ALBERT

Description: We study substorms from two perspectives, i.e., magnetosphere–ionosphere coupling across the auroral oval at dusk and at midnight magnetic local times. By this approach we monitor the activations/expansions of basic elements of the substorm current system (Bostrøm type I centered at midnight and Bostrøm type II maximizing at dawn and dusk) during the evolution of the substorm activity. Emphasis is placed on the R1 and R2 types of field-aligned current (FAC) coupling across the Harang reversal at dusk. We distinguish between two distinct activity levels in the substorm expansion phase, i.e., an initial transient phase and a persistent phase. These activities/phases are discussed in relation to polar cap convection which is continuously monitored by the polar cap north (PCN) index. The substorm activity we selected occurred during a long interval of continuously strong solar wind forcing at the interplanetary coronal mass ejection passage on 18 August 2003. The advantage of our scientific approach lies in the combination of (i) continuous ground observations of the ionospheric signatures within wide latitude ranges across the auroral oval at dusk and midnight by meridian chain magnetometer data, (ii) "snapshot" satellite (DMSP F13) observations of FAC/precipitation/ion drift profiles, and (iii) observations of current disruption/near-Earth magnetic field dipolarizations at geostationary altitude. Under the prevailing fortunate circumstances we are able to discriminate between the roles of the dayside and nightside sources of polar cap convection. For the nightside source we distinguish between the roles of inductive and potential electric fields in the two substages of the substorm expansion phase. According to our estimates the observed dipolarization rate (δ Bz/δt) and the inferred large spatial scales (in radial and azimuthal dimensions) of the dipolarization process in these strong substorm expansions may lead to 50–100 kV enhancements of the cross-polar-cap potential due to inductive electric field coupling.

Description: In a case study, we investigate transitions between fundamental magnetosphere–ionosphere (M-I) coupling modes during storm-time conditions (SYM-H between −100 and −160 nT) driven by an interplanetary coronal mass ejection (ICME). We combine observations from the near tail, at geostationary altitude (GOES-10), and electrojet activities across the auroral oval at postnoon-to-dusk and midnight. After an interval of strong westward electrojet (WEJ) activity, a 3 h long state of attenuated/quenched WEJ activity was initiated by abrupt drops in the solar wind density and dynamic pressure. The attenuated substorm activity consisted of brief phases of magnetic field perturbation and electron flux decrease at GOES-10 near midnight and moderately strong conjugate events of WEJ enhancements at the southern boundary of the oval, as well as a series of very strong eastward electrojet (EEJ) events at dusk, during a phase of enhanced ring current evolution, i.e., enhanced SYM-H deflection within −120 to −150 nT. Each of these M-I coupling events was preceded by poleward boundary intensifications and auroral streamers at higher oval latitudes. We identify this mode of attenuated substorm activity as being due to a magnetotail state characterized by bursty reconnection and bursty bulk flows/dipolarization fronts (multiple current wedgelets) with associated injection dynamo in the near tail, in their braking phase. The latter process is associated with activations of the Bostrøm type II (meridional) current system. A transition to the next state of M-I coupling, when a full substorm expansion took place, was triggered by an abrupt increase of the ICME dynamic pressure from 1 to 5 nPa. The brief field deflection events at GOES-10 were then replaced by a 20 min long interval of extreme field stretching (Bz approaching 5 nT and Bx ≈ 100 nT) followed by a major dipolarization (Δ Bz ≈ 100 nT). In the ionosphere the latter stage appeared as a "full-size" stepwise poleward expansion of the WEJ. It thus appears that the ICME passage led to fundamentally different M-I coupling states corresponding to different levels of dynamic pressure (Pdyn) under otherwise very similar ICME conditions. Full WEJ activity, covering a wide latitude range across the auroral oval in the midnight sector, was attenuated by the abrupt dynamic pressure decrease and resumed after the subsequent abrupt increase.

Description: We study a series of transient entries into the low-latitude boundary layer (LLBL) of all four Cluster spacecraft during an outbound pass through the mid-afternoon magnetopause ( [ XGSM, YGSM, ZGSM ] ≈ [ 2, 7, 9 ] RE). The events take place during an interval of northward IMF, as seen in the data from the ACE satellite and lagged by a propagation delay of 75 min that is welldefined by two separate studies: (1) the magnetospheric variations prior to the northward turning (Lockwood et al., 2001, this issue) and (2) the field clock angle seen by Cluster after it had emerged into the magnetosheath (Opgenoorth et al., 2001, this issue). With an additional lag of 16.5 min, the transient LLBL events correlate well with swings of the IMF clock angle (in GSM) to near 90°. Most of this additional lag is explained by ground-based observations, which reveal signatures of transient reconnection in the pre-noon sector that then take 10–15 min to propagate eastward to 15 MLT, where they are observed by Cluster. The eastward phase speed of these signatures agrees very well with the motion deduced by the cross-correlation of the signatures seen on the four Cluster spacecraft. The evidence that these events are reconnection pulses includes: transient erosion of the noon 630 nm (cusp/cleft) aurora to lower latitudes; transient and travelling enhancements of the flow into the polar cap, imaged by the AMIE technique; and poleward-moving events moving into the polar cap, seen by the EISCAT Svalbard Radar (ESR). A pass of the DMSP-F15 satellite reveals that the open field lines near noon have been opened for some time: the more recently opened field lines were found closer to dusk where the flow transient and the poleward-moving event intersected the satellite pass. The events at Cluster have ion and electron characteristics predicted and observed by Lockwood and Hapgood (1998) for a Flux Transfer Event (FTE), with allowance for magnetospheric ion reflection at Alfvénic disturbances in the magnetopause reconnection layer. Like FTEs, the events are about 1 RE in their direction of motion and show a rise in the magnetic field strength, but unlike FTEs, in general, they show no pressure excess in their core and hence, no characteristic bipolar signature in the boundary-normal component. However, most of the events were observed when the magnetic field was southward, i.e. on the edge of the interior magnetic cusp, or when the field was parallel to the magnetic equatorial plane. Only when the satellite begins to emerge from the exterior boundary (when the field was northward), do the events start to show a pressure excess in their core and the consequent bipolar signature. We identify the events as the first observations of FTEs at middle altitudes.Key words. Magnetospheric physics (magnetopause, cusp and boundary layers; magnetosphere-ionosphere interactions; solar wind-magnetosphere interactions)

Description: In two case studies we elaborate on spatial and temporal structures of the dayside aurora within 08:00-16:00 magnetic local time (MLT) and discuss the relationship of this structure to solar wind-magnetosphere interconnection topology and the different stages of evolution of open field lines in the Dungey convection cycle. The detailed 2-D auroral morphology is obtained from continuous ground observations at Ny Ålesund (76° magnetic latitude (MLAT)), Svalbard during two days when the interplanetary magnetic field (IMF) is directed southeast (By〉0; Bz0 conditions. The pre- and postnoon activations are separated by a region of strongly attenuated auroral activity/intensity within the 11:00-12:00 MLT sector, often referred to as the midday gap aurora. The latter aurora is attributed to the presence of component reconnection at the subsolar magnetopause where the stagnant magnetosheath flow lead to field-aligned currents (FACs) which are of only moderate intensity. The much more active and intense aurorae in the prenoon (07:00-11:00 MLT) and postnoon (12:00-16:00 MLT) sectors originate in magnetopause reconnection events that are initiated well away from the subsolar point. The high-latitude auroral activity in the prenoon sector (feature iii) is found to be accompanied by a convection channel at the polar cap boundary. The associated ground magnetic deflection (DPY) is a Svalgaard-Mansurov effect. The convection channel is attributed to effective momentum transfer from the solar wind-magnetosphere dynamo in the high-latitude boundary layer (HBL), on the downstream side of the cusp.

Description: The Cluster spacecraft experienced several boundary layer encounters when flying outbound from the magnetosphere to the magnetosheath in the dusk sector on 14 January 2001. The dayside boundary layer was populated by magnetosheath electrons, but not with quite as high densities as in the magnetosheath itself. The Cluster ground track was calculated using the Tsyganenko-96 model which appears to be a strong tool for combining high-altitude satellite and ground observations, given that the solar wind conditions are known. This paper focuses on identifying auroral responses corresponding to boundary layer dynamics observed by Cluster. The first boundary layer encounter studied was a brief visit into a closed LLBL, most likely due to a boundary wave that travelled tailward over the spacecraft. A corresponding equatorward and eastward movement was seen in the post-noon aurora between Greenland and Svalbard. The second boundary encounter was in a high-latitude cusp, and occurred as a consequence of a transient reconfiguration of the cusp. The cusp expanded duskward over the spacecraft into the late post-noon sector. NOAA-12 probed the 16:30 MLT sector of this auroral activity, and measured a 1.4 keV electron beam located poleward of the 30 keV electron-trapping boundary. A sequence of three moving auroral forms emanating from this active region are likely candidates for flux transfer events. The auroral signatures are discussed in relation to earlier observations, and appear to be an example of accelerated electrons/discrete post-noon aurora on open magnetic field lines.Key words. Ionosphere (particle precipitation) Magnetospheric physics (auroral phenomena; magnetopause, cusp and boundary layers)

Description: On 7 December 2000, during 13:30–15:30 UT the MIRACLE all-sky camera at Ny Ålesund observed auroras at high-latitudes (MLAT ~ 76) simultaneously when the Cluster spacecraft were skimming the magnetopause in the same MLT sector (at ~ 16:00–18:00 MLT). The location of the auroras (near the ionospheric convection reversal boundary) and the clear correlation between their dynamics and IMF variations suggests their close relationship with R1 currents. Consequently, we can assume that the Cluster spacecraft were making observations in the magnetospheric region associated with the auroras, although exact magnetic conjugacy between the ground-based and satellite observations did not exist. The solar wind variations appeared to control both the behaviour of the auroras and the magnetopause dynamics. Auroral structures were observed at Ny Ålesund especially during periods of negative IMF BZ. In addition, the Cluster spacecraft experienced periodic (T ~ 4 - 6 min) encounters between magnetospheric and magnetosheath plasmas. These undulations of the boundary can be interpreted as a consequence of tailward propagating magnetopause surface waves. Simultaneous dusk sector ground-based observations show weak, but discernible magnetic pulsations (Pc 5) and occasionally periodic variations (T ~ 2 - 3 min) in the high-latitude auroras. In the dusk sector, Pc 5 activity was stronger and had characteristics that were consistent with a field line resonance type of activity. When IMF BZ stayed positive for a longer period, the auroras were dimmer and the spacecraft stayed at the outer edge of the magnetopause where they observed electromagnetic pulsations with T ~ 1 min. We find these observations interesting especially from the viewpoint of previously presented studies relating poleward-moving high-latitude auroras with pulsation activity and MHD waves propagating at the magnetospheric boundary layers.Key words. Ionosphere (ionosphere-magnetosphere interaction) – Magnetospheric physics (auroral phenomena; solar wind – magnetosphere interactions)

Description: During the interval between 8:00–9:30 on 14 January 2001, the four Cluster spacecraft were moving from the central magnetospheric lobe, through the dusk sector mantle, on their way towards intersecting the magnetopause near 15:00 MLT and 15:00 UT. Throughout this interval, the EISCAT Svalbard Radar (ESR) at Longyearbyen observed a series of poleward-moving transient events of enhanced F-region plasma concentration ("polar cap patches"), with a repetition period of the order of 10 min. Allowing for the estimated solar wind propagation delay of 75 ( ± 5) min, the interplanetary magnetic field (IMF) had a southward component during most of the interval. The magnetic footprint of the Cluster spacecraft, mapped to the ionosphere using the Tsyganenko T96 model (with input conditions prevailing during this event), was to the east of the ESR beams. Around 09:05 UT, the DMSP-F12 satellite flew over the ESR and showed a sawtooth cusp ion dispersion signature that also extended into the electrons on the equatorward edge of the cusp, revealing a pulsed magnetopause reconnection. The consequent enhanced ionospheric flow events were imaged by the SuperDARN HF backscatter radars. The average convection patterns (derived using the AMIE technique on data from the magnetometers, the EISCAT and SuperDARN radars, and the DMSP satellites) show that the associated poleward-moving events also convected over the predicted footprint of the Cluster spacecraft. Cluster observed enhancements in the fluxes of both electrons and ions. These events were found to be essentially identical at all four spacecraft, indicating that they had a much larger spatial scale than the satellite separation of the order of 600 km. Some of the events show a correspondence between the lowest energy magnetosheath electrons detected by the PEACE instrument on Cluster (10–20 eV) and the topside ionospheric enhancements seen by the ESR (at 400–700 km). We suggest that a potential barrier at the magnetopause, which prevents the lowest energy electrons from entering the magnetosphere, is reduced when and where the boundary-normal magnetic field is enhanced and that the observed polar cap patches are produced by the consequent enhanced precipitation of the lowest energy electrons, making them and the low energy electron precipitation fossil remnants of the magnetopause reconnection rate pulses.Key words. Magnetospheric physics (polar cap phenomena; solar wind – magnetosphere interactions; magnetosphere – ionosphere interactions)

Description: Spatial structures in ionospheric electron density revealed in a tomographic image have been identified with auroral forms and related to their sources in precipitating particles observed by DMSP satellites. The observations of plasma enhancements relate to discrete auroral arcs seen in the post-noon sector, identified by both red- and green-line emissions measured by a meridional scanning photometer. The features lie within a very narrow latitudinal band on L-shells where the satellite detectors observed electron precipitation classified as from the boundary plasma sheet (BPS). The harder particles are identified with an E-region structure, while further north the precipitation is softer, resulting in a localised F-layer blob and 630.0 nm emissions. A steep gradient in plasma density represent a signature in the ionosphere of the central plasma sheet (CPS)/BPS boundary. A transition to a less-structured F-layer is found on crossing the convection reversal boundary..Key words. Ionosphere (auroral ionosphere; ionosphere-magnetosphere interactions; polar ionosphere)

Description: On 14 January 2001, the four Cluster spacecraft passed through the northern magnetospheric mantle in close conjunction to the EISCAT Svalbard Radar (ESR) and approached the post-noon dayside magnetopause over Green-land between 13:00 and 14:00 UT. During that interval, a sudden reorganisation of the high-latitude dayside convection pattern occurred after 13:20 UT, most likely caused by a direction change of the Solar wind magnetic field. The result was an eastward and poleward directed flow-channel, as monitored by the SuperDARN radar network and also by arrays of ground-based magnetometers in Canada, Greenland and Scandinavia. After an initial eastward and later poleward expansion of the flow-channel between 13:20 and 13:40 UT, the four Cluster spacecraft, and the field line footprints covered by the eastward looking scan cycle of the Söndre Strömfjord incoherent scatter radar were engulfed by cusp-like precipitation with transient magnetic and electric field signatures. In addition, the EISCAT Svalbard Radar detected strong transient effects of the convection reorganisation, a poleward moving precipitation, and a fast ion flow-channel in association with the auroral structures that suddenly formed to the west and north of the radar. From a detailed analysis of the coordinated Cluster and ground-based data, it was found that this extraordinary transient convection pattern, indeed, had moved the cusp precipitation from its former pre-noon position into the late post-noon sector, allowing for the first and quite unexpected encounter of the cusp by the Cluster spacecraft. Our findings illustrate the large amplitude of cusp dynamics even in response to moderate solar wind forcing. The global ground-based data proves to be an invaluable tool to monitor the dynamics and width of the affected magnetospheric regions.Key words. Magnetospheric cusp, ionosphere, reconnection, convection flow-channel, Cluster, ground-based observations

Description: In this paper we focus on flux transfer events (FTEs) and poleward moving auroral forms (PMAFs) in the cusp region, combining data from the EISCAT Svalbard radar, SuperDARN HF radars, ground-based optics, and three low-altitude polar-orbiting spacecraft. During an interval of southward interplanetary magnetic field the EISCAT Svalbard radar tracked a train of narrow flow channels drifting into the polar cap. One 30-60 km wide flow channel surrounded by flow running in the opposite direction is studied in great detail from when it formed equatorward of the cusp aurora, near magnetic noon, until it left the field-of-view and disappeared into the polar cap. Satellite data shows that the flow channel was on open field lines. The flow pattern is consistent with field-aligned currents on the sides of the flow channel; with a downward current on the equatorward side, and an upward current on the poleward side. The poleward edge of the flow channel was coincident with a PMAF that separated from the background cusp aurora and drifted into the polar cap. A passage of the DMSP F13 spacecraft confirms that the FTE flow channel was still discernable over 15 minutes after it formed, as the spacecraft revealed a 30–40 km wide region of sunward flow within the anti-sunward background convection. From the dimensions of the flow channel we estimate that the magnetic flux contained in the event was at least 1 MWb. This data set also shows that Birkeland current filaments often seen by low-altitude spacecraft in the cusp/mantle are really associated with individual FTE events or a train of FTEs in progress. As the region 0 or cusp/mantle current represents the statistical average consistent with the large-scale flow pattern, we therefore introduce a new term – FTE currents – to denote the unique pair of Birkeland current sheets that are associated with individual meso-scale FTE flow disturbances. The poleward moving auroral forms (PMAFs), often referred to in the literature, are the optical signature of the upward FTE current. Keywords. Magnetospheric physics (Current systems; Magnetopause, cusp and boundary layers) – Ionosphere (plasma convection)