On the longitudinal extent of magnetopause reconnection pulses

The open magnetosphere model of cusp ion injection, acceleration and precipitation is used to predict the dispersion characteristics for fully pulsed magnetic reconnection at a low-latitude magnetopause X-line. The resulting steps, as would be seen by a satellite moving meridionally and normal to the ionospheric projection of the X-line, are compared with those seen by satellites moving longitudinally, along the open/closed boundary. It is shown that two observed cases can be explained by similar magnetosheath and reconnection characteristics, and that the major differences between them are well explained by the different satellite paths through the events. Both cases were observed in association with poleward-moving transient events seen by ground-based radar, as also predicted by the theory. The results show that the reconnection is pulsed but strongly imply it cannot also be spatially patchy, in the sense of isolated X-lines which independently are intermittently active. Furthermore they show that the reconnection pulses responsible for the poleward-moving events and the cusp ion steps, must cover at least 3 h of magnetic local time, although propagation of the active reconnection region may mean that it does not extend this far at any one instant of time.

Multi-instrument ground-based observations of a travelling convection vortices event

A coordinated ground-based observational campaign using the IMAGE magnetometer network, EISCAT radars and optical instruments on Svalbard has made possible detailed studies of a travelling convection vortices (TCV) event on 6 January 1992. Combining the data from these facilities allows us to draw a very detailed picture of the features and dynamics of this TCV event. On the way from the noon to the drawn meridian, the vortices went through a remarkable development. The propagation velocity in the ionosphere increased from 2.5 to 7.4 km s−1, and the orientation of the major axes of the vortices rotated from being almost parallel to the magnetic meridian near noon to essentially perpendicular at dawn. By combining electric fields obtained by EISCAT and ionospheric currents deduced from magnetic field recordings, conductivities associated with the vortices could be estimated. Contrary to expectations we found higher conductivities below the downward field aligned current (FAC) filament than below the upward directed. Unexpected results also emerged from the optical observations. For most of the time there were no discrete aurora at 557.7 nm associated with the TCVs. Only once did a discrete form appear at the foot of the upward FAC. This aurora subsequently expanded eastward and westward leaving its centre at the same longitude while the TCV continued to travel westward. Also we try to identify the source regions of TCVs in the magnetosphere and discuss possible generation mechanisms.

An analysis of the accuracy of magnetopause reconnection rate variations deduced from cusp ion dispersion characteristics

We present an analysis of the accuracy of the method introduced by Lockwood et al. (1994) for the determination of the magnetopause reconnection rate from the dispersion of precipitating ions in the ionospheric cusp region. Tests are made by applying the method to synthesised data. The simulated cusp ion precipitation data are produced by an analytic model of the evolution of newly-opened field lines, along which magnetosheath ions are firstly injected across the magnetopause and then dispersed as they propagate into the ionosphere. The rate at which these newly opened field lines are generated by reconnection can be varied. The derived reconnection rate estimates are then compared with the input variation to the model and the accuracy of the method assessed. Results are presented for steady-state reconnection, for continuous reconnection showing a sine-wave variation in rate and for reconnection which only occurs in square wave pulses. It is found that the method always yields the total flux reconnected (per unit length of the open-closed field-line boundary) to within an accuracy of better than 5%, but that pulses tend to be smoothed so that the peak reconnection rate within the pulse is underestimated and the pulse length is overestimated. This smoothing is reduced if the separation between energy channels of the instrument is reduced; however this also acts to increase the experimental uncertainty in the estimates, an effect which can be countered by improving the time resolution of the observations. The limited time resolution of the data is shown to set a minimum reconnection rate below which the method gives spurious short-period oscillations about the true value. Various examples of reconnection rate variations derived from cusp observations are discussed in the light of this analysis.

Time-dependent flows in the coupled solar wind-magnetosphere-ionosphere system

Concepts of time-dependent flow in the coupled solar wind-magnetosphere-ionosphere system are discussed and compared with the frequently-adopted steady-state paradigm. Flows are viewed as resulting from departures of the system from equilibrium excited by dayside and nightside reconnection processes, with the flows then taking the system back towards a new equilibrium configuration. The response of the system to reconnection impulses, continuous but unbalanced reconnection and balanced steady-state reconnection are discussed in these terms. It is emphasized that in the time-dependent case the ionospheric and interplanetary electric fields are generally inductively decoupled from each other; a simple mapping of the interplanetary electric field along equipotential field lines into the ionosphere occurs only in the electrostatic steady-state case.

Variability of dayside high latitude convection associated with a sequence of auroral transients

10 second resolution ionospheric convection data covering the invariant latitude range from 71° to 76°, obtained by using the EISCAT UHF and VHF radars, are combined with optical data from Ny Ålesund during a sequence of auroral transients in the post-noon sector (∼ 15 MLT). Satellite observations of polar cap convection patterns suggest negative BZ and BY components of the interplanetary magnetic field. Burst-like enhancements of westward (sunward) post-noon convection were accompanied by eastward moving auroral forms at higher latitudes, above the convection reversal boundary. In this case the background convection was weak, whereas the integrated potential drop across the radar field-of-view associated with the westward flow bursts was typically ∼ 20-35 kV. The auroral phenomenon consists of a series of similar events with a mean repetition period of 8 min. A close correlation between the auroral activity and convection enhancements in the cleft ionosphere is demonstrated.

Events of enhanced convection and related dayside auroral activity

In this paper we study the high-latitude plasma flow variations associated with a periodic (∼8 min) sequence of auroral forms moving along the polar cap boundary, which appear to be the most regularly occuring dayside auroral phenomenon under conditions of southward directed interplanetary magnetic field. Satellite data on auroral particle precipitation and ionospheric plasma drifts from DMSP F10 and F11 are combined with ground-based optical and ion flow measurements for January 7, 1992. Ionospheric flow measurements of 10-s resolution over the range of invariant latitudes from 71° to 76° were obtained by operating both the European incoherent scatter (EISCAT) UHF and VHF radars simultaneously. The optical site (Ny Ålesund, Svalbard) and the EISCAT radar field of view were located in the postnoon sector during the actual observations. The West Greenland magnetometers provided information about temporal variations of high-latitude convection in the prenoon sector. Satellite observations of polar cap convection in the northern and southern hemispheres show a standard two-cell pattern consistent with a prevailing negative By component of the interplanetary magnetic field. The 630.0 nm auroral forms located poleward of the persistent cleft aurora and the flow reversal boundary in the ∼1440–1540 MLT sector were observed to coincide with magnetosheath-like particle precipitation and a secondary population of higher energy ions, and they propagated eastward/tailward at speeds comparable with the convection velocity. It is shown that these optical events were accompanied by bursts of sunward (return) flow at lower latitudes in both the morning and the afternoon sectors, consistent with a modulation of Dungey cell convection. The background level of convection was low in this case (Kp =2+). The variability of the high-latitude convection may be explained as resulting from time-varying reconnection at the magnetopause. In that case this study indicates that time variations of the reconnection rate effectively modulates ionospheric convection.

Location and characteristics of the reconnection X line deduced from low-altitude satellite and ground-based observations: 2. Defense Meteorological Satellite Program and European Incoherent Scatter data

We present an analysis of a cusp ion step, observed by the Defense Meteorological Satellite Program (DMSP) F10 spacecraft, between two poleward moving events of enhanced ionospheric electron temperature, observed by the European Incoherent Scatter (EISCAT) radar. From the ions detected by the satellite, the variation of the reconnection rate is computed for assumed distances along the open-closed field line separatrix from the satellite to the X line, do. Comparison with the onset times of the associated ionospheric events allows this distance to be estimated, but with an uncertainty due to the determination of the low-energy cutoff of the ion velocity distribution function, ƒ(ν). Nevertheless, the reconnection site is shown to be on the dayside magnetopause, consistent with the reconnection model of the cusp during southward interplanetary magnetic field (IMF). Analysis of the time series of distribution function at constant energies, ƒ(ts), shows that the best estimate of the distance do is 14.5±2 RE. This is consistent with various magnetopause observations of the signatures of reconnection for southward IMF. The ion precipitation is used to reconstruct the field-parallel part of the Cowley D ion distribution function injected into the open low-latitude boundary layer in the vicinity of the X line. From this reconstruction, the field-aligned component of the magnetosheath flow is found to be only −55±65 km s−1 near the X line, which means either that the reconnection X line is near the stagnation region at the nose of the magnetosphere, or that it is closely aligned with the magnetosheath flow streamline which is orthogonal to the magnetosheath field, or both. In addition, the sheath Alfvén speed at the X line is found to be 220±45 km s−1, and the speed with which newly opened field lines are ejected from the X line is 165±30 km s−1. We show that the inferred magnetic field, plasma density, and temperature of the sheath near the X line are consistent with a near-subsolar reconnection site and confirm that the magnetosheath field makes a large angle (>58°) with the X line.

Large-scale fields and flows in the magnetosphere-ionosphere system

Advances in our understanding of the large-scale electric and magnetic fields in the coupled magnetosphere-ionosphere system are reviewed. The literature appearing in the period January 1991–June 1993 is sorted into 8 general areas of study. The phenomenon of substorms receives the most attention in this literature, with the location of onset being the single most discussed issue. However, if the magnetic topology in substorm phases was widely debated, less attention was paid to the relationship of convection to the substorm cycle. A significantly new consensus view of substorm expansion and recovery phases emerged, which was termed the ‘Kiruna Conjecture’ after the conference at which it gained widespread acceptance. The second largest area of interest was dayside transient events, both near the magnetopause and the ionosphere. It became apparent that these phenomena include at least two classes of events, probably due to transient reconnection bursts and sudden solar wind dynamic pressure changes. The contribution of both types of event to convection is controversial. The realisation that induction effects decouple electric fields in the magnetosphere and ionosphere, on time scales shorter than several substorm cycles, calls for broadening of the range of measurement techniques in both the ionosphere and at the magnetopause. Several new techniques were introduced including ionospheric observations which yield reconnection rate as a function of time. The magnetospheric and ionospheric behaviour due to various quasi-steady interplanetary conditions was studied using magnetic cloud events. For northward IMF conditions, reverse convection in the polar cap was found to be predominantly a summer hemisphere phenomenon and even for extremely rare prolonged southward IMF conditions, the magnetosphere was observed to oscillate through various substorm cycles rather than forming a steady-state convection bay.

Flow-aligned jets in the magnetospheric cusp: Results from the Geospace Environment Modeling Pilot Program

The extended flight of the Airborne Ionospheric Observatory during the Geospace Environment Modeling (GEM) Pilot program on January 16, 1990, allowed continuous all-sky monitoring of the two-dimensional ionospheric footprint of the northward interplanetary magnetic field (IMF) cusp in several wavelengths. Especially important in determining the locus of magnetosheath electron precipitation was the 630.0-nm red line emission. The most striking morphological change in the images was the transient appearance of zonally elongated regions of enhanced 630.0-nm emission which resembled “rays” emanating from the centroid of the precipitation. The appearance of these rays was strongly correlated with the Y component of the IMF: when the magnitude of By was large compared to Bz, the rays appeared; otherwise, the distribution was relatively unstructured. Late in the flight the field of view of the imager included the field of view of flow measurements from the European incoherent scatter radar (EISCAT). The rays visible in 630.0-nm emission exactly aligned with the position of strong flow jets observed by EISCAT. We attribute this correspondence to the requirement of quasi-neutrality; namely, the soft electrons have their largest precipitating fluxes where the bulk of the ions precipitate. The ions, in regions of strong convective flow, are spread out farther along the flow path than in regions of weaker flow. The occurrence and direction of these flow bursts are controlled by the IMF in a manner consistent with newly opened flux tubes; i.e., when |By| > |Bz|, tension in the reconnected field lines produce east-west flow regions downstream of the ionospheric projection of the x line. We interpret the optical rays (flow bursts), which typically last between 5 and 15 min, as evidence of periods of enhanced dayside (or lobe) reconnection when |By| > |Bz|. The length of the reconnection pulse is difficult to determine, however, since strong zonal flows would be expected to persist until the tension force in the field line has decayed, even if the duration of the enhanced reconnection was relatively short.

Causes of plasma flow bursts and dayside auroral transients: An evaluation of two models Invoking reconnection pulses and changes in the Y component of the magnetosheath field

Longitudinal flow bursts observed by the European Incoherent Scatter (EISCAT) radar, in association with dayside auroral transients observed from Svalbard, have been interpreted as resulting from pulses of enhanced reconnection at the dayside magnetopause. However, an alternative model has recently been proposed for a steady rate of magnetopause reconnection, in which the bursts of longitudinal flow are due to increases in the field line curvature force, associated with the By component of the magnetosheath field. We here evaluate these two models, using observations on January 20, 1990, by EISCAT and a 630-nm all-sky camera at Ny Ålesund. For both models, we predict the behavior of both the dayside flows and the 630-nm emissions on newly opened field lines. It is shown that the signatures of steady reconnection and magnetosheath By changes could possibly resemble the observed 630-nm auroral events, but only for certain locations of the observing site, relative to the ionospheric projection of the reconnection X line: however, in such cases, the flow bursts would be seen between the 630-nm transients and not within them. On the other hand, the model of reconnection rate pulses predicts that the flows will be enhanced within each 630-nm transient auroral event. The observations on January 20, 1990, are shown to be consistent with the model of enhanced reconnection rate pulses over a background level and inconsistent with the effects of periodic enhancements of the magnitude of the magnetosheath By component. We estimate that the reconnection rate within the pulses would have to be at least an order of magnitude larger than the background level between the pulses.

EISCAT observations of unusual flows in the morning sector associated with weak substorm activity

A discussion is given of plasma flows in the dawn and nightside high-latitude ionospheric regions during substorms occurring on a contracted auroral oval, as observed using the EISCAT CP-4-A experiment. Supporting data from the PACE radar, Greenland magnetometer chain, SAMNET magnetometers and geostationary satellites are compared to the EISCAT observations. On 4 October 1989 a weak substorm with initial expansion phase onset signatures at 0030 UT, resulted in the convection reversal boundary observed by EISCAT (at \sim0415 MLT) contracting rapidly poleward, causing a band of elevated ionospheric ion temperatures and a localised plasma density depletion. This polar cap contraction event is shown to be associated with various substorm signatures; Pi2 pulsations at mid-latitudes, magnetic bays in the midnight sector and particle injections at geosynchronous orbit. A similar event was observed on the following day around 0230 UT (\sim0515 MLT) with the unusual and significant difference that two convection reversals were observed, both contracting poleward. We show that this feature is not an ionospheric signature of two active reconnection neutral lines as predicted by the near-Earth neutral model before the plasmoid is “pinched off”, and present two alternative explanations in terms of (1) viscous and lobe circulation cells and (2) polar cap contraction during northward IMF. The voltage associated with the anti-sunward flow between the reversals reaches a maximum of 13 kV during the substorm expansion phase. This suggests it to be associated with the polar cap contraction and caused by the reconnection of open flux in the geomagnetic tail which has mimicked “viscous-like” momentum transfer across the magnetopause.

Multiple, discrete arcs on sunward convecting field lines in the 14-15 MLT region

Ionospheric plasma flow measurements and simultaneous observations of thin (∼0.2° invariant latitude (ILAT)), multiple, longitudinally extended auroral arcs of transient nature within 74°-76° ILAT and 1030-1130 UT (∼14-15 MLT) on January 12, 1989, are reported. The auroral structures appeared within the luminous belt of strong 630.0-nm emissions located predominantly on sunward convecting field lines equatorward of the convection reversal boundary as identified by the European Incoherent Scatter UHF radar. The events occurred during a period of several hours quasi-steady solar wind speed (∼ 700 km s−1) and a radially orientated interplanetary magnetic field (IMF) with a weak northward tilt (IMF Bz>0). These typical dayside auroral features are related to previous studies of auroral activity related to the upward region 1 current in the postnoon sector. The discrete auroral events presented here may result from magnetosheath plasma injections into the low-latitude boundary layer (LLBL) and an associated dynamo mechanism. An alternative explanation invokes kinetic Alfvén waves, triggered either by Kelvin-Helmholtz instability at the inner (or outer) edge of the LLBL or by pressure pulse induced magnetopause surface waves.

Implications of the altitude of transient 630-nm dayside auroral emissions

The altitude from which transient 630-nm (“red line”) light is emitted in transient dayside auroral breakup events is discussed. Theoretically, the emissions should normally originate from approximately 250 to 550 km. Because the luminosity in dayside breakup events moves in a way that is consistent with newly opened field lines, they have been interpreted as the ionospheric signatures of transient reconnection at the dayside magnetopause. For this model the importance of these events for convection can be assessed from the rate of change of their area. The area derived from analysis of images from an all-sky camera and meridian scans from a photometer, however, depends on the square of the assumed emission altitude. From field line mapping, it is shown for both a westward and an eastward moving event, that the main 557.7-nm emission comes from the edge of the 630 nm transient, where a flux transfer event model would place the upward field-aligned current (on the poleward and equatorward edge, respectively). The observing geometry for the two cases presented is such that this is true, irrespective of the 630-nm emission altitude. From comparisons with the European incoherent scatter radar data for the westward (interplanetary magnetic field By > 0) event on January 12, 1988, the 630-nm emission appears to emanate from an altitude of 250 km, and to be accompanied by some 557.7-nm “green-line” emission. However, for a large, eastward moving event observed on January 9, 1989, there is evidence that the emission altitude is considerably greater and, in this case, the only 557.7-nm emission is that on the equatorward edge of the event, consistent with a higher altitude 630-nm excitation source. Assuming an emission altitude of 250 km for this event yields a reconnection voltage of >50 kV during the reconnection burst but a contribution to the convection voltage of >15 kV. However, from the motion of the event we infer that the luminosity peaks at an altitude in the range of 400 and 500 km, and for the top of this range the reconnection and average convection voltages would be increased to >200 kV and >60 kV, respectively. (These are all minimum estimates because the event extends in longitude beyond the field-of-view of the camera). Hence the higher-emission altitude has a highly significant implication, namely that the reconnection bursts which cause the dayside breakup events could explain most of the voltage placed across the magnetosphere and polar cap by the solar wind flow. Analysis of the plasma density and temperatures during the event on January 9, 1989, predicts the required thermal excitation of significant 630-nm intensities at altitudes of 400-500 km.

High-latitude ion transport and energetic explorer (HI-LITE): a mission to investigate ion outflow from the high-latitude ionosphere

The proposed HI-LITE Explorer will investigate the global ion outflow from the high-latitude ionosphere, its relationship to auroral features, and the consequences of this outflow on magnetospheric processes. The unique nature of the HI-LITE Explorer images will allow temporal and spatial features of the global ion outflow to be determined. The mission's scientific motivation comes from the fundamental role high-latitude ionospheric ions play in the dynamics of the solar wind driven magnetospheric-ionospheric system. These outflows are a major source of plasma for the magnetosphere and it is believed they play an important role in the triggering of substorms. In addition this paper describes the HI-LITE spacecraft and instruments.

Variability of dayside convection and motions of the cusp/cleft aurora

We present measurements of the ionospheric plasma flow over the range of invariant latitudes 71–76°, observed at 10-second resolution using both the EISCAT radars, with simultaneous observations of the 630 nm cusp/cleft aurora made by a meridian-scanning photometer at Ny Ålesund, Svalbard. A major increase in the trans-auroral voltage from 5 to 40 kV (associated with sunward convection in the early afternoon sector) is found to follow a southward motion of the aurora and coincide with the onset of regular transient auroral breakup events. It is shown that these observations are consistent with recent theoretical work on how ionospheric flows are excited by time-dependent reconnection at the dayside magnetopause.