Coronal mass ejections, magnetic clouds, and relativistic magnetospheric electron events: ISTP

The role of high-speed solar wind streams in driving relativistic electron acceleration within the Earth\u27s magnetosphere during solar activity minimum conditions has been well documented. The rising phase of the new solar activity cycle (cycle 23) commenced in 1996, and there have recently been a number of coronal mass ejections (CMEs) and related “magnetic clouds” at 1 AU. As these CME/cloud systems interact with the Earth\u27s magnetosphere, some events produce substantial enhancements in the magnetospheric energetic particle population while others do not. This paper compares and contrasts relativistic electron signatures observed by the POLAR, SAMPEX, Highly Elliptical Orbit, and geostationary orbit spacecraft during two magnetic cloud events: May 27–29, 1996, and January 10–11, 1997. Sequences were observed in each case in which the interplanetary magnetic field was first strongly southward and then rotated northward. In both cases, there were large solar wind density enhancements toward the end of the cloud passage at 1 AU. Strong energetic electron acceleration was observed in the January event, but not in the May event. The relative geoeffectiveness for these two cases is assessed, and it is concluded that large induced electric fields (∂B/∂t) caused in situ acceleration of electrons throughout the outer radiation zone during the January 1997 event

Observations of magnetospheric substorms occurring with no apparent solar wind/IMF trigger

An outstanding topic in magnetospheric physics is whether substorms are always externally triggered by disturbances in either the interplanetary magnetic field or solar wind, or whether they can also occur solely as the result of an internal magnetospheric instability. Over the past decade, arguments have been made on both sides of this issue. Horwitz and McPherron have shown examples of substorm onsets which they claimed were not externally triggered. However, as pointed out by Lyons, there are several problems associated with these studies that make their results somewhat inconclusive. In particular, in the McPherron et al. study, fluctuations in the B{sub y} component were not considered as possible triggers. Furthermore, Lyons suggests that the sharp decreases in the AL index during intervals of steady IMF/solar wind, are not substorms at all but rather that they are just enhancements of the convection driven DP2 current system that are often observed to occur during steady magnetospheric convection events. In the present study, we utilize a much more comprehensive dataset (consisting of particle data from the Los Alamos energetic particle detectors at geosynchronous orbit, IMP 8 magnetometer and plasma data, Viking UV auroral imager data, mid-latitude Pi2 pulsation data, ground magnetometer data and ISEE1 magnetic field and energetic particle data) to show as unambiguously as possible that typical substorms can indeed occur in the absence of an identifiable trigger in the solar wind/IMF

Stability of annular equilibrium of energetic large orbit ion beam

The low-frequency stability of a long thin annular layer of energetic ions in a background plasma with finite axial and zero azimuthal magnetic field is studied analytically. It is found that although the equilibrium is susceptible to the kink instability, low mode number perturbations can be stabilized in the limit of N(i)/N(b) --> O when the current layer is close to the maximum field-reversal parameter. A brief discussion of the tearing mode stability criteria of such strong current layers with respect to the placement of conducting walls is also presented

Model Study of Ionospheric Dynamics During a Substorm

A global substorm electrodynamic model and a global ionospheric model were coupled in order to study ionospheric dynamics during substorms, with the focus on small-scale substorm electrodynamic and plasma structures. The simulation results show that in the expansion phase, structured precipitation and channeled field-aligned currents quickly develop in the substorm onset region. The Hall and Pedersen conductance ratio in the region increases significantly, and the magnetospheric field-aligned currents are mainly closed by highly structured Hall currents. Correspondingly, the plasma in the ionosphere also undergoes significant changes during a substorm and is highly structured in both the horizontal and vertical directions. In the substorm onset region, there are spatially separated small-scale Ti and Te hot spots, downward ExB drifts, decreased total electron contents, and a lowered ionosphere. Also, there is a significant O+ → NO+ conversion, leading to a great increase of NO+ and a lowering of the O+ peak height. These small-scale electrodynamic and plasma structures are very important for more realistically simulating the ionospheric dynamics during substorms. These results not only help to elucidate the multiscale ionospheric responses to substorms but also provide a theoretical guidance and cautions for the interpretation of various substorm observational data

Stopping of Charged Particles in a Magnetized Classical Plasma

The analytical and numerical investigations of the energy loss rate of the test particle in a magnetized electron plasma are developed on the basis of the Vlasov-Poisson equations, and the main results are presented. The Larmor rotation of a test particle in a magnetic field is taken into account. The analysis is based on the assumption that the energy variation of the test particle is much less than its kinetic energy. The obtained general expression for stopping power is analyzed for three cases: (i) the particle moves through a collisionless plasma in a strong homogeneous magnetic field; (ii) the fast particle moves through a magnetized collisionless plasma along the magnetic field; and (iii) the particle moves through a magnetized collisional plasma across a magnetic field. Calculations are carried out for the arbitrary test particle velocities in the first case, and for fast particles in the second and third cases. It is shown that the rate at which a fast test particle loses energy while moving across a magnetic field may be much higher than the loss in the case of motion through plasma without magnetic field.Comment: 14 pages, 3 figures, LaTe

Near-Earth initiation of a terrestrial substorm

Despite the characterization of the auroral substorm more than 40 years ago, controversy still surrounds the processes triggering substorm onset initiation. That stretching of the Earth's magnetotail following the addition of new nightside magnetic flux from dayside reconnection powers the substorm is well understood; the trigger for explosive energy release at substorm expansion phase onset is not. Using ground-based data sets with unprecedented combined spatial and temporal coverage, we report the discovery of new localized and contemporaneous magnetic wave and small azimuthal scale auroral signature of substorm onset. These local auroral arc undulations and magnetic field signatures rapidly evolve on second time scales for several minutes in advance of the release of the auroral surge. We also present evidence from a conjugate geosynchronous satellite of the concurrent magnetic onset in space as the onset of magnetic pulsations in the ionosphere, to within technique error. Throughout this time period, the more poleward arcs that correspond to the auroral oval which maps to the central plasma sheet remain undisturbed. There is good evidence that flows from the midtail crossing the plasma sheet can generate north-south auroral structures, yet no such auroral forms are seen in this event. Our observations present a severe challenge to the standard hypothesis that magnetic reconnection in stretched magnetotail fields triggers onset, indicating substorm expansion phase initiation occurs on field lines that are close to the Earth, as bounded by observations at geosynchronous orbit and in the conjugate ionosphere

Recurrent Geomagnetic Storms and Relativistic Electron Enhancements in the Outer Magnetosphere: ISTP Coordinated Measurements

New, coordinated measurements from the International Solar-Terrestrial Physics (ISTP) constellation of spacecraft are presented to show the causes and effects of recurrent geomagnetic activity during recent solar minimum conditions. It is found using WIND and POLAR data that even for modest geomagnetic storms, relativistic electron fluxes are strongly and rapidly enhanced within the outer radiation zone of the Earth\u27s magnetosphere. Solar wind data are utilized to identify the drivers of magnetospheric acceleration processes. Yohkoh solar soft X-ray data are also used to identify the solar coronal holes that produce the high-speed solar wind streams which, in turn, cause the recurrent geomagnetic activity. It is concluded that even during extremely quiet solar conditions (sunspot minimum) there are discernible coronal holes and resultant solar wind streams which can produce intense magnetospheric particle acceleration. As a practical consequence of this Sun-Earth connection, it is noted that a long-lasting E\u3e1MeV electron event in late March 1996 appears to have contributed significantly to a major spacecraft (Anik E1) operational failure