scholarly journals What controls the luminosity of polar cap airglow patches?: Implication from airglow measurements in Eureka, Canada in comparison with SuperDARN convection pattern

Polar Science ◽  
2020 ◽  
pp. 100608
Author(s):  
K. Hosokawa ◽  
M. Nagata ◽  
K. Shiokawa ◽  
Y. Otsuka
Keyword(s):  
Convection Pattern ◽  
Polar Cap

scholarly journals Modulation of nightside polar patches by substorm activity

2009 ◽  
Vol 27 (10) ◽  
pp. 3923-3932 ◽  
Author(s):  
A. G. Wood ◽  
S. E. Pryse ◽  
J. Moen
Keyword(s):  
Spatial Distribution ◽  
High Latitude ◽  
Ionospheric Plasma ◽  
Plasma Convection ◽  
Convection Pattern ◽  
Polar Cap ◽  
Incoherent Scatter ◽  
Repetition Time ◽  
Substorm Activity ◽  
European Sector

Abstract. Results are presented from a multi-instrument study showing the influence of geomagnetic substorm activity on the spatial distribution of the high-latitude ionospheric plasma. Incoherent scatter radar and radio tomography measurements on 12 December 2001 were used to directly observe the remnants of polar patches in the nightside ionosphere and to investigate their characteristics. The patches occurred under conditions of IMF Bz negative and IMF By negative. They were attributed to dayside photoionisation transported by the high-latitude convection pattern across the polar cap and into the nighttime European sector. The patches on the nightside were separated by some 5° latitude during substorm expansion, but this was reduced to some 2° when the activity had subsided. The different patch separations resulted from the expansion and contraction of the high-latitude plasma convection pattern on the nightside in response to the substorm activity. The patches of larger separation occurred in the antisunward cross-polar flow as it entered the nightside sector. Those of smaller separation were also in antisunward flow, but close to the equatorward edge of the convection pattern, in the slower, diverging flow at the Harang discontinuity. A patch repetition time of some 10 to 30 min was estimated depending on the phase of the substorm.

scholarly journals High-latitude plasma convection during Northward IMF as derived from in-situ magnetospheric Cluster EDI measurements

2008 ◽  
Vol 26 (9) ◽  
pp. 2685-2700 ◽  
Author(s):  
M. Förster ◽  
S. E. Haaland ◽  
G. Paschmann ◽  
J. M. Quinn ◽  
R. B. Torbert ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
High Latitude ◽  
Cell Structure ◽  
Reference Plane ◽  
Convection Cell ◽  
Gradual Transition ◽  
Plasma Convection ◽  
Convection Pattern ◽  
Polar Cap ◽  
Small Shift ◽  
Magnetic Latitude

Abstract. In this study, we investigate statistical, systematic variations of the high-latitude convection cell structure during northward IMF. Using 1-min-averages of Cluster/EDI electron drift observations above the Northern and Southern polar cap areas for six and a half years (February 2001 till July 2007), and mapping the spatially distributed measurements to a common reference plane at ionospheric level in a magnetic latitude/MLT grid, we obtained regular drift patterns according to the various IMF conditions. We focus on the particular conditions during northward IMF, where lobe cells at magnetic latitudes >80° with opposite (sunward) convection over the central polar cap are a permanent feature in addition to the main convection cells at lower latitudes. They are due to reconnection processes at the magnetopause boundary poleward of the cusp regions. Mapped EDI data have a particular good coverage within the central part of the polar cap, so that these patterns and their dependence on various solar wind conditions are well verified in a statistical sense. On average, 4-cell convection pattern are shown as regular structures during periods of nearly northward IMF with the tendency of a small shift toward negative clock angles. The positions of these high-latitude convection foci are within 79° to 85° magnetic latitude and 09:00–15:00 MLT. The MLT positions are approximately symmetric ±2 h about 11:30 MLT, i.e. slightly offset from midday toward prenoon hours, while the maximum (minimum) potential of the high-latitude cells is at higher magnetic latitudes near their maximum potential difference at ≈−10° to −15° clock angle for the North (South) Hemisphere. With increasing clock angle distances from ≈IMFBz+, a gradual transition occurs from the 4-cell pattern via a 3-cell to the common 2-cell convection pattern, in the course of which one of the medium-scale high-latitude dayside cells diminishes and disappears while the other intensifies and merges with the opposite main cell of the same polarity to form the large "round-shaped" convection cell when approaching a well-known IMFBy-dominated configuration. Opposite scenarios with interchanged roles of the respective cells occur for the opposite turning of the clock angle and at the Southern Hemisphere. The high-latitude dayside cells become more pronounced with increasing magnitude of the IMF vector.

scholarly journals A new method to reconstruct the ionospheric convection patterns in the polar cap

1999 ◽  
Vol 17 (6) ◽  
pp. 743-748
Author(s):  
P. L. Israelevich ◽  
A. I. Ershkovich
Keyword(s):  
Stream Function ◽  
New Method ◽  
Satellite Orbits ◽  
Polar Ionosphere ◽  
Plasma Convection ◽  
Convection Pattern ◽  
Polar Cap ◽  
Minimum Number ◽  
Convection Patterns ◽  
Modelling And Forecasting

Abstract. A new method to reconstruct the instantaneous convection pattern in the Earth's polar ionosphere is suggested. Plasma convection in the polar cap ionosphere is described as a hydrodynamic incompressible flow. This description is valid in the region where the electric currents are field aligned (and hence, the Lorentz body force vanishes). The problem becomes two-dimensional, and may be described by means of stream function. The flow pattern may be found as a solution of the boundary value problem for stream function. Boundary conditions should be provided by measurements of the electric field or plasma velocity vectors along the satellite orbits. It is shown that the convection pattern may be reconstructed with a reasonable accuracy by means of this method, by using only the minimum number of satellite crossings of the polar cap. The method enables us to obtain a reasonable estimate of the convection pattern without knowledge of the ionospheric conductivity.Key words. Ionosphere (modelling and forecasting; plasma convection; polar ionosphere)

scholarly journals A multi-instrument approach to mapping the global dayside merging rate

2002 ◽  
Vol 20 (12) ◽  
pp. 1905-1920
Author(s):  
G. Provan ◽  
T. K. Yeoman ◽  
M. Lester ◽  
S. E. Milan
Keyword(s):  
Electric Fields ◽  
Plasma Flow ◽  
Ionospheric Plasma ◽  
Line Length ◽  
Convection Pattern ◽  
Polar Cap ◽  
Plasma Drift ◽  
Methods Of Calculation ◽  
Wind Measurements ◽  
First Time

Abstract. For the first time three different methods have been used to calculate the global merging rate during the same substorm growth phase. The ionospheric plasma drift was monitored by six of the Northern Hemisphere SuperDARN radars, allowing the convection pattern to be studied over 12 h of magnetic local time. The radars observed reconnection signatures on the dayside simultaneously with substorm signatures on the nightside. The three methods to calculate the global merging rate are: (i) the equatorward expansion of radar backscatter on the nightside, which provides an estimate of the rate of polar cap expansion, while upstream WIND measurements gave an estimate of the reconnection electric fields; (ii) the derivation of the dayside boundary normal plasma flow velocity and an estimate of the extent of the ionospheric merging gap, from radar observation of dayside reconnection; (iii) utilizing the map-potential technique to map the high-latitude plasma flow and cross polar cap potential (Ruohoniemi and Baker, 1998), allowing the global dayside merging rate to be calculated. The three methods support an extensive magnetopause X-line length of between 30 ± 12RE and 35 ± 15 RE (assuming a single X-line and constant merging rate). Such close agreement between the different methods of calculation are unexpected, especially as the length of the magnetopause X-line is not well known.Key words. Magnetospheric physics (magnetopause, cusp and boundary layers; magnetosphere – ionosphere interactions; solar-wind magnetosphere interactions)

scholarly journals Magnetospheric convection from Cluster EDI measurements compared with the ground-based ionospheric convection model IZMEM

2009 ◽  
Vol 27 (8) ◽  
pp. 3077-3087 ◽  
Author(s):  
M. Förster ◽  
Y. I. Feldstein ◽  
S. E. Haaland ◽  
L. A. Dremukhina ◽  
L. I. Gromova ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
High Latitude ◽  
Electric Potential ◽  
Potential Distribution ◽  
Spatial And Temporal Variation ◽  
Convection Pattern ◽  
Polar Cap ◽  
Ionospheric Convection ◽  
Electric Potential Distribution ◽  
Convection Model ◽  
The Imf

Abstract. Cluster/EDI electron drift observations above the Northern and Southern polar cap areas for more than seven and a half years (2001–2008) have been used to derive a statistical model of the high-latitude electric potential distribution for summer conditions. Based on potential pattern for different orientations of the interplanetary magnetic field (IMF) in the GSM y-z-plane, basic convection pattern (BCP) were derived, that represent the main characteristics of the electric potential distribution in dependence on the IMF. The BCPs comprise the IMF-independent potential distribution as well as patterns, which describe the dependence on positive and negative IMFBz and IMFBy variations. The full set of BCPs allows to describe the spatial and temporal variation of the high-latitude electric potential (ionospheric convection) for any solar wind IMF condition near the Earth's magnetopause within reasonable ranges. The comparison of the Cluster/EDI model with the IZMEM ionospheric convection model, which was derived from ground-based magnetometer observations, shows a good agreement of the basic patterns and its variation with the IMF. According to the statistical models, there is a two-cell antisunward convection within the polar cap for northward IMFBz+≤2 nT, while for increasing northward IMFBz+ there appears a region of sunward convection within the high-latitude daytime sector, which assumes the form of two additional cells with sunward convection between them for IMFBz+≈4–5 nT. This results in a four-cell convection pattern of the high-latitude convection. In dependence of the ±IMFBy contribution during sufficiently strong northward IMFBz conditions, a transformation to three-cell convection patterns takes place.

scholarly journals Polar cap convection patterns inferred from EISCAT observations

1997 ◽  
Vol 15 (4) ◽  
pp. 403-411 ◽  
Author(s):  
C. Peymirat ◽  
D. Fontaine
Keyword(s):  
Statistical Models ◽  
Order Differential Equation ◽  
Magnetic Activity ◽  
Analytical Models ◽  
Convection Flow ◽  
Convection Pattern ◽  
Polar Cap ◽  
Incoherent Scatter ◽  
Convection Patterns ◽  
Steady Convection

Abstract. From data of the European incoherent scatter radar EISCAT, and mainly from its tristatic capabilities, statistical models of steady convection in the auroral ionosphere were achieved for various levels of magnetic activity. We propose here to consistently extend these models to the polar cap, by avoiding the use of a pre-defined convection pattern. Basically, we solve the second-order differential equation governing the polar cap convection potential with the boundary conditions provided by these models. The results display the classical twin-vortex convection pattern, with the cell centres around 17 MLT for the evening cell and largely shifted towards midnight (3–3.5 MLT) for the morning cell, both slightly moving equatorward with activity. For moderate magnetic activities, the convection flow appears approximately oriented along the meridian from 10:00 MLT to 22:00 MLT, while in more active situations, it enters the polar cap at prenoon times following the antisunward direction, and then turns to exit around 21:00 MLT. Finally, from these polar cap patterns combined with the auroral statistical models, we build analytical models of the auroral and polar convection expected in steady magnetic conditions.

Ionospheric convection during the magnetic storm of 20-21 March 1990

1994 ◽  
Vol 12 (12) ◽  
pp. 1174-1191 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. R. Taylor ◽  
T. K. Yeoman ◽  
M. Lester ◽  
M. J. Buonsanto ◽  
J. L. Scali ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Solar Wind ◽  
Response Time ◽  
Magnetic Storm ◽  
Local Times ◽  
Convection Pattern ◽  
Polar Cap ◽  
Flow Measurements ◽  
Ionospheric Convection ◽  
Substorm Activity ◽  
The Imf

Abstract. We report on the response of high-latitude ionospheric convection during the magnetic storm of March 20-21 1990. IMP-8 measurements of solar wind plasma and interplanetary magnetic field (IMF), ionospheric convection flow measurements from the Wick and Goose Bay coherent radars, EISCAT, Millstone Hill and Sondrestrom incoherent radars and three digisondes at Millstone Hill, Goose Bay and Qaanaaq are presented. Two intervals of particular interest have been identified. The first starts with a storm sudden commencement at 2243 UT on March 20 and includes the ionospheric activity in the following 7 h. The response time of the ionospheric convection to the southward turning of the IMF in the dusk to midnight local times is found to be approximately half that measured in a similar study at comparable local times during more normal solar wind conditions. Furthermore, this response time is the same as those previously measured on the dayside. An investigation of the expansion of the polar cap during a substorm growth phase based on Faraday's law suggests that the expansion of the polar cap was nonuniform. A subsequent reconfiguration of the nightside convection pattern was also observed, although it was not possible to distinguish between effects due to possible changes in By and effects due to substorm activity. The second interval, 1200-2100 UT 21 March 1990, included a southward turning of the IMF which resulted in the Bz component becoming -10 nT. The response time on the dayside to this change in the IMF at the magnetopause was approximately 15 min to 30 min which is a factor of ~2 greater than those previously measured at higher latitudes. A movement of the nightside flow reversal, possibly driven by current systems associated with the substorm expansion phases, was observed, implying that the nightside convection pattern can be dominated by substorm activity.

scholarly journals Rankin Inlet PolarDARN radar observations of duskward moving Sun-aligned optical forms

2008 ◽  
Vol 26 (9) ◽  
pp. 2711-2723 ◽  
Author(s):  
A. Koustov ◽  
K. Hosokawa ◽  
N. Nishitani ◽  
T. Ogawa ◽  
K. Shiokawa
Keyword(s):  
Large Scale ◽  
Temporal Variations ◽  
Global Scale ◽  
Hf Radar ◽  
Convection Pattern ◽  
Polar Cap ◽  
Signal Parameters ◽  
Velocity Reversal ◽  
Magnetic Perturbations ◽  
Resolute Bay

Abstract. On 15 February 2007, several duskward moving sun-aligned (SA) auroral forms have been observed by the all-sky camera at Resolute Bay, Nunavut (Canada). Concurrent observations with the Rankin Inlet (RANK) PolarDARN HF radar within the field-of-view of the camera showed signatures of moving auroral forms in all signal parameters with the most remarkable effects being the echo power drop and velocity reversal as the arc reached a specific radar beam/gate. Spatial and temporal variations of the velocity in the vicinity of the SA form are investigated. It is shown that the form-associated convection reversal was located poleward (duskward) of the global-scale convection reversal associated with the dawn cell of the large-scale convection pattern. Thus, the RANK radar was monitoring the polar cap portion of the global-scale convection pattern and its transition from the IMF By<0 to the By>0 situation. Magnetic perturbations associated with the SA form passing the zenith of several magnetometers are investigated. It is shown that although magnetometer signatures of the moving form were clear, the convection pattern derivation from magnetometer records alone is not straightforward.

scholarly journals Reconfiguration of polar-cap plasma in the magnetic midnight sector

2006 ◽  
Vol 24 (8) ◽  
pp. 2201-2208 ◽  
Author(s):  
S. E. Pryse ◽  
A. G. Wood ◽  
H. R. Middleton ◽  
I. W. McCrea ◽  
M. Lester
Keyword(s):  
High Latitude ◽  
Convective Flow ◽  
Cold Plasma ◽  
Return Flow ◽  
Tomographic Image ◽  
Convection Pattern ◽  
Polar Cap ◽  
Pattern Comparison ◽  
Plasma Enhancement

Abstract. Radio tomography and the EISCAT and SuperDARN radars have been used to identify long-lived, high-altitude, cold plasma in the antisunward convective flow across the polar cap. The projection of the feature to later times suggests that it was reconfigured in the Harang discontinuity to form an enhancement that was elongated in longitude in the sunward return flow of the high-latitude convection pattern. Comparison with a tomographic image at a later time supports the interpretation of a polar patch being reconfigured into a boundary blob. There is also evidence for a second plasma enhancement equatorward of the reconfigured blob, likely to have been produced by in situ precipitation. The observations indicate that the two mechanisms proposed in the literature for the production of boundary blobs are operating simultaneously to form two distinct density features separated slightly in latitude.

scholarly journals IMF effect on sporadic-E layers at two northern polar cap sites: Part II – Electric field

2006 ◽  
Vol 24 (3) ◽  
pp. 901-913 ◽  
Author(s):  
T. Nygrén ◽  
A. T. Aikio ◽  
M. Voiculescu ◽  
J. M. Ruohoniemi
Keyword(s):  
Electric Field ◽  
Diurnal Variations ◽  
Field Direction ◽  
Convection Pattern ◽  
Polar Cap ◽  
Model Calculations ◽  
Sporadic E Layers ◽  
Electric Field Direction ◽  
Sporadic E ◽  
The Imf

Abstract. This paper is the second in a series on a study of the link between IMF and sporadic-E layers within the polar cap. In Paper I (Voiculescu et al., 2006), an analysis of the sporadic-E data from Thule and Longyearbyen was presented. Here we concentrate on the electric field mechanism of sporadic-E generation. By means of model calculations we show that the mechanism is effective even at Thule, where the direction of the geomagnetic field departs from vertical only by 4. The model calculations also lead to a revision of the electric field theory. Previously, a thin layer was assumed to grow at a convergent null in the vertical ion velocity, which is formed when the electric field points in the NW sector. Our calculations indicate that in the dynamic process of vertical plasma compression, a layer is generated at altitudes of high vertical convergence rather than at a null. Consequently, the layer generation is less sensitive than previously assumed to fluctuations of the electric field direction within the NW sector. The observed diurnal variations of sporadic-E occurrence at Longyearbyen and Thule are compared with the diurnal variations of the electric field, calculated using a representative range of IMF values by means of the statistical APL model. The results indicate that the main features of Es occurrence can be explained by the convection pattern controlled by the IMF. Electric fields calculated from the IMF observations are also used for producing distributions of sporadic-E occurrence as a function of electric field direction at the two sites. A marked difference between the distributions at Thule and Longyearbyen is found. A model estimate of the occurrence probability as a function of electric field direction is developed and a reasonable agreement between the model and the experimental occurrence is found. The calculation explains the differences between the distributions at the two sites in terms of the polar cap convection pattern. The conclusion is that the electric field is the major cause for sporadic-E generation and, consequently, IMF has a clear control on the occurrence of sporadic E within the polar cap.

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