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Title: Transient magnetic field signatures at high latitudes

Journal Article · · Journal of Geophysical Research; (United States)
DOI:https://doi.org/10.1029/92JA01661· OSTI ID:6821153
 [1]
  1. Johns Hopkins Univ., Laurel, MD (United States)

We survey GOES 2/5/6 geosynchronous and Huancayo, Peru, ground magnetometer observations at the times of 70 transient (2-10 min) events recorded at South Pole Station, Antarctica. The simultaneous observations indicate that most South Pole events correspond to sudden sharp variations in the equatorial magnetospheric and low-latitude ground magnetic field. The exceptions occur when the South Pole events have weak amplitudes and/or Huancayo and GOES 2/5/6 are far from local noon. The corresponding features observed at GOES 5 and GOES 6 are generally similar, with a lag indicating antisunward motion. A similar antisunward motion may be inferred from the ground observations themselves. On a case-by-case and statistical basis, the characteristics of the events observed in South Pole ground magnetograms resemble those previously interpreted as sudden impulse and sudden storm commencement signatures at other high-latitude stations. These observations suggest that the transient events at South Pole form part of the magnetospheric and ionospheric response to a sudden change in the fraction of the solar wind dynamic pressure applied to the magnetosphere. 57 refs., 14 figs.

OSTI ID:
6821153
Journal Information:
Journal of Geophysical Research; (United States), Vol. 98:A1; ISSN 0148-0227
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English