An official website of the United States government
Abstract This study investigates the distribution and formation mechanisms of ionization troughs inside an auroral oval (referred to as high‐latitude troughs) by analyzing Swarm observations from May–August 2014. Simultaneous measurements of plasma density, 3‐dimensional ion velocity, ionospheric radial current (IRC), and electron temperature are available during this period. Because high‐latitude troughs appear within an auroral oval while mid‐latitude troughs appear at the equatorward edge of the auroral oval, the positioning of troughs relative to the equatorward auroral boundary becomes critical for distinguishing between the two types of troughs. We ascertain the auroral boundary and the orientation of field‐aligned currents using IRC data derived from magnetic field measurements. The principal features of high‐latitude troughs identified from Swarm data include: (a) enhancements in ion velocity and electron temperature, (b) the presence of downward or absent field‐aligned current (FAC), and (c) a more frequent occurrence in the Northern (summer) Hemisphere than in the Southern (winter) Hemisphere and in the dawn and dusk sectors than in the noon and midnight sectors. The alignment of the density minimum with the velocity maximum underscores the role of high‐speed plasma convection in the formation of high‐latitude troughs; atmospheric frictional heating promotes the O+loss through dissociative recombination. The prevailing appearance of high‐latitude troughs at dawn and dusk sectors, coupled with downward field‐aligned currents, indicates the involvement of outward electron evacuation in trough formation.
more »
« less
Robust Global Analysis of Mid‐Latitude Ionospheric Trough Morphology
Abstract This study characterizes the main ionospheric trough (MIT) using a newly implemented detection method applied to ground‐based Global Navigation Satellite System data. The MIT is a region of plasma depletion occurring primarily in the nighttime sub‐auroral F‐region ionosphere. Analysis is based on ground‐based ionosphere total electron content (TEC) measurements from 2012 to 2024 and is applied to both hemispheres. The data are sorted by geomagnetic condition and season. We characterize MIT dynamics and compare the results with previous studies. Detection algorithm limitations, hemispheric asymmetry, trough depth, boundary wall steepness and position are statistically quantified and visualized. Main conclusions include: (a) Automatic trough detection is highest during geomagnetically active winter in the northern hemisphere (NH). (b) This detection method creates synoptic views of the trough which we can use to demonstrate control of sub‐auroral polarization streams (SAPS) over the dusk/afternoon sector and influence of storm onset on the MIT. (c) There is a noticeable morning preference for the southern hemisphere (SH) trough. (d) The dawn‐side SH trough appears equatorward relative to the NH, potentially due to influence from polar convection patterns. The dusk‐side NH trough appears slightly equatorward of the SH trough as a response to SAPS. (e) The deepest trough occurs during dawn hours and demonstrates more consistent longitudinal patterns during quiet local winter. (f) The steepest trough boundary is at the poleward wall with a positive gradient at 12–15 local time in NH summer. Synoptic maps illustrate asymmetries in the trough structure and the influence of density plumes.
more »
« less
- Award ID(s):
- 2120511
- PAR ID:
- 10635870
- Publisher / Repository:
- Willy
- Date Published:
- Journal Name:
- Journal of Geophysical Research: Space Physics
- Volume:
- 130
- Issue:
- 7
- ISSN:
- 2169-9380
- Format(s):
- Medium: X
- Sponsoring Org:
- National Science Foundation
More Like this
-
-
Flow bursts are a major component of transport within the plasma sheet and auroral oval (where they are referred to as flow channels), and lead to a variety of geomagnetic disturbances as they approach the inner plasma sheet (equatorward portion of the auroral oval). However, their two-dimensional structure as they approach the inner plasma sheet has received only limited attention. We have examined this structure using both the Rice Convection Model (RCM) and ground-based radar and all sky imager observations. As a result of the energy dependent magnetic drift, the low entropy plasma of a flow burst spreads azimuthally within the inner plasma sheet yielding specific predictions of subauroral polarization stream (SAPS) and dawnside auroral polarization stream (DAPS) enhancements that are related to the field-aligned currents associated with the flow channel. Flow channels approximately centered between the dawn and dusk large-scale convection cells are predicted to give significant enhancements of both SAPS and DAPS, whereas flow channel further toward the dusk (dawn) convection cell show a far more significant enhancement of SAPS (DAPS) than for DAPS (SAPS). We present observations for cases having good coverage of flow channels as they approach the equatorward portion of the auroral oval and find very good qualitative agreement with the above RCM predictions, including the predicted differences with respect to flow burst location. Despite there being an infinite variety of flow channels’ plasma parameters and of background plasma sheet and auroral oval conditions, the observations show the general trends predicted by the RCM simulations with the idealized parameters. This supports that RCM predictions of the azimuthal spread of a low-entropy plasma sheet plasma and its associated FAC and flow responses give a realistic physical description of the structure of plasma sheet flow bursts (auroral oval flow channels) as they reach the inner plasma sheet (near the equatorward edge of the auroral oval).more » « less
-
Abstract The duskside and dawnside subauroral polarization streams (SAPS) refer to high‐velocity westward and eastward plasma flows located equatorward of the auroral oval. While extensive research has focused on the duskside SAPS, the simultaneous evolution of both dawnside and duskside SAPS remains unreported. In this study, for the first time, we investigated the simultaneous evolution of duskside and dawnside SAPS using multiple Super Dual Auroral Radar Network radars during an intense storm. Observations indicate that the duskside SAPS exhibits a wider magnetic local time extension (∼7 MLT) and longer duration (∼1 hr) than the dawnside SAPS. Furthermore, the duskside SAPS resides within low‐density mid‐latitude troughs, whereas the dawnside SAPS is not located within the trough. The dawnside SAPS exhibits significantly higher electron density but comparable velocity to the duskside SAPS. These findings highlight the distinct evolution of dawnside and duskside SAPS, providing new insights into the electrodynamic processes of subauroral ionosphere and magnetosphere coupling.more » « less
-
Abstract Sub‐auroral polarization streams (SAPS) are one of the most intense manifestations of magnetosphere‐ionosphere coupling. Magnetospheric energy transport to the ionosphere within SAPS is associated with Poynting flux and the precipitation of thermal energy (0.03–30 keV) plasma sheet particles. However, much less is known about the precipitation of high‐energy (≥50 keV) ions and electrons and their contribution to the low‐altitude SAPS physics. This study examines precipitation within one SAPS event using a combination of equatorial THEMIS and low‐altitude DMSP and ELFIN observations, which, jointly, cover from a few eV up to a few MeV energy range. Observed SAPS are embedding the ion isotropy boundary, which includes strong 300–1,000 keV ion precipitation. SAPS are associated with intense precipitation of relativistic electrons (≤3 MeV), well equatorward of the electron isotropy boundary. Such relativistic electron precipitation is likely due to electron scattering by electromagnetic ion cyclotron waves at the equator.more » « less
-
Dense, fast-moving regions of ionization called polar cap patches are known to occur in thehigh-latitudeFregion ionosphere. Patches are widely believed to be caused by convection of dense, sunlitplasma into a dark and therefore low-density polar cap ionosphere. This leads to the belief that patches are awinter phenomenon. Surprisingly, a long-term analysis of 3 years of ionospheric measurements from theSwarm satellites shows that large density enhancements occur far more frequently in local summer than localwinter in the Southern Hemisphere (SH). The reverse is true in the Northern Hemisphere (NH). Previouslyreported patch detections in the SH are reexamined. Detection algorithms using only a relative doubling testcount very small densityfluctuations in SH winter due to extremely low ambient densities found there,while much larger enhancements occurring in SH summer are missed due to especially high ambientdensities. The same problem does not afflict results in the NH, where ambient densities are more stableyear-round due to the ionospheric annual asymmetry. Given this new analysis, the definition of a patch as adoubling of the ambient density is not suitable for the SH. We propose a test for patches linked to long-termaveraged solarflux activity, characterized by the 81 day centered meanF10.7index. Importantly, thecurrent patch formation theory is at least incomplete in that it does not predict the observed lack of patchesin SH winter, or the many large enhancements seen in SH summermore » « less
- Free Publicly Accessible Full Text
-
Accepted Manuscript
- Journal Article:
- https://doi.org/10.1029/2024JA033605
