Interplanetary magnetic field control of afternoon-sector detached proton auroral arcs

Details Interplanetary magnetic field control of afternoon-sector detached proton auroral arcs Interplanetary magnetic field control of afternoon-sector detached proton auroral arcs

Sep 2002

adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=2002jgra..107.1251b&link_type=abstract

Journal of Geophysical Research (Space Physics), Volume 107, Issue A9, pp. SMP 17-1, CiteID 1251, DOI 10.1029/2001JA007554

Physics

16

Magnetospheric Physics: Auroral Phenomena (2407), Magnetospheric Physics: Magnetosphere/Ionosphere Interactions, Magnetospheric Physics: Energetic Particles, Precipitating

Scientific paper

Data from the Far Ultraviolet Imager (FUV) on the Imager for Magnetopause-to-Aurora Global Exploration (IMAGE) satellite show that subauroral proton arcs appear in the afternoon sector during geomagnetically disturbed periods when the interplanetary magnetic field rotates either from south to north or from west to east and when the magnetosphere is moderately compressed. Time series of proton aurora images show that the proton emissions are generally aligned along the equatorward part of the auroral oval. However, when interplanetary magnetic field (IMF) Bz changes from negative to positive the auroral oval contracts toward higher latitudes while the ring current proton precipitation remains stationary, resulting in a separation of several degrees between the latitude of the new oval position and a subauroral proton arc in the afternoon sector. A similar effect occurs when IMF By rotates from negative to positive, in which case the oval in the afternoon sector retreats toward higher latitudes, again leaving a separation between the oval and the subauroral proton arc of several degrees. Comparisons with low-altitude and geosynchronous satellite data show that the subauroral proton arc is caused by the precipitation of protons with energies from several keV to 30 keV and is likely associated with the existence of a plasmaspheric ``drainage plume.'' In contrast, the proton emissions along the main oval are caused by protons with energies generally less than 10 keV.

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