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Ion-neutral coupling is responsible for dissipating energy deposited into the high-latitude ionosphere during geomagnetically active periods. The neutral wind response time, or the ion-neutral coupling efficiency, is not well characterized, with a wide range of reported response times. Additionally, how this coupling efficiency varies with geomagnetic activity level is not well understood, with few studies addressing the impact of geomagnetic activity level on neutral wind response time. In this study, a statistical analysis of the neutral wind response time during substorm periods is performed. We use data from Scanning Doppler Imagers (SDIs) and the Poker Flat Incoherent Scatter Radar (PFISR) to calculate the neutral wind response time using the new weighted windowed time-lagged correlation method. Substorm events were found using SuperMAG substorm lists and All Sky Imagers (ASIs). This statistical analysis resulted in 23 substorm events, with an average response time of $\sim$16 min. To determine the controlling factors of this response time, geomagnetic and ionospheric parameters, such as IMF strength and orientation, SYM/H index, AE index, and electron density, are investigated for the statistical substorm set. A superposed epoch analysis of the parameters is performed to determine average geospace conditions required for fast neutral wind responses. It was found that quiet-time conditions in AE and SYM-H indices, a southward turning of IMF around 1.5 h before substorm onset time, and large electron densities lead to faster neutral wind response times. Based on the geomagnetic indices results, it was suggested that thermospheric pre-conditioning may play a role in neutral wind response times. 

Abstract The temporal variability of magnetopause reconnection is an important aspect of solar wind magnetosphere coupling. Even under stable solar wind driving, reconnection can be triggered, modulated, or suppressed because of magnetic field and plasma conditions near the magnetopause boundary. We analyze a unique event in which a THEMIS satellite crosses the subsolar magnetopause three times within a 5 min interval in the presence of a cold‐ion population on the magnetospheric side of the boundary. During the first crossing, the satellite detects reconnection outflow and a D‐ shaped ion velocity distribution earthward from the boundary, indicating an active reconnection. The signatures disappear during the second crossing when the magnetospheric cold‐ion density increases significantly and reappear during the third crossing when the magnetospheric density drops to a level comparable to that of the first crossing. The solar wind and magnetosheath conditions do not change much during the interval. The magnetospheric population is evidently associated with a plasmaspheric plume with considerable variation in density. According to the theory of mass loading, the presence of such a plume population results in the local Alfvén speed at the second crossing being 40% smaller compared to the first and third crossings. However, the theory itself does not suggest suppression. We discuss possible suppression mechanisms considering the additional effects of the prevailing solar wind and local magnetopause conditions. 

Abstract The weakly ionized plasma in the Earth's ionosphere is controlled by a complex interplay between solar and magnetospheric inputs from above, atmospheric processes from below, and plasma electrodynamics from within. This interaction results in ionosphere structuring and variability that pose major challenges for accurate ionosphere prediction for global navigation satellite system (GNSS) related applications and space weather research. The ionospheric structuring and variability are often probed using the total electron content (TEC) and its relative perturbations (dTEC). Among dTEC variations observed at high latitudes, a unique modulation pattern has been linked to magnetospheric ultra‐low‐frequency (ULF) waves, yet its underlying mechanisms remain unclear. Here using magnetically conjugate observations from the THEMIS spacecraft and a ground‐based GPS receiver at Fairbanks, Alaska, we provide direct evidence that these dTEC modulations are driven by magnetospheric electron precipitation induced by ULF‐modulated whistler‐mode waves. We observed peak‐to‐peak dTEC amplitudes reaching 0.5 TECU (1 TECU is equal to electrons/) with modulations spanning scales of 5–100 km. The cross‐correlation between our modeled and observed dTEC reached 0.8 during the conjugacy period but decreased outside of it. The spectra of whistler‐mode waves and dTEC also matched closely at ULF frequencies during the conjugacy period but diverged outside of it. Our findings elucidate the high‐latitude dTEC generation from magnetospheric wave‐induced precipitation, addressing a significant gap in current physics‐based dTEC modeling. Theses results thus improve ionospheric dTEC prediction and enhance our understanding of magnetosphere‐ionosphere coupling via ULF waves. 

Abstract Following the auroral substorm onset, the active aurora undergoes expansion, which can vary in spatial and temporal extent. The spatiotemporal development of the expansion phase active aurora is controlled by new auroral intensifications that often follow the initial onset. Using seven examples, we investigate the nature of these new auroral intensifications and address a question: are they new auroral onsets, that is, “successive onsets” or poleward‐boundary intensifications (PBIs) and ensuing auroral streamers? We observed events that included both types of auroral features—successive onsets and PBIs—and their combinations. For multiple‐onset substorms, successive onsets may occur eastward, westward, and poleward of the initial onset, resulting in a diverse range of expansion phase spatial extent and durations. Single‐onset substorms show only one auroral onset, but their spatiotemporal development can resemble that of multiple‐onset substorms. However, the additional activations are mainly PBIs and subsequent streamers. In some cases, PBIs undergo explosion, leading to a rapid poleward and azimuthal expansion of the aurora, resembling the auroral substorm onset. A prolonged sequence of PBIs and its longitudinal extension can contribute significantly to the spatiotemporal development of substorms expansion phase. Results suggest that post‐onset flow channels drive the spatiotemporal development of the substorm expansion phase by (a) triggering successive onsets and (b) inducing bursts of PBIs and their prolonged sequence. We speculate that post‐onset flow channels likely originate from the polar cap, but more evaluation is required. Our findings highlight the significance of examining imager data before solely relying on magnetometers to identify substorm onsets. 

Winds in the nighttime upper thermosphere are often observed to mimic the ionospheric plasma convection at polar latitudes, and whether the same is true for the daytime winds remains unclear. The dayside sector is subject to large temperature gradient set up by solar irradiance and it also contains the cusp, which is a hotspot of Poynting flux and a region with the strongest soft particle precipitation. We examine daytime winds using a Scanning Doppler Imager (SDI) located at the South Pole, and investigate their distribution under steadily positive and negative IMF B_yconditions. The results show that daytime winds exhibit significant differences from the plasma convection. Under negative IMF B_yconditions, winds flow in the same direction as the plasma zonally, but have a meridional component that is strongest in the auroral zone. As a result, winds are more poleward-directed than the plasma convection within the auroral zone, and more westward-directed in the polar cap. Under positive IMF B_yconditions, winds can flow zonally against the plasma in certain regions. For instance, they flow westward in the polar cap despite the eastward plasma convection there, forming a large angle relative to the plasma convection. The results indicate that ion drag may not be the most dominant force for daytime winds. Although the importance of various forcing terms cannot be resolved with the utilized dataset, we speculate that the pressure gradient force in the presence of cusp heating serves as one important contributor. 

Abstract Flux transfer events (FTEs) are a type of magnetospheric phenomena that exhibit distinctive observational signatures from the in situ spacecraft measurements. They are generally believed to possess a magnetic field configuration of a magnetic flux rope and formed through magnetic reconnection at the dayside magnetopause, sometimes accompanied with enhanced plasma convection in the ionosphere. We examine two FTE intervals under the condition of southward interplanetary magnetic field (IMF) with a dawn‐dusk component. We apply the Grad‐Shafranov (GS) reconstruction method to the in situ measurements by the Magnetospheric Multiscale (MMS) spacecraft to derive the magnetic flux contents associated with the FTE flux ropes. In particular, given a cylindrical magnetic flux rope configuration derived from the GS reconstruction, the magnetic flux content can be characterized by both the toroidal (axial) and poloidal fluxes. We then estimate the amount of magnetic flux (i.e., the reconnection flux) encompassed by the area “opened” in the ionosphere, based on the ground‐based Super Dual Auroral Radar Network (SuperDARN) observations. We find that for event 1, the FTE flux rope is oriented in the approximate dawn‐dusk direction, and the amount of its total poloidal magnetic flux falls within the range of the corresponding reconnection flux. For event 2, the FTE flux rope is oriented in the north‐south direction. Both the FTE flux and the reconnection flux have greater uncertainty. We provide a detailed description about a formation scenario of sequential magnetic reconnection between adjacent field lines based on the FTE flux rope configurations from our results. 

Abstract This study presents observations of magnetopause reconnection and erosion at geosynchronous orbit, utilizing in situ satellite measurements and remote sensing ground‐based instruments. During the main phase of a geomagnetic storm, Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellites (GOES) 15 was on the dawnside of the dayside magnetopause (10.6 MLT) and observed significant magnetopause erosion, while GOES 13, observing duskside (14.6 MLT), remained within the magnetosphere. Combined observations from the THEMIS satellites and Super Dual Auroral Radar Network radars verified that magnetopause erosion was primarily caused by reconnection. While various factors may contribute to asymmetric erosion, the observations suggest that the weak reconnection rate on the duskside can play a role in the formation of asymmetric magnetopause shape. This discrepancy in reconnection rate is associated with the presence of cold dense plasma on the duskside of the magnetosphere, which limits the reconnection rate by mass loading, resulting in more efficient magnetopause erosion on the dawnside. 

Flow channels can extend across the polar cap from the dayside to the nightside auroral oval, where they lead to localized reconnection and auroral oval disturbances. Such flow channels can persist within the polar cap >1½ hours, can move azimuthally with direction controlled by IMF By, and may affect time and location of auroral oval disturbances. We have followed a polar cap arc as it moved duskward from Canada to Alaska for ∼2 h while connected to the oval. Two-dimensional ionospheric flows show an adjacent flow channel that moved westward with the arc and was a distinct feature of polar cap convection that locally impinged upon the outer boundary of the auroral oval. The flow channel’s interaction with the oval appears to have triggered two separate substorms during its trip across western Canada and Alaska, controlling the onset location and contributing to subsequent development of substorm activity within the oval. The first substorm (over Canada) occurred during approximately equatorward polar cap flow, whereas the second substorm (over Alaska) occurred as the polar cap arc and flow channel bent strongly azimuthally and appeared to “lay down” along the poleward boundary. The oval became unusually thin, leading to near contact between the polar cap arc and the brightening onset auroral arc within the oval. These observations illustrate the crucial role of polar cap flow channels in the time, location, and duration of space weather activity, and the importance of the duration and azimuthal motion of flow channels within the nightside polar cap. 

Abstract Magnetopause reconnection is the dominant mechanism for transporting solar wind energy and momentum into the magnetosphere‐ionosphere system. Magnetopause reconnection can occur along X‐lines of variable extent in the direction perpendicular to the reconnection plane. Identifying the spatial extent of X‐lines using satellite observations has critical limitations. However, we can infer the azimuthal extent of the X‐lines by probing the ionospheric signature of reconnection, the antisunward flow channels across the ionospheric Open‐Closed Field Line Boundary (OCB). We study 39 dayside magnetopause reconnection events using conjugate in situ and ionospheric observations to investigate the variability and controlling factors of the spatial extent of reconnection. We use spacecraft data from Time History of Events and Macroscale Interactions during Substorms (THEMIS) to identify in situ reconnection events. The width of the antisunward flow channels across the OCB is measured using the concurrent measurements from Super Dual Auroral Radar Network (SuperDARN). Also, the X‐line lengths are estimated by tracing the magnetic field lines from the ionospheric flow boundaries to the magnetopause. The solar wind driving conditions upstream of the bow shock are studied using solar wind monitors located at the L1 point. Results show that the magnetopause reconnection X‐lines can extend from a few Earth Radii (RE) to at least 22 RE in the GSM‐Y direction. Furthermore, the magnetopause reconnection tends to be spatially limited during high solar wind speed conditions.