Saturation of the auroral electrojet current and the polar cap potential

Details Saturation of the auroral electrojet current and the polar cap potential Saturation of the auroral electrojet current and the polar cap potential

Nov 1990

adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=1990jgr....9518981w&link_type=abstract

Journal of Geophysical Research (ISSN 0148-0227), vol. 95, Nov. 1, 1990, p. 18981-18987.

Physics

30

Auroral Electrojets, Electric Potential, Interplanetary Magnetic Fields, Ionospheric Currents, Polar Caps, Magnetic Storms, Magnetosphere-Ionosphere Coupling

Scientific paper

It is shown that the auroral electrojet index AE tends to saturate, or approach a limiting value, for large southward interplanetary magnetic field, namely, B(Z) less than -15 nT. The saturation also occurs during individual major geomagnetic storms. The saturation of AE is the result of a saturation in the polar cap potential drop. The polar cap potential has a limiting value due to the nonlinear nature of the magnetosphere-ionosphere (M-I) coupling. Results of an M-I coupling model show that the saturation level of the polar cap potential is lowered as the diffuse auroral conductance increases. The data presented also show an increase in AE for large B(Z) values, indicating increased auroral activity for B(Z) greater than 20 nT.

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