Physics
Scientific paper
Dec 2004
adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=2004agufmsa41b..07w&link_type=abstract
American Geophysical Union, Fall Meeting 2004, abstract #SA41B-07
Physics
2411 Electric Fields (2712), 2443 Midlatitude Ionosphere, 2730 Magnetosphere: Inner, 2736 Magnetosphere/Ionosphere Interactions, 2760 Plasma Convection
Scientific paper
In the strongest magnetic storms, magnetospheric and ionospheric electric fields develop in ways that clearly differ from linear extrapolations from normal behavior. We will review observations and possible theoretical explanations of several specific superstorm-electric-field phenomena that have received considerable research attention recently. The observed polar-cap potential drop saturates at 200-250 kV, rather than increasing linearly with the solar-wind electric field, and the observed potential drops are in remarkably good agreement with a simple analytic theory (Hill-Siscoe model). Apparently the intense magnetosphere-ionosphere currents deform the magnetic field and flow near the dayside magnetopause, reducing the reconnection rate. Mass-loading and field-aligned potential drops may also play a role. Details are being investigated using global MHD simulations. Superstorms give rise to a very different phenomenon near the equatorward edge of the nightside auroral zone, where strong electric-field regions called SubAuroral Polarization Streams (SAPS) are observed. The corresponding fast magnetospheric flows affect plasmaspheric erosion and ring-current injection. Strong magnetospherically generated electric fields penetrate to the equatorial ionosphere, causing massive uplift of the F-layer on the day side and near dusk. SAPS and equatorial penetration events affect the structure of the mid- and low-latitude ionosphere and apparently have dramatic effects on Total Electron Content observed by GPS.
Hairston Marc R.
Hill Thomas W.
Sazykin Stanislav
Wolf Richard A.
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