Shun Imajo

Evolution of the current system during solar wind pressure pulses based on aurora and magnetometer observations

We investigated evolution of ionospheric currents during sudden commencements using a ground magnetometer network in conjunction with an all-sky imager, which has the advantage of locating field-aligned currents much more accurately than ground magnetometers. Preliminary (PI) and main (MI) impulse currents showed two-cell patterns propagating antisunward, particularly during a southward interplanetary magnetic field (IMF). Although this overall pattern is consistent with the Araki (solar wind sources of magnetospheric ultra-low-frequency waves. Geophysical monograph series, vol 81. AGU, Washington, DC, pp 183–200, 1994. doi:10.1029/GM081p0183) model, we found several interesting features. The PI and MI currents in some events were highly asymmetric with respect to the noon–midnight meridian; the post-noon sector did not show any notable PI signal, but only had an MI starting earlier than the pre-noon MI. Not only equivalent currents but also aurora and equatorial magnetometer data supported the much weaker PI response. We suggest that interplanetary shocks impacting away from the subsolar point caused the asymmetric current pattern. Additionally, even when PI currents form in both pre- and post-noon sectors, they can initiate and disappear at different timings. The PI currents did not immediately disappear but coexisted with the MI currents for the first few minutes of the MI. During a southward IMF, the MI currents formed equatorward of a preexisting DP-2, indicating that the MI currents are a separate structure from a preexisting DP-2. In contrast, the MI currents under a northward IMF were essentially an intensification of a preexisting DP-2. The magnetometer and imager combination has been shown to be a powerful means for tracing evolution of ionospheric currents, and we showed various types of ionospheric responses under different upstream conditions.

Pi2 pulsations observed around the dawn terminator

We examined Pi2 pulsations observed simultaneously at low-latitude stations (L = 1.15 − 2.33) around the dawn terminator. Those Pi2 pulsations observed in the sunlit region were polarized in the azimuthal (D, positive eastward) direction. We found that the D component oscillations in the dark and sunlit regions were in antiphase, whereas the H component oscillated in phase. A statistical analysis indicates that these D component phase reversals occurred about 0.5 h sunward of the dawn terminator at 100 km in altitude, corresponding to the highly conducting E layer. The azimuthal polarization and D component phase reversals related to the dawn terminator cannot be explained by the existing models of low-latitude Pi2s (e.g., cavity resonance or substorm current wedge oscillations). Similar D component phase reversals were also found on the dusk side although the amplitude of the D component is smaller than that of the H component. We suggest that the meridional ionospheric current in the sunlit region adjacent to the dawn terminator drives the D component oscillations in antiphase with those D oscillations produced by the oscillatory field-aligned current (FAC) on the postmidnight side. The meridional current is expected to form a part of a current system that extends from the postmidnight FAC to the equatorial Cowling current. The D component oscillations in the Northern and Southern Hemispheres are also in antiphase, indicating that the current system is symmetric with respect to the equator.

Solar terminator effects on middle- to low-latitude Pi2 pulsations

Abstract To clarify the effect of the dawn and dusk terminators on Pi2 pulsations, we statistically analyzed the longitudinal phase and amplitude structures of Pi2 pulsations at middle- to low-latitude stations (GMLat = 5.30°–46.18°) around both the dawn and dusk terminators. Although the H (north–south) component Pi2s were affected by neither the local time (LT) nor the terminator location (at 100 km altitude in the highly conducting E region), some features of the D (east–west) component Pi2s depended on the location of the terminator rather than the LT. The phase reversal of the D component occurred 0.5–1 h after sunrise and 1–2 h before sunset. These phase reversals can be attributed to a change in the contributing currents from field-aligned currents (FACs) on the nightside to the meridional ionospheric currents on the sunlit side of the terminator, and vice versa. The phase reversal of the dawn terminator was more frequent than that of the dusk terminator. The D-to-H amplitude ratio on the dawn side began to increase at sunrise, reaching a peak approximately 2 h after sunrise (the sunward side of the phase reversal region), whereas the ratio on the dusk side reached a peak at sunset (the antisunward side). The dawn–dusk asymmetric features suggest that the magnetic contribution of the nightside FAC relative to the meridional ionospheric current on the dusk side is stronger than that on the dawn side, indicating that the center of Pi2-associated FACs, which probably corresponds to the Pi2 energy source, tends to be shifted duskward on average. Different features and weak sunrise/sunset dependences at the middle-latitude station (Paratunka, GMLat = 46.18°) can be attributed to the larger annual variation in the sunrise/sunset time and a stronger magnetic effect because of closeness from FACs. The D-to-H amplitude ratio decreased with decreasing latitude, suggesting that the azimuthal magnetic field produced by the FACs in darkness and the meridional ionospheric current in sunlight also decreased with decreasing latitude.

Analysis of propagation delays of compressional Pi 2 waves between geosynchronous altitude and low latitudes

The propagation of compressional Pi 2 waves in the inner magnetosphere is investigated by analyzing the onset delay times between the ground and the geosynchronous altitude. We use the compressional component (northward) of magnetic data from low-latitude stations and the geosynchronous satellite ETS-VIII (GMLat. = -10.8°, GMLon. = 217.5°). The onset delays are determined by a cross-correlation analysis, and we analyzed the events with high waveform correlations (correlation coefficient greater than 0.75). Some of these high-correlation events have the properties of propagating waves; Pi 2 waveforms at the ground stations and the satellite were synchronized with each other when the data were shifted by onset delays. The results of the statistical analysis show that 87% of the Pi 2 onsets at a ground station (Kuju, GMLat. = 26.13°, GMLon. = 202.96°) were delayed from the Pi 2 onsets at ETS-VIII, and the average of the delay times was 29 sec. This clearly shows Pi 2 onsets (initial perturbations of Pi 2) propagated from the geosynchronous altitude to the low-latitude ground. The delay times tended to be larger around the midnight sector than around the dawn and dusk sectors. These results are consistent with two-dimensional propagation of fast waves estimated by the model of Uozumi et al. (J Geophys Res 114:A11207, 2009). The delay times are nearly identical to the travel time of fast waves from geosynchronous altitude to the low-latitude ground, and the local time variation of the delay shows the azimuthal propagation along the geosynchronous orbit. We conclude that the initial compressional perturbations of Pi 2 waves propagate radially and longitudinally as a fast wave in the inner magnetosphere.