Estimating the fate of oxygen ion outflow from the high-altitude cusp

We have investigated the oxygen escape-to-capture ratio from the high-altitude cusp regions for various geomagnetic activity levels by combining EDI and CODIF measurements from the Cluster spacecraft. Using a magnetic field model, we traced the observed oxygen ions to one of three regions: plasma sheet, solar wind beyond a distant X-line or dayside magnetosheath. Our results indicate that 69 % of high-altitude oxygen escapes the magnetosphere, from which most escapes beyond the distant X-line (50 % of total oxygen flux). Convection of oxygen to the plasma sheet shows a strong dependence on geomagnetic activity. We used the Dst index as a proxy for geomagnetic storms and separated data into quiet conditions (Dst>0 nT), moderate conditions (0>Dst>−20 nT), and active conditions (Dst<−20 nT). For quiet magnetospheric conditions we found increased escape due to low convection. For active magnetospheric conditions we found an increase in both parallel velocities and convection velocities, but the increase in convection velocities is higher, and thus most of the oxygen gets convected into the plasma sheet (73 %). The convected oxygen ions reach the plasma sheet in the distant tail, mostly beyond 50 RE.publishedVersio

Atmospheric loss from the dayside open polar region and its dependence on geomagnetic activity: implications for atmospheric escape on evolutionary timescales

International audienceWe have investigated the total O+ escape rate from the dayside open polar region and its dependence on geomagnetic activity, specifically Kp. Two different escape routes of magnetospheric plasma into the solar wind, the plasma mantle, and the high-latitude dayside magnetosheath have been investigated separately. The flux of O+ in the plasma mantle is sufficiently fast to subsequently escape further down the magnetotail passing the neutral point, and it is nearly 3 times larger than that in the dayside magnetosheath. The contribution from the plasma mantle route is estimated as ∼ 3. 9 × 1024exp(0. 45 Kp) [s-1] with a 1 to 2 order of magnitude range for a given geomagnetic activity condition. The extrapolation of this result, including escape via the dayside magnetosheath, indicates an average O+ escape of 3 × 1026 s-1 for the most extreme geomagnetic storms. Assuming that the range is mainly caused by the solar EUV level, which was also larger in the past, the average O+ escape could have reached 1027-28 s-1 a few billion years ago. Integration over time suggests a total oxygen escape from ancient times until the present roughly equal to the atmospheric oxygen content today

Nighttime Magnetic Perturbation Events Observed in Arctic Canada: 3. Occurrence and Amplitude as Functions of Magnetic Latitude, Local Time, and Magnetic Disturbance Indices

Rapid changes of magnetic fields associated with nighttime magnetic perturbation events (MPEs) with amplitudes |ΔB| of hundreds of nT and 5–10 min duration can induce geomagnetically induced currents (GICs) that can harm technological systems. This study compares the occurrence and amplitude of nighttime MPEs with |dB/dt| ≥ 6 nT/s observed during 2015 and 2017 at five stations in Arctic Canada ranging from 64.7° to 75.2° in corrected geomagnetic latitude (MLAT) as functions of magnetic local time (MLT), the SME (SuperMAG version of AE) and SYM/H magnetic indices, and time delay after substorm onsets. Although most MPEs occurred within 30 min after a substorm onset, ∼10% of those observed at the four lower latitude stations occurred over two hours after the most recent onset. A broad distribution in local time appeared at all five stations between 1700 and 0100 MLT, and a narrower distribution appeared at the lower latitude stations between 0200 and 0700 MLT. There was little or no correlation between MPE amplitude and the SYM/H index; most MPEs at all stations occurred for SYM/H values between −40 and 0 nT. SME index values for MPEs observed \u3e1 h after the most recent substorm onset fell in the lower half of the range of SME values for events during substorms, and dipolarizations in synchronous orbit at GOES 13 during these events were weaker or more often nonexistent. These observations suggest that substorms are neither necessary nor sufficient to cause MPEs, and hence predictions of GICs cannot focus solely on substorms

O+ outflow during geomagnetic storms observed by Cluster satellites

The region of space dominated by the Sun's magnetic field is called the heliosphere. It envelops the entire solar system including Earth. Therefore, a strong coupling exists between the Sun and our planet. The Sun continuously ejects particles, the solar wind, and when these high energy particles hit Earth, the magnetosphere (the region around the Earth governed by the geomagnetic field) is affected. When the solar wind is enhanced this disturbs the magnetosphere and perturbations can be seen also in ground-based observations. The upper atmosphere is subjected to solar radiation that ionise the neutral atoms and molecules, this region is referred to as the ionosphere. In the ionosphere, some of the heavier ion populations, such as O+, are heated and accelerated through several processes and flow upward. In the polar regions these mechanisms are particularly efficient and when the ions have enough energy to escape the Earth's gravity, they move outward along open magnetic field lines and may be lost into interplanetary space. Ion outflow in general has already been well studied, however, ion outflow under extreme magnetospheric conditions has not been investigated in detail. Disturbed magnetospheric conditions correlate with solar active periods, such as coronal holes or the development of solar active regions. From these regions, strong ejections called coronal mass ejections (CMEs) emerge. When these extreme events interact with Earth, they produce a compression of the magnetosphere as well as reconnection between the terrestrial magnetic field lines and the interplanetary magnetic field (IMF) lines, which most of the time leads to geomagnetic storms. The amounts of incoming solar particles and energy increase during geomagnetic storms and we also observe an increase in the O+ outflow. Our observations are made with the Cluster mission, a constellation of 4 satellites flying around Earth in the key magnetospheric regions where ion outflow is usually observed. In this thesis, we estimate O+ outflow under disturbed magnetospheric conditions and for several extreme geomagnetic storms. We find that O+ outflow lost into the solar wind increases exponentially with enhanced geomagnetic activity (Kp index) and increases about 2 orders of magnitude during extreme geomagnetic storms.Den del av rymden som domineras av solens magnetfält kallas heliosfären. Helios-fären omfattar hela solsystemet inklusive jorden, vilket gör att det finns en starkkoppling mellan solen och jorden. Solen sänder oavbrutet ut laddade partiklar in denså kallade solvinden och när dessa energika partiklar träffar jorden påverkas mag-netosfären (det område kring jorden där det geomagnetiska fältet dominerar). Närsolvinden är starkare än vanligt uppstår störningar. I magnetosfären som ger effektersom kan uppmätas med markbaserade instrument. Den övre atmosfären utsätts för strålning från solen som joniserar atomer ochmolekyler, och formar det område som kallas jonosfären. Några av de tyngre jonpop-ulationerna i jonosfären, som till exempel syrejoner, kan hettas upp och accelererasgenom flera olika möjliga processer. Detta gör att de flödar uppåt i atmosfären. Ipolarområdena är dessa mekanismer särskilt effektiva och om tillräckligt med energitillförs jonerna kan gravitationen övervinnas, vilket gör att jonerna flödar upp längsöppna magnetfältlinjer och kan gå förlorade ut i den interplanetära rymden. Generelltsett har jonutflöde redan studerats väl, men jonutflöde under extrema magnetosfäriskaförhållanden har inte undersökts i detalj. Störda magnetosfäriska förhållanden korrelerar med då solen är aktiv, som tillexempel koronahål eller under utvecklingen av aktiva solområden. Från dessa områ-den härstammar koronamassautkastningar. När dessa extrema händelser når jordenkomprimeras magnetosfären och det geomagnetiska och interplanetära magnetiskafältet omkopplas, vilket ofta leder till geomagnetiska stormar. Under dessa införsstora mängder av partiklar i solvinden och energi till magnetosfären, och ett högresyrejonsutflöde är också observerat. Data från Clustersatelliterna har använts; dessa utgörs av fyra satelliter i for-mation i omloppsbana kring jorden. Plasmaområdena där de befinner sig är därjonutflödet vanligtvis observeras. Denna avhandling behandlar syrejonsutflöde understörda magnetosfäriska förhållanden och flera extrema geomagnetiska stormar. Detvisas att syrejonsutflödet som förloras till solvinden ökar exponentiellt med geomag-netiskt aktivitet (Kp-index) och ökar med upp till 2 storleksordningar under extremageomagnetiska stormar

How does O+ outflow vary with solar wind conditions?

The entire solar system including Earth is enveloped in a region of space where the Sun’s magnetic field dominates, this region is called the heliosphere. Due to this position in the heliosphere, a strong coupling exists between the Sun and our planet. The Sun continuously ejects particles, the solar wind, which is composed mainly of protons, electrons as well as some helium and heavier elements. These high energetic particles then hit the Earth and are partly deflected by the Earth’s magnetosphere (the region around Earth governed by the geomagnetic field). Depending on the strength of the solar wind hitting our planet, the magnetosphere is disturbed and perturbations can be seen down to the lower atmosphere. The upper atmosphere is affected by short wave-length solar radiation that ionise the neutral atoms, this region is referred to as the ionosphere. In the ionosphere, some of the heavier ion populations, such as O+, are heated and accelerated through several processes and flow upward. In the polar regions (polar cap, cusp and plasma mantle) these mechanisms are particularly efficient and when the ions have enough energy to escape the Earth’s gravity, they move outward along open magnetic field lines. These outflowing ions may be lost into interplanetary space. Another aspect that influences O+ ions are disturbed magnetospheric conditions. They correlate with solar active periods, such as coronal holes or the development of solar active regions. From these regions, strong ejections emerge, called coronal mass ejections (CMEs). When these CMEs interact with Earth, they produce a compression of the magnetosphere as well as reconnection between the terrestrial magnetic field lines and the interplanetary magnetic field (IMF) lines, which very often leads to geomagnetic storms. The energy in the solar wind as well as the coupling to the magnetosphere increase during geomagnetic storms and therefore the energy input to the ionosphere. This in turn increases the O+ outflow. In addition, solar wind parameter variations such as the dynamic pressure or the IMF also influence the outflowing ions. Our observations are made with the Cluster mission, a constellation of 4 satellites flying around Earth in the key magnetospheric regions where we usually observe ion outflow. In this thesis, we estimated O+ outflow for different solar wind parameters (IMF, solar wind dynamic pressure) and extreme ultraviolet radiations (EUV) as well as for extreme geomagnetic storms. We found that O+ outflow increases exponentially with enhanced geomagnetic activity (Kp index) and about 2 orders of magnitude during extreme geomagnetic storms compared to quiet conditions. Furthermore, our investigations on solar wind parameters showed that O+ outflow increases for high dynamic pressure and southward IMF, as well as with EUV radiations. Finally, the fate of O+ ions from the plasma mantle were studied based on Cluster observations and simulations. These results confirm that ions observed in the plasma mantle have sufficient energy to be lost in the solar wind

Ion Convection as a Function of Distance to the Neutral Sheet in Earth's Magnetotail

We utilized 33 years of data obtained by the Geotail, THEMIS, Cluster and MMS missions to investigate the slow (&lt;200 km/s) ion flows perpendicular to the magnetic field in Earth's magnetotail plasma sheet. By using plasma β as a proxy of distance to the neutral sheet, we find that the ion flow patterns vary systematically within the plasma sheet. Particularly, in regions farther from the neutral sheet, earthward (tailward) flows exhibit a strong tendency to diverge (converge) quasi-symmetrically, with respect to the midnight meridional plane. As the distance becomes closer toward the neutral sheet, this tendency to diverge and converge gradually weakens. Moreover, duskward flows become the dominant components in both the earthward and tailward flows. These variations in ion flow patterns with distance to neutral sheet are hemispherically independent. We suggest that the spatial profiles of the electric and diamagnetic drift vary with distance to the neutral sheet and are therefore responsible for the varying ion flow patterns

Estimating the fate of oxygen ion outflow from the high-altitude cusp

We have investigated the oxygen escape-to-capture ratio from the high-altitude cusp regions for various geomagnetic activity levels by combining EDI and CODIF measurements from the Cluster spacecraft. Using a magnetic field model, we traced the observed oxygen ions to one of three regions: plasma sheet, solar wind beyond a distant X-line or dayside magnetosheath. Our results indicate that 69 % of high-altitude oxygen escapes the magnetosphere, from which most escapes beyond the distant X-line (50 % of total oxygen flux). Convection of oxygen to the plasma sheet shows a strong dependence on geomagnetic activity. We used the Dst index as a proxy for geomagnetic storms and separated data into quiet conditions (Dst>0 nT), moderate conditions (0>Dst>−20 nT), and active conditions (Dst<−20 nT). For quiet magnetospheric conditions we found increased escape due to low convection. For active magnetospheric conditions we found an increase in both parallel velocities and convection velocities, but the increase in convection velocities is higher, and thus most of the oxygen gets convected into the plasma sheet (73 %). The convected oxygen ions reach the plasma sheet in the distant tail, mostly beyond 50 RE

Corrigendum to “Atmospheric loss from the dayside open polar region and its dependence on geomagnetic activity: implications for atmospheric escape on evolutionary timescales” published in Ann. Geophys., 35, 721–731, 2017

Erratum in: Annales Geophysicae, vol. 35, iss. 3, p. 721–731, DOI: 10.5194/angeo-35-721-2017</p