Darrouzet, Fabien

Heilig, Balázs

Lichtenberger, János

Lühr, Hermann

Vellante, Massimo

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Geophysical Research AbstractsVol. 16, EGU2014-4285, 2014EGU General Assembly 2014© Author(s) 2014. CC Attribution 3.0 License.Validation of a new plasmapause model derived from CHAMPfield-aligned current signaturesBalázs Heilig (1), Fabien Darrouzet (2), Massimo Vellante (3), János Lichtenberger (4), and Hermann Lühr (5)(1) Geological and Geophysical Institute of Hungary, Tihany, Hungary, (2) Belgian Institute for Space Aeronomy, Brussels,Belgium, (3) University of L’Aquila, L’Aquila, Italy, (4) Eötvös University, Budapest, Hungary, (5) GFZ German ResearchCentre for Geosciences, Potsdam, GermanyRecently a new model for the plasmapause location in the equatorial plane was introduced based on magnetic fieldobservations made by the CHAMP satellite in the topside ionosphere (Heilig and Lühr, 2013). Related signalsare medium-scale field-aligned currents (MSFAC) (some 10km scale size). An empirical model for the MSFACboundary was developed as a function of Kp and MLT. The MSFAC model then was compared to in situ plasma-pause observations of IMAGE RPI. By considering this systematic displacement resulting from this comparisonand by taking into account the diurnal variation and Kp-dependence of the residuals an empirical model of theplasmapause location that is based on MSFAC measurements from CHAMP was constructed. As a first step to-ward validation of the new plasmapause model we used in-situ (Van Allen Probes/EMFISIS, Cluster/WHISPER)and ground based (EMMA) plasma density observations. Preliminary results show a good agreement in generalbetween the model and observations. Some observed differences stem from the different definitions of the plasma-pause. A more detailed validation of the method can take place as soon as SWARM and VAP data become available.Heilig, B., and H. Lühr (2013) New plasmapause model derived from CHAMP field-aligned current signatures,Ann. Geophys., 31, 529-539, doi:10.5194/angeo-31-529-2013

Validation of a new plasmapause model derived from CHAMP field-aligned current signatures

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