Effects of the passage of an IMF discontinuity on the polar cap geometry and the formation of a polar cap arc |
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| Authors: | S-I Akasofu R Williams M Roederer |
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| Institution: | Geophysical Institute, University of Alaska, Fairbanks, AK 99701, U.S.A. |
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| Abstract: | Changes of the geometry of the open field line region (namely, the polar cap) caused by the passage of a tangential IMF discontinuity are simulated using the model constructed by Akasofu and Roederer (1983). A singly-bounded open field line region tends to split into two, forming a narrow closed field line region and thus allowing the formations of a plasma sheet and of an auroral arc across the highest latitude region of the Earth. The three-dimensional geometry of some of the closed field lines in the narrow closed region is examined. In this connection, an interesting observation of the formation of an auroral arc over Thule, Greenland, is reported. |
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