Multi-satellite Estimation of the Large-scale Current System and Convection Pattern in the Polar Ionosphere

Details Multi-satellite Estimation of the Large-scale Current System and Convection Pattern in the Polar Ionosphere Multi-satellite Estimation of the Large-scale Current System and Convection Pattern in the Polar Ionosphere

Dec 2006

adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=2006agufmsm14a..01v&link_type=abstract

American Geophysical Union, Fall Meeting 2006, abstract #SM14A-01

Physics

1541 Satellite Magnetics: Main Field, Crustal Field, External Field, 2721 Field-Aligned Currents And Current Systems (2409), 2736 Magnetosphere/Ionosphere Interactions (2431), 2760 Plasma Convection (2463), 2784 Solar Wind/Magnetosphere Interactions

Scientific paper

Simultaneous high-precision magnetic field measurements from three satellites in low Earth orbit allow new approaches in studying the current systems in the polar ionosphere. The traditional method to infer field- aligned currents (FAC) from the along-track derivative of the magnetic measurements at a single satellite may be extended to a more comprehensive treatment, where the full current system, including both FACs and horizontal ionospheric Hall and Pedersen currents, is determined in a fit to the observed magnetic field. Here we investigate the potential of such methods in a study of the relationship between the field-aligned and ionospheric currents and ionospheric electric fields in the polar regions. We compare the magnetic perturbations measured by the Oersted, SAC-C and CHAMP satellites with SUPERDARN measurements of the convection electric field on event bases. We select events of moderate activity where Oersted and CHAMP cross the polar region simultaneously and with large angles between the two orbit planes. From the Oersted and CHAMP data we estimate the large scale FAC pattern. Based on this and on various models for ionospheric conductance, we estimate the ionospheric electric fields and horizontal currents, which then can be compared to the SUPERDARN and magnetic satellite measurements. We hereby test the validity of current models of the relationship between the electric fields and currents, in particular the ability of statistical models of ionospheric conductance to reproduce the observed magnetic disturbance and convection patterns. The new method is developed in preparation for the coming ESA mission Swarm.

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