, and (3) east-west expansion of the higher-latitude aurora (at ≈77^–78^MLAT) in the postnoon sector. The associated magnetic disturbance is characterized by an initial positive deflection of the X-component at stations located 100–400 km south of the aurora, corresponding to enhanced Sunward return flow associated with the merging convection cell in the post-noon sector. The sequence of partly overlapping poleward moving auroral forms (PMAFs) during the first 15 min, accompanied by corresponding pulsations in the convection current, was followed by a strong westward contraction of the cusp aurora when the ground magnetograms indicated a temporary return to the pre-onset level. These observations are discussed in relation to the Cowley-Lockwood model of ionospheric response to pulsed magnetopause reconnection.  相似文献   

The ionospheric signature of transient dayside reconnection and the associated pulsed convection return flow     

S. E. Milan  M. Lester  R. A. Greenwald  G. Sofko 《Annales Geophysicae》1999,17(9):1166-1171

Three SuperDARN coherent HF radars are employed to investigate the excitation of convection in the dayside high-latitude ionosphere in response to transient reconnection occurring in the cusp region. This study demonstrates the existence of transient antisunward-propagating backscatter features at the expected location of the ionospheric footprint of the cusp region, which have a repetition rate near 10 min. These are interpreted as the ionospheric signature of flux transfer events. Moreover, transient sunward-propagating regions of backscatter are observed in the convection return flow regions of both the pre- and post-noon sectors. These patches are observed to propagate towards the noon sector from at least as far around the auroral zone as 07 MLT in the pre-noon sector and 17 MLT in the post-noon sector, travelling with a veloCity of approximately 1.5 to 2 km s⁻¹. These return flow patches have a repetition rate similar to that of the transient features observed at local noon. While providing supporting evidence for the impulsive nature of convection flow, the observation of sunward-propagating features in the return flow region is not consistent with current conceptual models of the excitation of convection.  相似文献   

Nongyrotropic particle distributions in space plasmas     

U. Motschmann  K. H. Glassmeier  A. L. Brinca 《Annales Geophysicae》1999,17(5):613-622

In nonstationary, strong inhomogeneous or open plasmas particle orbits are rather complicated. If the nonstationary time scale is smaller than the gyration period, if the inhomogeneity scale is smaller than the gyration radius, i.e. at magnetic plasma boundaries, or if the plasma has sources and sinks in phase space, then nongyrotropic distribution functions occur. The stability of such plasma configurations is studied in the framework of linear dispersion theory. In an open plasma nongyrotropy drives unstable waves parallel and perpendicular to the background magnetic field, whereas in the gyrotropic limit the plasma is stable. In nonstationary plasmas nongyrotropy drives perpendicular unstable waves only. Temporal modulation couples a seed mode with its side lobes and thus it renders unstable wave growth more difficult. As an example of an inhomogeneous plasma a magnetic halfspace is discussed. In a layer with thickness of the thermal proton gyroradius a nongyrotropic distribution is formed which may excite unstable parallel and perpendicular propagating waves.  相似文献   

Characteristics of ≥ 290 keV magnetosheath ions     

I. Karanikola  G. C. Anagnostopoulos  A. Rigas 《Annales Geophysicae》1999,17(5):650-658

We performed a statistical analysis of 290–500 keV ion data obtained by IMP-8 during the years 1982–1988 within the earth’s magnetosheath and analysed in detail some time periods withdistinct ion bursts. These studies reveal the following characteristics for magnetosheath 290–500 keV energetic ions: (a) the occurrence frequency and the flux of ions increase with increasing geomagnetic activity as indicated by the Kp index; the occurrence frequency was found to be as high as P ≥ 42% for Kp ≥ 2, (b) the occurrence frequency in the dusk magnetosheath was found to be slightly dependent on the local time and ranged between ≈30% and ≈46% for all Kp values; the highest occurrence frequency was detected near the dusk magnetopause (21 LT), (c) the high energy ion bursts display a dawn-dusk asymmetry in their maximum fluxes, with higher fluxes appearing in the dusk magnetosheath, and (d) the observations in the dusk magnetosheath suggest that there exist intensity gradients of energetic ions from the bow shock toward the magnetopause. The statistical results are consistent with the concept that leakage of magnetospheric ions from the dusk magnetopause is a semi-permanent physical process often providing the magnetosheath with high energy (290–500 keV) ions.  相似文献   

Latitudinal and longitudinal dispersion of energetic auroral protons     

D. A. Lorentzen 《Annales Geophysicae》1999,18(1):81-89

Using a collision by collision model from Lorentzen et al., the latitudinal and longitudinal dispersion of single auroral protons are calculated. The proton energies varies from 1 to 50 keV, and are released into the atmosphere at 700 km altitude. The dipole magnetic field has a dip-angle of 8 degrees. Results show that the main dispersion region is at high altitudes (300–350 km) and occurs during the first few charge exchange collisions. As the proton travels further down the atmosphere the mean free path becomes smaller, and as a result the spreading effect will not be as pronounced. This means that the first few charge exchange collisions fully determines the width of both the latitudinal and longitudinal dispersion. The volume emission rate was calculated for energies between 1 and 50 keV, and it was found that dayside auroral hydrogen emissions rates were approximately 10 times weaker than nightside emission rates. Simulations were also performed to obtain the dependence of the particle dispersion as a function of initial pitch-angle. It was found that the dispersion varies greatly with initial pitch-angle, and the results are summarized in two tables; a main and an extreme dispersion region.  相似文献   

EDI electron time-of-flight measurements on Equator-S     

G. Paschmann  N. Sckopke  H. Vaith  J. M. Quinn  O. H. Bauer  W. Baumjohann  W. Fillius  G. Haerendel  S. S. Kerr  C. A. Kletzing  K. Lynch  C. E. McIlwain  R. B. Torbert  E. C. Whipple 《Annales Geophysicae》1999,17(12):1513-1520

We present the first electron time-of-flight measurements obtained with the Electron Drift Instrument (EDI) on Equator-S. These measurements are made possible by amplitude-modulation and coding of the emitted electron beams and correlation with the signal from the returning electrons. The purpose of the time-of-flight measurements is twofold. First, they provide the drift velocity, and thus the electric field, when the distance the electrons drift in a gyro period becomes sufficiently large. Second, they provide the gyro time of the electrons emitted by the instrument, and thus the magnitude of the ambient magnetic field, allowing in-flight calibration of the flux-gate magnetometer with high precision. Results of both applications are discussed.  相似文献