Physics
Scientific paper
May 2007
adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=2007georl..3409107m&link_type=abstract
Geophysical Research Letters, Volume 34, Issue 9, CiteID L09107
Physics
3
Magnetospheric Physics: Magnetosphere/Ionosphere Interactions (2431), Magnetospheric Physics: Magnetospheric Configuration And Dynamics, Magnetospheric Physics: Numerical Modeling, Magnetospheric Physics: Plasma Convection (2463), Magnetospheric Physics: Polar Cap Phenomena
Scientific paper
We address the question of how the polar cap area (A PC ) and the open magnetic flux in the Earth's ionospheric polar caps depend on the strength of the interplanetary magnetic field (IMF) under conditions of steady driving. We use the Lyon-Fedder-Mobarry (LFM) global magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) model to analyze the relationship between these quantities and compare their behavior to that of the transpolar potential (Φ PC ). In a series of idealized simulation runs we find that in the LFM model A PC saturates faster than Φ PC as the IMF strength increases. The ionospheric conductance and the solar wind ram pressure have similar moderate effects on the saturated A PC , while their influence on Φ PC is very different. It appears that A PC saturates as a result of bulging of the geomagnetic lobes toward the sun, whereby the inner dipole magnetic field is shielded from further reconnection. The process is accompanied by dramatic changes in the global configuration of the magnetic field.
Goodrich Charles Carson
Merkin V. G.
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