Editorial: Multiyear Analysis of JGR Space Physics Reviewing Statistics

The editorial decision process for the Journal of Geophysical Research Space Physics is assisted by over 1,000 scientists every year, providing over 3,000 reviews per year. These statistics are presented for the years 2013 through 2018, showing some fluctuations but, overall, consistency in the response of the space physics research community to requests to serve as manuscript reviewers. Over half of these reviews are submitted on time, and the average time to review actually dropped as the load increased. This is greatly appreciated and the community is to be commended and thanked for their willingness to help make this journal thrive and remain a premiere publication in the field.Key PointsA total of 1,366 scientists submitted 3,209 reviews on 1,054 unique manuscripts in 2018, the latest year for which numbers are fully compiledStatistics for 2018 are compared against those from the previous 5 years, revealing temporal trends in reviewing metricsWhile some fluctuations exist, the values reveal consistency in both the editorial process and reviewer compliance across the yearsPeer Reviewedhttps://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/154287/1/jgra55564.pdfhttps://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/154287/2/jgra55564_am.pd

Is the storm time response of the inner magnetospheric hot ions universally similar or driver dependent?

Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/95164/1/jgra21814.pd

The outflow of ionospheric nitrogen ions: A possible tracer for the altitude‐dependent transport and energization processes of ionospheric plasma

Though limited, the existing observational data set indicates that N+ is a significant ion in the ionosphere, and its concentration varies with season, time of day, solar cycle, latitude, and geomagnetic conditions. Knowledge of the differential transport of heavy versus light ionospheric species can provide the connection between the macroscale dynamics and microscale processes that govern the near‐Earth space. The mass distribution of accelerated ionospheric ions reflects the source region of the low‐altitude ion composition, and the minor ion component can serve as a tracer of ionospheric processes since they can have a significant influence on the local plasma dynamics.Key PointsThough limited, the existing observational data indicate N+ as a signification in the ionosphereDifferential transport of heavy versus light ionospheric speciesN+ ion could dominate the ionospheric outflow during disturbed conditionsPeer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/134456/1/jgra52903_am.pdfhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/134456/2/jgra52903.pd

Impact of Special Collections in JGR Space Physics

Journals occasionally solicit manuscripts for special collections, in which all papers are focused on a particular topic within the journal’s scope. For the Journal of Geophysical Research: Space Physics, there have been 51 special collections from 2005 through 2018, with a total of 1,009 papers out of the 8,881 total papers in the journal over those years (11%). Taken together, the citations to special collection papers, as well as other metrics, are slightly higher than papers not in special collections. Several paper characteristics were examined to assess whether they could explain the higher citation and download values for special collection papers, but they cannot. In addition, indirect methods were conducted for assessing self‐citations as an explanation for the increased citations, but no evidence was found to support this hypothesis. It was found that some paper types, notably Commentaries and Technical Reports, have lower average citations but higher average downloads than Research Articles (the most common type of paper in this journal). This implies that such paper types have a different kind of impact than “regular” science‐result‐focused papers. In addition to having higher average citations and downloads, special collections focus community attention on that particular research topic, providing a deadline for manuscript submissions and a single webpage at which many related papers are listed. It is concluded that special collections are worth the extra community effort in organization, writing, and reviewing these papers.Plain Language SummaryJournals sometimes focus the attention of the research community by having a special collection, even an entire issue, devoted to a single topic. A reasonable question to ask is whether the extra effort of organizing, promoting, and maintaining the special collection is worthwhile. This paper examines paper impact in this journal, the Journal of Geophysical Research Space Physics, separating the special collection papers from those not in special collections. The short answer is, on average, yes, at least based on the metric of citations. Some characteristics of the paper were also assessed, such as the use of a colon in the title, the average author team size, the average number of references in each paper, and the paper type of the articles. None of these factors explains the higher average citations and downloads for papers in special collections. In this analysis, though, it was found that several paper types have lower‐than‐average citations but higher‐than‐average downloads, including Commentaries (personal perspectives articles) and Technical Reports (describing new methods or data sets). This implies that such papers are being read but perhaps not heavily referenced (yet). The overall conclusion is that special collections are worth the extra work.Key PointsJGR Space Physics published 51 special collections from 2006 to 2018, totaling 1,009 papers out of 8,881Average citations and downloads are slightly higher for papers in special collections compared to those not in collectionsPaper attributes thought to influence citations were analyzed, finding no statistically significant effect for special collection papers compared to othersPeer Reviewedhttps://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/153709/1/jgra55389.pdfhttps://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/153709/2/jgra55389_am.pd

Reply to Comment on “Unraveling the Causes of Radiation Belt Enhancements”

Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/95055/1/eost16559.pd

Steady State Characteristics of the Terrestrial Geopauses

The boundary separating solar wind plasma from ionospheric plasma is typically thought to be the magnetopause. A generalization of the magnetopause concept called the geopause was developed by Moore and Delcourt (1995, https://doi.org/10.1029/95RG00872). The geopause is a surface defined where solar wind quantities equal the ionospheric quantities. Geopause studies have helped characterize magnetospheric systems. However, comparative studies between the geopauses to the magnetopause have not been conducted. In this paper, we analyze the influence of inner boundary composition and interplanetary magnetic field (IMF) orientation on the steady state terrestrial geopauses and the magnetopause. This study simulates the Earth’s magnetosphere by using the multifluid capabilities of the Block Adaptive Tree Solar wind Roe-type Upwind Scheme magnetohydrodynamics model within the Space Weather Modeling Framework. The simulations show that the dayside magnetopause was not influenced by the presence of oxygen in the outflow for both IMF orientations and was larger than the other geopauses. In contrast, the nightside magnetopause was sensitive to the conditions in the outflow. The nightside magnetopause was smaller than the other geopauses with southward IMF. With northward IMF, the nightside magnetopause was the largest structure in comparison with the plasma-based geopauses. Our results indicate that no single boundary surface dictates the transition from a solar wind dominated plasma to ionosphere dominated plasma.Key PointsFour definitions of the geopause are compared: number density, mass density, plasma pressure, and last closed field line (magnetopause)Multifluid magnetohydrodynamic modeling is used to calculate these geopauses for idealized north and south interplanetary magnetic fieldThe magnetopause is farthest out during north interplanetary field, but the plasma geopauses are farthest during south fieldPeer Reviewedhttps://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/151281/1/jgra55008_am.pdfhttps://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/151281/2/jgra55008.pd

Unraveling the causes of radiation belt enhancements

Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/94606/1/eost16149.pd

Appreciation of the 2015 JGR Space Physics peer reviewers

The Editors of the Journal of Geophysical Research Space Physics extend their deepest gratitude to the 1506 scientists that have peer reviewed one or more manuscripts for the journal.Key PointsThe journal Editors thank the reviewers for their service in 2015The 1506 scientists contributed 3575 reviewsThe 1147 unique manuscripts had final decisions in 2015Peer Reviewedhttps://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/137540/1/jgra52507.pdfhttps://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/137540/2/jgra52507_am.pd

Mars photoelectron energy and pitch angle dependence on intense lower atmospheric dust storms

We have conducted a survey of the Mars Global Surveyor (MGS) electron data across all the pitch angles of 12 usable energy bins (11–746 eV) for dayside photoelectron observations over regions of strong crustal fields. Studies have shown that solar EUV flux is the main controlling factor, but dust storms play an important role as well. Our study of different energies and pitch angles has shown that the unusual bimodal solar flux dependence is not a common feature but mainly found in low energies and a few bins of higher‐energy channels. By multiplying time‐history dust opacity with a solar EUV proxy as a new controlling function, the statistically significant increase of the correlation of photoelectron flux against this function indicates that dust storms have a long‐lasting influence on high‐altitude photoelectron fluxes, especially at low energies and the pitch angle source regions of high‐energy channels. The correlation increases experienced by the pitch angle source regions of all examined energy channels suggest that dust storms' influence most likely happens in the thermosphere‐ionosphere source region of the photoelectrons, rather than at exospheric altitudes at or above MGS. Furthermore, by isolating the global‐scale dust storm in Mars year 25 (2001) from the rest, the results suggest that this storm is entirely responsible for the second solar flux‐dependent trend. While not excluding the possibility of this phenomenon being a one‐time event, we hypothesize that there is a threshold of dust opacity at which the low‐altitude dust's influence on high‐altitude photoelectron fluxes begins to be significant. Key Points Dust storms' influence is strongest in the thermosphere‐ionosphere source region Hypothesize a dust opacity threshold for a long‐lived effect on the ionospherePeer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/108280/1/fs01_fism010nm.pdfhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/108280/2/fs02_fism050nm.pdfhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/108280/3/jgre20282.pdfhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/108280/4/fs03_fism50100nm.pdfhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/108280/5/README.pdfhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/108280/6/fs04.pd

Mars Express observations of high altitude planetary ion beams and their relation to the “energetic plume” loss channel

This study presents observational evidence of high‐energy (ions >2 keV) beams of planetary ions above Mars' induced magnetospheric boundary (IMB) and relates them with the energetic plume loss channel calculated from numerical models. A systematic search of the Mars Express (MEX) ion data using an orbit filtering criteria is described, using magnetometer data from Mars Global Surveyor (MGS) to determine the solar wind motional electric field (Esw) direction. Two levels of statistical survey are presented, one focused on times when the MEX orbit was directly in line with the Esw and another for all angles between the MEX location and the Esw. For the first study, within the 3 year overlap of MGS and MEX, nine brief intervals were found with clear and unambiguous high‐energy O+ observations consistent with the energetic plume loss channel. The second survey used a point‐by‐point determination of MEX relative to the E‐field and contained many thousands of 192 s measurements. This study yielded only a weak indication for an Esw‐aligned plume. Furthermore, the y‐z components of the weighted average velocities in the bins of this y‐z spatial domain survey do not systematically point in the Esw direction. The first survey implies the existence of this plume and shows that its characteristics are seemingly consistent with the expected energy and flight direction from numerical studies; the second study softens the finding and demonstrates that there are many planetary ions beyond the IMB moving in unexpected directions. Several possible explanations for this discrepancy are discussed.Key PointsA plume of energetic (>2 keV) planetary ions is escaping from MarsThe plume is directed along the solar wind motional electric fieldClarity of plume signatures greatly depends on selected survey methodologyPeer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/110626/1/jgra51418.pd