B. M. Walsh

Dawn–dusk asymmetries in the coupled solar wind–magnetosphere–ionosphere system: a review

Abstract. Dawn–dusk asymmetries are ubiquitous features of the coupled solar-wind–magnetosphere–ionosphere system. During the last decades, increasing availability of satellite and ground-based measurements has made it possible to study these phenomena in more detail. Numerous publications have documented the existence of persistent asymmetries in processes, properties and topology of plasma structures in various regions of geospace. In this paper, we present a review of our present knowledge of some of the most pronounced dawn–dusk asymmetries. We focus on four key aspects: (1) the role of external influences such as the solar wind and its interaction with the Earths magnetosphere; (2) properties of the magnetosphere itself; (3) the role of the ionosphere and (4) feedback and coupling between regions. We have also identified potential inconsistencies and gaps in our understanding of dawn–dusk asymmetries in the Earths magnetosphere and ionosphere.

The origin of the local 1/4-keV X-ray flux in both charge exchange and a hot bubble

The solar neighbourhood is the closest and most easily studied sample of the Galactic interstellar medium, an understanding of which is essential for models of star formation and galaxy evolution. Observations of an unexpectedly intense diffuse flux of easily absorbed 1/4-kiloelectronvolt X-rays, coupled with the discovery that interstellar space within about a hundred parsecs of the Sun is almost completely devoid of cool absorbing gas, led to a picture of a ‘local cavity’ filled with X-ray-emitting hot gas, dubbed the local hot bubble. This model was recently challenged by suggestions that the emission could instead be readily produced within the Solar System by heavy solar-wind ions exchanging electrons with neutral H and He in interplanetary space, potentially removing the major piece of evidence for the local existence of million-degree gas within the Galactic disk. Here we report observations showing that the total solar-wind charge-exchange contribution is approximately 40 per cent of the 1/4-keV flux in the Galactic plane. The fact that the measured flux is not dominated by charge exchange supports the notion of a million-degree hot bubble extending about a hundred parsecs from the Sun.

Ion distributions in the Earth's foreshock: Hybrid-Vlasov simulation and THEMIS observations

We present the ion distribution functions in the ion foreshock upstream of the terrestrial bow shock obtained with Vlasiator, a new hybrid-Vlasov simulation geared toward large-scale simulations of the Earths magnetosphere (http://vlasiator.fmi.fi). They are compared with the distribution functions measured by the multispacecraft Time History of Events and Macroscale Interactions during Substorms (THEMIS) mission. The known types of ion distributions in the foreshock are well reproduced by the hybrid-Vlasov model. We show that Vlasiator reproduces the decrease of the backstreaming beam speed with increasing distance from the foreshock edge, as well as the beam speed increase and density decrease with increasing radial distance from the bow shock, which have been reported before and are visible in the THEMIS data presented here. We also discuss the process by which wave-particle interactions cause intermediate foreshock distributions to lose their gyrotropy. This paper demonstrates the strength of the hybrid-Vlasov approach which lies in producing uniformly sampled ion distribution functions with good resolution in velocity space, at every spatial grid point of the simulation and at any instant. The limitations of the hybrid-Vlasov approach are also discussed.

Magnetopause reconnection and energy conversion as influenced by the dipole tilt and the IMF Bx

We study the effect of Earths dipole tilt angle and interplanetary magnetic field (IMF) Bx and By components on the location of reconnection and the energy conversion at the magnetopause. We simulate southward IMF satisfying both inward- and outward-type Parker spiral conditions during three different dipole tilt angles using a global magnetohydrodynamic model GUMICS-4. We find that positive (negative) Bx contributes to the magnetopause reconnection line location by moving northward (southward) and positive (negative) dipole tilt angle by moving it southward (northward). The tilt shifts the dayside load region toward the winter hemisphere and the summer cusp toward the equatorial plane. Magnetic flux hence piles effectively in the summer hemisphere leading to increased magnetopause currents that enhance the Poynting flux through the magnetopause. We find that the intensity of the energy conversion in the generators is strongly affected by the dipole tilt angle, whereas intensity in the load region is mainly affected by IMF Bx.

Reconnection rates and X line motion at the magnetopause: Global 2D‐3V hybrid‐Vlasov simulation results

We present results from a first study of the local reconnection rate and reconnection site motion in a 2D-3V global magnetospheric self-consistent hybrid-Vlasov simulation with due southward interplanetary magnetic field. We observe magnetic reconnection at multiple locations at the dayside magnetopause and the existence of magnetic islands, which are the 2-D representations of flux transfer events. The reconnection locations (the X lines) propagate over significant distances along the magnetopause, and reconnection does not reach a steady state. We calculate the reconnection rate at the location of the X lines and find a good correlation with an analytical model of local 2-D asymmetric reconnection. We find that despite the solar wind conditions being constant, the reconnection rate and location of the X lines are highly variable. These variations are caused by magnetosheath fluctuations, the effects of neighboring X lines, and the motion of passing magnetic islands.

A tailward moving current sheet normal magnetic field front followed by an earthward moving dipolarization front

A case study is presented using measurements from the Cluster spacecraft and ground-based magnetometers that show a substorm onset propagating from the inner to outer plasma sheet. On 3 October 2005, Cluster, traversing an ion-scale current sheet at the near-Earth plasma sheet, detected a sudden enhancement of Bz, which was immediately followed by a series of flux rope structures. Both the local Bz enhancement and flux ropes propagated tailward. Approximately 5 min later, another Bz enhancement, followed by a large density decrease, was observed to rapidly propagate earthward. Between the two Bz enhancements, a significant removal of magnetic flux occurred, possibly resulting from the tailward moving Bz enhancement and flux ropes. In our scenario, this flux removal caused the magnetotail to be globally stretched so that the thinnest sheet formed tailward of Cluster. The thinned current sheet facilitated magnetic reconnection that quickly evolved from plasma sheet to lobe and generated the later earthward moving dipolarization front (DF) followed by a reduction in density and entropy. Ground magnetograms located near the meridian of Clusters magnetic foot points show two-step bay enhancements. The positive bay associated with the first Bz enhancement indicates that the substorm onset signatures propagated from the inner to the outer plasma sheet, consistent with the Cluster observation. The more intense bay features associated with the later DF are consistent with the earthward motion of the front. The event suggests that current disruption signatures that originated in the near-Earth current sheet propagated tailward, triggering or facilitating midtail reconnection, thereby preconditioning the magnetosphere for a later strong substorm enhancement.

Mirror modes in the Earth's magnetosheath: Results from a global hybrid‐Vlasov simulation

We investigate mirror mode structures in the Earths magnetosheath using our global kinetic Vlasiator simulation, which models ion behavior through their distribution function and treats electrons as a charge-neutralizing fluid. We follow the evolution of waves as they advect along velocity streamlines through the magnetosheath. We find that mirror mode waves are observed preferentially in the quasi-perpendicular magnetosheath along velocity streamlines that enter the sheath in the vicinity of the foreshock ULF wave boundary where there are enough initial perturbations in the plasma for the mirror modes to grow, and the plasma properties fulfill the mirror instability condition better than elsewhere in the magnetosheath. We test selection criteria defined by previous studies and show that the spatial extent over which mirror modes occur ranges from much of the magnetosheath on the quasi-perpendicular side of the subsolar point to very small isolated regions depending on the criteria.

MESSENGER observations of solar energetic electrons within Mercury's magnetosphere

During solar energetic particle (SEP) events, the inner heliosphere is bathed in MeV electrons. Through magnetic reconnection, these relativistic electrons can enter the magnetosphere of Mercury, nearly instantaneously filling the regions of open field lines with precipitating particles. With energies sufficient to penetrate solid aluminum shielding more than 1 mm thick, these electrons were observable by a number of sensors on the MErcury Surface, Space ENvironment, GEochemistry, and Ranging (MESSENGER) spacecraft. Because of its thin shielding, frequent sampling, and continuous temporal coverage, the Fast Imaging Plasma Spectrometer provided by far the most sensitive measurements of MeV electrons of all MESSENGER sensors. Sharp changes in energetic electron flux coincided with topological boundaries in the magnetosphere, including the magnetopause, polar cap, and central plasma sheet. Precipitating electrons with fluxes equal to ~40% of their corresponding upstream levels were measured over the entire polar cap, demonstrating that electron space weathering of Mercurys surface is not limited to the cusp region. We use these distinct precipitation signatures acquired over 33 orbits during 11 SEP events to map the full extent of Mercurys northern polar cap. We confirm a highly asymmetric polar cap, for which the dayside and nightside boundary latitudes range over ~50−70°N and ~30−60°N, respectively. These latitudinal ranges are consistent with average models of Mercurys magnetic field but exhibit a large variability indicative of active dayside and nightside magnetic reconnection processes. Finally, we observed enhanced electron fluxes within the central plasma sheet. Although these particles cannot form a stable ring current around the planet, their motion results in an apparent trapped electron population at low latitudes in the magnetotail.

THE SOLAR WIND CHARGE-EXCHANGE PRODUCTION FACTOR FOR HYDROGEN

The mean production factor, or broadband averaged cross-section, for solar wind charge-exchange (SWCX) with hydrogen producing emission in the ROSAT 1/4 keV (R12) band is (3.8 ± 0.2) x 10-20 count degree−2 cm4. The production factor is expected to be temporally variable, and that variation is roughly 15%. These values are derived from a comparison of the long-term (background) enhancements in the ROSAT All-Sky Survey with magnetohysdrodynamic simulations of the magnetosheath. This value is 1.8–4.5 times higher than values derived from limited atomic data, suggesting that those values may be missing a large number of faint lines. This production factor is important for deriving the exact amount of 1/4 keV band flux that is due to the Local Hot Bubble, for planning future observations in the 1/4 keV band, and for evaluating proposals for remote sensing of the magnetosheath. The same method cannot be applied to the 3/4 keV band as that band, being composed primarily of the oxygen lines, is far more sensitive to the detailed abundances and ionization balance in the solar wind. We also show, incidentally, that recent efforts to correlate XMM-Newton observing geometry with magnetosheath SWCX emission in the oxygen lines have been, quite literally, misguided. Simulations of the inner heliosphere show that broader efforts to correlate heliospheric SWCX with local solar wind parameters are unlikely to produce useful results.

Dense plasma and Kelvin‐Helmholtz waves at Earth's dayside magnetopause

Spacecraft observations of boundary waves at the dayside terrestrial magnetopause and their ground-based signatures are presented. Time History of Events and Macroscale Interactions during Substorms (THEMIS) spacecraft measured boundary waves at the magnetopause while ground-based HF radar measured corresponding signatures in the ionosphere indicating a large-scale response and tailward propagating waves. The properties of the oscillations are consistent with linear phase Kelvin-Helmholtz waves along the magnetopause boundary. During this time period multiple THEMIS spacecraft also measured a plasmaspheric plume contacting the local magnetopause and mass loading the boundary. Previous work has demonstrated that increasing the density at the magnetopause can lower the efficiency of reconnection. Extending this further, present observations suggest that a plume can modulate instability processes such as the Kelvin-Helmholtz instability and allow them to form closer to the subsolar point along the magnetopause than without a plume. The current THEMIS observations from 21 September 2010 are consistent with a theory which predicts that increasing the density at the boundary will lower the Kelvin-Helmholtz threshold and allow waves to form for a lower velocity shear.