On the Properties of the Ionospheric Convection Drivers

Physics

Scientific paper

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2431 Ionosphere/Magnetosphere Interactions (2736), 2455 Particle Precipitation, 2475 Polar Cap Ionosphere

Scientific paper

The study presents an extensive statistical analysis of the sources of the ionospheric convection potential for two different global conditions: (1) Steady southward IMF and ionospheric 2-cell convection patterns, typical for a topology dominated by dayside reconnection. (2) Steady northward IMF and ionospheric 4-cell convection patterns, typical for a general lobe-reconnection topology. The data used are from the DMSP F13 satellite, covering the time period of 1996-2004. The derived potentials are compared with solar wind data from OMNI, and the influence of the solar wind parameters on the different potentials are studied in detail. The results show a significantly larger boundary layer potential for the northward IMF case, where the average contribution is on the order of 10 kV (corresponding to roughly 30-35% of the total energy input during northward IMF conditions), compared to the total boundary layer potential for southward IMF which only measures 1-2 kV on average. An analysis of the reverse convection potential, which functions as a good measure of the present energy input due to lobe reconnection, indicate a saturating behavior of the reconnection process for strong solar wind electric fields during northward IMF, similar to that previously reported for dayside reconnection. The saturated potential reaches a limit of around 60 kV, on the order of a fourth of the maximum potential for southward IMF.

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