Bibliography

A Comparison of the Location of the Mid-latitude Trough and Plasmapause Boundary

Abstract We have compared the location of the mid-latitude trough observed in two dimensional vertical total electron content (vTEC) maps with four plasmapause boundary models, Radiation Belt Storm Probes observations, and IMAGE EUV observations all mapped to the ionosphere pierce point using the Tsyganenko [1996] magnetic field line model. For this study we examine four events over North America: one just after the 13 October 2012 storm, one during the 20 April 2002 double storm, another during a large substorm on 26 January 2013, and one quiet event on 19 May 2001. We have found that in general, the equatorward edge of the mid-latitude trough is within several degrees in geographic latitude of the mapped model plasmapause boundary location, the plasmapause boundary identified with IMAGE EUV, and the location identified by the Radiation Belt Storm Probes spacecraft. When the mid-latitude trough is mapped to the inner magnetosphere, the observed boundary agrees with the plasmapause boundary models within 2 Earth Radii at nearly all local times in the nightside and the observed mid-latitude boundary is within the uncertainty of the observations at most local times in the nightside. Furthermore, during dynamic solar wind conditions of 20 April 2002, the mid-latitude trough observed in the vTEC maps propagates equatorward as the plasmapause boundary identified with IMAGE EUV moves earthward. Our results indicate that the mid-latitude trough observed within the vTEC maps represents an additional means of identifying the plasmapause boundary location, which could result in improved plasmapause boundary models. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.

Weygand, J.M.; Zhelavskaya, I.; Shprits, Y.;

Published by: Journal of Geophysical Research: Space Physics      Published on: 03/2021

YEAR: 2021     DOI: https://doi.org/10.1029/2020JA028213

mid-latitude trough; plasmapause boundary; vTECs; plasmapause models; Van Allen Probes

On the loss of relativistic electrons at geosynchronous altitude: Its dependence on magnetic configurations and external conditions

[1] The present study statistically examines geosynchronous magnetic configurations and external conditions that characterize the loss of geosynchronous MeV electrons. The loss of MeV electrons often takes place during magnetospheric storms, but it also takes place without any clear storm activity. It is found that irrespective of storm activity, the day-night asymmetry of the geosynchronous H (north-south) magnetic component is pronounced during electron loss events. For the loss process, the magnitude, rather than the duration, of the magnetic distortion appears to be important, and its effective duration can be as short as \~30 min. The solar wind dynamic pressure tends to be high and interplanetary magnetic field BZ tends to be southward during electron loss events. Under such external conditions the dayside magnetopause moves closer to Earth, and the day-night magnetic asymmetry is enhanced. As a consequence the area of closed drift orbits shrinks. The magnetic field at the subsolar magnetopause, which is estimated from force balance with the solar wind dynamic pressure, is usually stronger than the nightside geosynchronous magnetic field during electron loss events. It is therefore suggested that geosynchronous MeV electrons on the night side are very often on open drift paths when geosynchronous MeV electrons are lost. Whereas the present result does not preclude the widely accepted idea that MeV electrons are lost to the atmosphere by wave-particle interaction, it suggests that magnetopause shadowing is another plausible loss process of geosynchronous MeV electrons.

Ohtani, S.; Miyoshi, Y.; Singer, H.; Weygand, J.;

Published by: Journal of Geophysical Research      Published on: 01/2009

YEAR: 2009     DOI: 10.1029/2008JA013391

Magnetopause Losses