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The Physics of Space Plasmas

Auroral and Polar Cap Phenomenology (2). The Physics of Space Plasmas. William J. Burke 19 September 2012 University of Massachusetts, Lowell. Aurorae and Polar Cap. Lecture 4.

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The Physics of Space Plasmas

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  1. Auroral and Polar Cap Phenomenology (2) The Physics of Space Plasmas William J. Burke19 September 2012 University of Massachusetts, Lowell

  2. Aurorae and Polar Cap Lecture 4 • This lecture deals primarily with the characteristics of high (keV) energy particles that precipitate into the high-latitude ionosphere. • What do the energy spectra of high-latitude populations look like? • How do they vary with IMF’s orientations? • How does one distinguish between sources of dayside populations? • What are the sources of nightside precipitating particles? • What happens when IMF BZ turns northward? • Besides the Region 1 – Region 2 system magnetometers see smaller scale FACs associated with discrete auroral formations • What do they look like in data streams and how do they come about? • What are their relationships with particle precipitation electric field patterns? • What happens in the presence of E||?

  3. TSS Aurorae and Polar Cap

  4. Aurorae and Polar Cap Dayside FAC System Erlandson et al., JGR, 1988 Dayside Precipitation Pattern Newell and Meng, GRL, 1992 Heppner - Maynard Convection Patterns (JGR, 1987)

  5. Aurorae and Polar Cap

  6. Aurorae and Polar Cap Sandholt et al. JGR 1998

  7. Space Plasma & Field Sensors

  8. Aurorae and Polar Cap Heppner-Maynard, JGR, 1987 Northern Hemisphere: BY > 0, BZ < 0 Northern Hemisphere : BY < 0, BZ < 0 Model BC Model DE Southern Hemisphere: BY < 0, BZ < 0 Southern Hemisphere: BY > 0, BZ < 0

  9. Aurorae and Polar Cap

  10. Aurorae and Polar Cap Sandholt et al., JGR 1993

  11. Aurorae and Polar Cap 5577 Å emissions monitored by all-sky imager at Ny Ålesund after 09:00 UT on 19 December 2001. The colored lines are placed at constant positions as guide to the eye for discerning optical changes.

  12. Aurorae and Polar Cap F15 / F13 crossed local noon MLT at ~ 09:22 an 09:36 UT

  13. Aurorae and Polar Cap Top right: 6300 Å emissions mapped to 220 km. All 5577 Å emissions mapped to an altitude of 190 km. Middle traces indicate that 5577 Å variations are responses to changes in the IMF clock angle.

  14. Aurorae and Polar Cap Comparison of two SuperDARN coherent back scatter patterns with images from all-sky monitor at Ny Ålesund on 19 December 2001.

  15. Aurorae and Polar Cap On 31 March 2001 Polar was in a skimming orbit along the dayside magnetopause Where it encountered debris from active merging sites => detected field aligned beams of keV electrons moving along the separatrices. These electrons excite 5577 Å emission at equatorward boundary of the cusp.

  16. Aurorae and Polar Cap Borovsky JGR 1984

  17. Aurorae and Polar Cap Fridman, M., and J. Lemaire, JGR, 664, 1980. Kan and Lee, JGR, 788, 1979.

  18. Aurorae and Polar Cap • Consider a trapped electron population with an isotropic, Maxwellian distribution function whose mean thermal energy = Eth • Assume that there is a field-aligned potential drop V|| that begins at a height where the magnetic field strength is BV||. • Knight (PSS, 741, 1973) showed that j||carried by precipitating electrons is given by the top equation, where Bi is the magnetic field strength at the ionosphere. Lyons, JGR, 17, 1980 j|| - V|| Relationship

  19. Aurorae and Polar Cap Equivalent current system and external driving with IMF BZ > 0 Maezawa, JGR, 2289. 976

  20. Aurorae and Polar Cap MAGSAT DS measurementsfrom four southern high-latitude passes on 8 Jan. 1980 NBZ current system

  21. Aurorae and Polar Cap Ion Velocity Dispersion Effect Dungey, 1961 Maezawa, 1976 IMF BZ < 0 IMF BZ > 0 Highest energy ions at equatorward boundary of the cusp Highest energy ions at poleward boundary of the cusp

  22. Aurorae and Polar Cap

  23. Aurorae and Polar Cap

  24. Aurorae and Polar Cap

  25. Aurorae and Polar Cap Event 6 Event 4

  26. Aurorae and Polar Cap

  27. Aurorae and Polar Cap

  28. Aurorae and Polar Cap Dayside FAC System Erlandson et al., JGR, 1988 Dayside Precipitation Pattern Newell and Meng, GRL, 1992 Heppner - Maynard Convection Patterns (JGR, 1987)

  29. Aurorae and Polar Cap Nopper and Carovillano, GRL 699, 1978 Region 1 = 106 A Region 2 = 3105 A Region 1 = 106 A Region 2 = 0 A Wolf, R. A., Effects of Ionospheric Conductivity on Convective Flow of Plasma in the Magnetosphere, JGR, 75, 4677, 1970.

  30. Aurorae and Polar Cap Burke, Weimer and Maynard, JGR, 104, 9989, 1999. Independent studies using AE-C, S3.2 and DE-2 measurements of FPC all showed that the highest correlation was obtained with IEF LLBL potential • Interplanetary electric field (IEF) in mV/m. • Since 1 mV/m  6.4 kV/ RE • LG => width of the gate in solar wind (~ 3.5 RE) through which geoeffective streamlines flow.

  31. Aurorae and Polar Cap IMF BY > 0; BZ < 0 IMF BY < 0; BZ > 0 • A second issue concerned the generalization of the Dungey model to 3D • Component merging hypothesis (Bengt Sonnerup) • Anti-parallel merging hypothesis (Nancy Crooker)

  32. Aurorae and Polar Cap EX DBY

  33. Aurorae and Polar Cap

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