Electric fields and field-aligned current generation in the magnetosphere

Details Electric fields and field-aligned current generation in the magnetosphere Electric fields and field-aligned current generation in the magnetosphere

Mar 1993

adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=1993jgr....98.4041a&link_type=abstract

Journal of Geophysical Research (ISSN 0148-0227), vol. 98, no. A3, p. 4041-4051.

Physics

9

Earth Magnetosphere, Electric Fields, Field Aligned Currents, Space Plasmas, Convection Currents, Geomagnetic Tail, Solar Wind

Scientific paper

We present a calculation of the electric potential, field-aligned currents, and plasma convection caused by the penetration of the solar wind electric field into the magnetosphere. Ohm's law and the continuity equation of ionospheric currents are used. It is shown that the large-scale convection system is reversed in the plasma sheet flanks. In this region the plasma flow is antisunward earthward of the neutral line and sunward tailward of it. The interplanetary magnetic field (IMF) B(z) dependences on the dimension of the magnetopause 'windows' which are intersected by open field lines, on the potential drop across the polar cap, and on the distance to the neutral line are determined. Because of the IMF effect and the effect of seasonal or daily variations of the geomagnetic field which violate its symmetry relative to the equatorial plane, there may arise a potential drop along field lines which causes field-aligned currents. The values and directions of these currents, the field-aligned potential drop, and a self-consistent solution for the potential at the ionosphere level for high field-aligned conductivity have been determined.

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