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Abstract Magnetic reconnection occurring between the interplanetary magnetic field (IMF) and the dayside magnetopause causes a circulation of magnetic flux and plasma within the magnetosphere, known as the Dungey cycle. This circulation is transmitted to the ionosphere via field‐aligned currents (FACs). The magnetic flux transport within the Dungey cycle is quantified by the cross‐polar cap potential (CPCP or transpolar voltage). Previous studies have suggested that under strong driving conditions the CPCP can saturate near a value of 250 kV. In this study we investigate whether an analogous saturation occurs in the magnitudes of the FACs, using observations from the Active Magnetosphere and Planetary Electrodynamics Response Experiment. The solar wind speed, density and pressure, theBzcomponent of the IMF, and combinations of these, were compared to the concurrent integrated current magnitude, across each hemisphere. We find that FAC magnitudes are controlled most strongly by solar wind speed and the orientation and strength of the IMF. FAC magnitude increases monotonically with solar wind driving but there is a distinct knee in the variation around IMFBz = −10 nT, above which the increase slows.
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Ground Magnetic Response to an Extraordinary IMF B Y Flip During the May 2024 Storm: Travel Time From the Magnetosheath to Dayside High Latitudes
Abstract In the present study we investigate the response of the dayside ground magnetic field to the sequence of interplanetary magnetic field (IMF)BYchanges during the May 2024 geomagnetic storm. We pay particular attention to its extraordinarily large (>120 nT) and abrupt flip, and use GOES‐18 (G18) magnetic field measurements in the dayside magnetosheath as a time reference. In the dayside auroral zone, the northward magnetic component changed by as much as 4,300 nT from negative to positive indicating that the direction of the auroral electrojet changed from westward to eastward. The overall sequence was consistent with the conventional understanding of the IMFBYdriving of zonal ionospheric flows and Hall currents, which is also confirmed by a global simulation conducted for this storm. Surprisingly, however, the time delay from G18 to the ground increased significantly in time. The delay was 2–3 min for a sharpBYreduction ∼30 min prior to theBYflip, but it became as long as 10 min for the zero‐crossing of theBYflip. It is suggested that the prolonged time delay reflected the travel time from G18 to the reconnection site, which sensitively depends on the final velocity at the magnetopause, that is, the inflow velocity of the magnetic reconnection. Around theBYflip, the solar wind number density transiently exceeded 100 cm−3, and should have increased further through the bow shock crossing. It is suggested that this unusually dense plasma reduced the reconnection rate, and therefore, the solar wind‐magnetosphere energy coupling due to the extraordinary IMF.
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- Award ID(s):
- 2224986
- PAR ID:
- 10610863
- Publisher / Repository:
- DOI PREFIX: 10.1029
- Date Published:
- Journal Name:
- Journal of Geophysical Research: Space Physics
- Volume:
- 130
- Issue:
- 5
- ISSN:
- 2169-9380
- Format(s):
- Medium: X
- Sponsoring Org:
- National Science Foundation
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