Article
Physics, Multidisciplinary
Lingjie Li
Summary: Based on compressible resistive MHD models, the Earth's dipole magnetic field is used to study magnetic reconnection driven by the solar wind with southward interplanetary magnetic field. The results show that the solar wind velocity has little effect on the location of magnetic reconnection, but can promote reconnection at the dayside magnetopause, increasing both the reconnection rate and deviation of the magnetotail current sheet.
Article
Astronomy & Astrophysics
S. E. Milan, M. K. Mooney, G. Bower, A. L. Fleetham, S. K. Vines, J. Gjerloev
Summary: High-Intensity Long-Duration Continuous AE Activity (HILDCAA) events, driven by High Speed solar wind Streams (HSSs), result in enhancements in the auroral electrojet (AE) index lasting for several days. Our study of 16 HILDCAA events shows that they exhibit characteristics of substorms and the activity mainly occurs in the pre-midnight sector.
JOURNAL OF GEOPHYSICAL RESEARCH-SPACE PHYSICS
(2023)
Article
Astronomy & Astrophysics
Joseph E. Borovsky
Summary: This study investigates the effect of noise on solar-wind driver functions of geomagnetic activity using real solar-wind data. However, large variations in the best-fit-formula parameters prevent the confirmation of improvements in the solar-wind driver formulas.
FRONTIERS IN ASTRONOMY AND SPACE SCIENCES
(2022)
Review
Geochemistry & Geophysics
Brian M. Walsh, Ying Zou
Summary: This study explores the impact of various magnetospheric plasma populations on solar wind-magnetosphere coupling, as well as their characteristics and possible coupling modes at the dayside magnetopause. It also discusses the mechanisms impacting wave formation and magnetic reconnection, as well as the broader categories of control over solar wind-magnetosphere coupling by local boundary physics or solar wind driving.
JOURNAL OF ATMOSPHERIC AND SOLAR-TERRESTRIAL PHYSICS
(2021)
Article
Astronomy & Astrophysics
Zoltan Voeroes, Owen W. Roberts, Emiliya Yordanova, Luca Sorriso-Valvo, Rumi Nakamura, Yasuhito Narita, Daniel Schmid, Ferdinand Plaschke, Arpad Kis
Summary: This article reviews the coupling parameters (CPs) commonly used in studying the solar wind (SW)-magnetosphere-ionosphere coupling and their limitations in describing the magnetospheric response. The authors propose that a better understanding of SW-magnetospheric interactions can be achieved through estimating the energy budget in the magnetosheath (MS). The energy budget involves energy transfer, transport, and conversions between different scales and energy channels.
FRONTIERS IN ASTRONOMY AND SPACE SCIENCES
(2023)
Article
Geosciences, Multidisciplinary
Timo Pitkanen, Anita Kullen, Lei Cai, Jong-Sun Park, Heikki Vanhamaki, Maria Hamrin, Anita T. Aikio, G. Siung Chong, Alexandre De Spiegeleer, Quanqi Shi
Summary: Research suggests that there is a significant asymmetry in the rotation of the neutral sheet in Earth's magnetotail, with rotations under negative dawn-dusk interplanetary magnetic field (IMF B-y) conditions possibly even exhibiting unexpected directions. The cause of this asymmetry remains unclear and is not fully explained by known factors.
GEOSCIENCE LETTERS
(2021)
Article
Astronomy & Astrophysics
S. Toledo-Redondo, K. J. Hwang, C. P. Escoubet, B. Lavraud, J. Fornieles, N. Aunai, R. C. Fear, J. Dargent, H. S. Fu, S. A. Fuselier, K. J. Genestreti, Yu Khotyaintsev, W. Y. Li, C. Norgren, T. D. Phan
Summary: In-situ spacecraft missions are important for studying space plasma processes, but their main limitation is extrapolating local measurements to global scales. Multi-point measurements can partially overcome this problem, providing new insights into the large-scale properties and evolution of magnetospheric plasma processes.
JOURNAL OF GEOPHYSICAL RESEARCH-SPACE PHYSICS
(2021)
Article
Astronomy & Astrophysics
Mike Lockwood
Summary: This paper aims to establish best practices in deriving solar wind-magnetosphere coupling functions and study their limitations. It particularly focuses on the best metric used to evaluate their performance and how it depends on the intended application of the coupling function.
SPACE WEATHER-THE INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF RESEARCH AND APPLICATIONS
(2022)
Article
Astronomy & Astrophysics
Joseph E. Borovsky
Summary: This study examines the effects of noise in solar-wind and magnetospheric data on data fits using numerical experiments. Specifically, it explores the impact of noise amplitude on the functional forms of the best-fit solar-wind driver functions. The presence of noise, or measurement error, makes it challenging to use these data to uncover or confirm the formulas that describe the physics of magnetospheric driving.
FRONTIERS IN ASTRONOMY AND SPACE SCIENCES
(2022)
Article
Geosciences, Multidisciplinary
Gina A. DiBraccio, Norberto Romanelli, Charles F. Bowers, Jacob R. Gruesbeck, Jasper S. Halekas, Suranga Ruhunusiri, Tristan Weber, Jared R. Espley, Shaosui Xu, Janet G. Luhmann, Yuki Harada, Eduard Dubinin, Gang Kai Poh, David A. Brain, Shannon M. Curry
Summary: The Martian magnetotail exhibits a highly twisted configuration, which is influenced by changes in the polarity of the interplanetary magnetic field. The degree of twisting is mainly determined by the orientation of the interplanetary magnetic field and the distance from the tail. Furthermore, the crustal magnetic fields on the surface of Mars also play a significant role in the magnetospheric structure.
GEOPHYSICAL RESEARCH LETTERS
(2022)
Article
Geosciences, Multidisciplinary
Fan Gong, Yiqun Yu, Jinbin Cao, Yong Wei, Jiawei Gao, Hui Li, Binzheng Zhang, Aaron Ridley
Summary: This study simulates the solar wind-magnetosphere interactions during a paleomagnetic reversal and finds that the magnetosphere shrinks, with the subsolar magnetopause approaching as close as 3 Re, and multiple magnetic reconnection sites emerge, allowing the solar wind to directly access the magnetosphere and increasing the power transmission efficiency to 18%.
GEOPHYSICAL RESEARCH LETTERS
(2022)
Article
Astronomy & Astrophysics
Yuri Yermolaev, Irina G. Lodkina, Alexander A. Khokhlachev, Michael Yu Yermolaev
Summary: Based on the analysis of solar wind data, we found that during periods of low solar activity, the number of disturbed events in the interplanetary medium decreases, while the proportion of magnetic storms initiated by compressed interplanetary radio emission increases. Additionally, a change in the density, temperature, and magnetic field of the solar wind may result in a change in its interaction with the magnetosphere.
Article
Astronomy & Astrophysics
S. E. Milan, M. K. Mooney, G. E. Bower, M. G. G. T. Taylor, L. J. Paxton, I. Dandouras, A. N. Fazakerley, C. M. Carr, B. J. Anderson, S. K. Vines
Summary: We investigated a 15-day period in October 2011 and found weak cusp-aligned arc (CAA) emissions in the polar regions when the interplanetary magnetic field (IMF) clock angle was small. Simultaneous observations of ions and electrons showed that dense plasma was observed even far from the equatorial plane of the tail. We interpret the observations as evidence of trapped plasma on closed field lines, suggesting that the magnetosphere was almost entirely closed during these periods.
JOURNAL OF GEOPHYSICAL RESEARCH-SPACE PHYSICS
(2023)
Article
Astronomy & Astrophysics
Joseph E. Borovsky
Summary: The physics-based understanding of solar-wind/magnetosphere coupling is incomplete, leading to difficulties in accurately predicting magnetospheric behavior, which presents a major unsolved problem in space physics.
FRONTIERS IN ASTRONOMY AND SPACE SCIENCES
(2021)
Article
Geosciences, Multidisciplinary
Lucas Liuzzo, Andrew R. Poppe, Christina O. Lee, Shaosui Xu, Vassilis Angelopoulos
Summary: This study presents observations of Solar Energetic Particle (SEP) protons reaching the lunar environment by penetrating Earth's magnetotail. Contrary to previous studies, it shows that Earth's magnetosphere provides poor protection to the Moon from SEPs, which irradiate the lunar surface even within the tail. These findings have important implications for the safety of astronauts during upcoming lunar missions.
GEOPHYSICAL RESEARCH LETTERS
(2023)