A mechanism for driving the gross Birkeland current configuration in the auroral oval

Journal Article · Thu Jan 01 04:00:00 EST 1976 · Journal of Geophysical Research

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1029/JA081i001p00235· OSTI ID:4007698

Rostoker, Gordon; Boström, Rolf

Birkeland (field-aligned) sheet currents flowing into and out of the auroral oval as reported by Zmuda and Armstrong (1974) are integrally associated with convective motion of plasma in the magnetotail. It is demonstrated that these currents can be driven by energy supplied by the braking of this convective motion of the plasma sheet particles as they drift toward the flanks of the magnetosphere. In the ionosphere the sheet currents close as Pedersen currents, resulting in the dissipation of power, while far from the earth the closure currents, which provide the braking force for the plasma, flow in the plasma sheet approximately normal to the neutral sheet out to radial distances of about 80 R_E. During periods of moderate magnetospheric activity the Birkeland currents result in a rate of dissipation of convective energy of the order of 10 GW.

• Research Organization: Institute of Earth and Planetary Physics, University of Alberta, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada
• Sponsoring Organization: USDOE
• NSA Number: NSA-33-027129
• OSTI ID: 4007698
• Journal Information: Journal of Geophysical Research, Journal Name: Journal of Geophysical Research Journal Issue: 1 Vol. 81; ISSN 0148-0227
• Publisher: American Geophysical Union
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

*AURORAL OVAL-- ELECTRIC CURRENTS
58 GEOSCIENCES
CONVECTION
ELECTROJETS
MAGNETIC FIELDS
MAGNETOTAIL
PLASMA DRIFT
PLASMA SHEET