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Access the original poster here: https://agu24.ipostersessions.com/default.aspx?s=56-AC-77-47-70-EA-25-74-40-80-19-49-D4-CA-D6-A7 Link to conference program: https://agu.confex.com/agu/agu24/meetingapp.cgi/Paper/1538608 This is an interactive poster, which was presented at AGU24 as a Lightning presentation. To view HTML files, download locally and open in browser. Abstract: The polar regions are uniquely valuable in geospace science, in part because much of the solar wind's energy enters the system in polar regions and their magnetospheric, ionospheric, and atmospheric connections are markedly different from the lower latitudes. Geomagnetic conjugate points in the northern and southern hemispheres – i.e., points linked by Earth's magnetic field, including both points connected by closed magnetic field lines and points in open-field line regions that are in similar magnetic domains – have been shown to alter each other’s environment on the order of minutes. Space weather conditions in Antarctica, therefore, influence and are influenced by the conditions in the northern hemisphere. This has been observed in the formation of auroral structures. However, the magnetic conjugate relationship is not straightforward to visualize with many common mapping tools, which commonly focus on midlatitude-oriented map projections. Related visualization difficulties also arise from the counterintuitive vertical scale of the geospace environment. Here, we present Python-based tools for mapping multiple instrumentation networks, including ground-based instruments, radars and satellites, to observe geospace events such as the polar eclipses of 2021, and discuss approaches to make the data presentation more flexible and intuitive. In particular, we highlight regions of potential interest for future instrument deployments.
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This content will become publicly available on September 23, 2026
conjugate_map: A Python package for calculating geomagnetic conjugate points
The Earth’s magnetic field is dominated by the dipole moment, which magnetically connects the northern and southern hemispheres. Because ionospheric and magnetospheric plasmas preferentially move along magnetic field lines, local processes that affect the ionosphere or magnetosphere in one hemisphere can cause changes in the opposite hemisphere. The polar regions are uniquely valuable in geospace science, in part because much of the solar wind’s energy enters the system in polar regions and their magnetospheric, ionospheric, and atmospheric connections are markedly different from the lower latitudes. Geomagnetic conjugates are points in the northern and southern hemispheres linked by Earth’s magnetic field, including both points connected by closed magnetic field lines and points in open-field line regions that are in similar magnetic domains. Conjugate locations are both affected asymmetrically by external factors and have also been shown to alter each other’s environment on the order of minutes, which makes interhemispheric comparisons crucial to understanding the full dynamics of the geospace system. Here, we present conjugate_map, a Python library for flexible geomagnetic coordinate conversions that was designed to facilitate interhemispheric comparisons of geospace events and deployment of polar geospace instruments. As the fifth International Polar Year approaches in 2032–33, this work will help researchers to incorporate interhemispheric geospace investigations into the instrument planning process.
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- Award ID(s):
- 2218996
- PAR ID:
- 10659050
- Publisher / Repository:
- Elsevier
- Date Published:
- Journal Name:
- SoftwareX
- Volume:
- 32
- Issue:
- C
- ISSN:
- 2352-7110
- Page Range / eLocation ID:
- 102354
- Format(s):
- Medium: X
- Sponsoring Org:
- National Science Foundation
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