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Abstract Lobe reconnection is usually thought to play an important role in geospace dynamics only when the Interplanetary Magnetic Field (IMF) is mainly northward. This is because the most common and unambiguous signature of lobe reconnection is the strong sunward convection in the polar cap ionosphere observed during these conditions. During more typical conditions, when the IMF is mainly oriented in a dawn‐dusk direction, plasma flows initiated by dayside and lobe reconnection both map to high‐latitude ionospheric locations in close proximity to each other on the dayside. This makes the distinction of the source of the observed dayside polar cap convection ambiguous, as the flow magnitude and direction are similar from the two topologically different source regions. We here overcome this challenge by normalizing the ionospheric convection observed by the Super Dual Aurora Radar Network (SuperDARN) to the polar cap boundary, inferred from simultaneous observations from the Active Magnetosphere and Planetary Electrodynamics Response Experiment (AMPERE). This new method enable us to separate and quantify the relative contribution of both lobe reconnection and dayside/nightside (Dungey cycle) reconnection during periods of dominating IMFBy. Our main findings are twofold. First, the lobe reconnection rate can typically account for 20% of the Dungey cycle flux transport during local summer when IMFByis dominating and IMFBz ≥ 0. Second, the dayside convection relative to the open/closed boundary is vastly different in local summer versus local winter, as defined by the dipole tilt angle.
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Radial Interplanetary Magnetic Field‐Induced North‐South Asymmetry in the Solar Wind‐Magnetosphere‐Ionosphere Coupling: A Case Study
Abstract In this paper, we present a case study of the radial interplanetary magnetic field (IMFBx)‐induced asymmetric solar wind‐magnetosphere‐ionosphere (SW‐M‐I) coupling between the northern and southern polar caps using ground‐based and satellite‐based data. Under prolonged conditions of strong earthward IMF on 5 March 2015, we find significant discrepancies between polar cap north (PCN) and polar cap south (PCS) magnetic indices with a negative bay‐like change in the PCN and a positive bay‐like change in the PCS. The difference between these indices (PCN‐PCS) reaches a minimum of −1.63 mV/m, which is approximately three times higher in absolute value than the values for most of the time on this day (within ±0.5 mV/m). The high‐latitude plasma convection also shows an asymmetric feature such that there exists an additional convection cell near the noon sector in the northern polar cap, but not in the southern polar cap. Meanwhile, negative bays in the north‐south component of ground magnetic field perturbations (less than 50 nT) observed in the nightside auroral region of the Northern Hemisphere are accompanied with the brightening and widening of the nightside auroral oval in the Southern Hemisphere, implying a weak, but clear energy transfer to the nightside ionosphere of both hemispheres. After the hemispheric asymmetries in the polar caps disappear, a substorm onset takes place. All these observations indicate that IMFBx‐induced single lobe reconnection that occurred in the Northern Hemisphere plays an important role in hemispheric asymmetry in the energy transfer from the solar wind to the polar cap through the magnetosphere.
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- Award ID(s):
- 1935110
- PAR ID:
- 10375874
- Publisher / Repository:
- DOI PREFIX: 10.1029
- Date Published:
- Journal Name:
- Journal of Geophysical Research: Space Physics
- Volume:
- 127
- Issue:
- 2
- ISSN:
- 2169-9380
- Format(s):
- Medium: X
- Sponsoring Org:
- National Science Foundation
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