Modeling of the coupled magnetospheric and neutral wind dynamos. Semiannual technical status report No. 1, 1 April- 31 October 1993
The solar wind interaction with the earth`s magnetosphere generates electric fields and currents that flow from the magnetosphere to the ionosphere at high latitudes. Consequently, the neutral atmosphere is subject to the dissipation and conversion of this electrical energy to thermal and mechanical energy through Joule heating and Lorentz forcing. As a result of the mechanical energy stored within the neutral wind (caused in part by Lorentz--and pressure gradient--forces set up by the magnetospheric flux of electrical energy), electric currents and fields can be generated in the ionosphere through the neutral wind dynamo mechanism. At high latitudes this source of electrical energy has been largely ignored in past studies, owing to the assumed dominance of the solar wind/magnetospheric dynamo as an electrical energy source to the ionosphere. However, other researchers have demonstrated that the available electrical energy provided by the neutral wind is significant at high latitudes, particularly in the midnight sector of the polar cap and in the region of the magnetospheric convection reversal. As a result, the conclusions of a number of broad ranging high-latitude investigations may be modified if the neutral-wind contribution to high-latitude electrodynamics is properly accounted for. These include the following: studies assessing solar wind-magnetospheric coupling by comparing the cross polar cap potential with solar wind parameters; research based on the alignment of particle precipitation with convection or field aligned current boundaries; and synoptic investigations attributing seasonal variations in the observed electric field and current patterns to external sources. These research topics have been initiated by satellite and ground-based observations and have been attributed to magnetospheric causes.
- Research Organization:
- SRI International, Menlo Park, CA (United States)
- OSTI ID:
- 142077
- Report Number(s):
- N-94-20537; NASA-CR-194728; NAS-1.26:194728; CNN: NAGW-3508; SRI PROJ. 4604; TRN: 9420537
- Resource Relation:
- Other Information: PBD: Dec 1993
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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