edu.ucar.opensky::articles:42357 UCAR/NCAR - Library OpenSky Support PO Box 3000 Boulder CO 80307-3000 opensky@ucar.edu http://opensky.ucar.edu/ homepage pointOfContact 2025-12-24T18:03:58.617023 ISO 19115-2 Geographic Information - Metadata - Part 2: Extensions for Imagery and Gridded Data ISO 19115-2:2009(E) https://n2t.net/ark:/85065/d7n30271 https://doi.org/10.57760/sciencedb.08039 https Related Dataset #1 Why doesn’t the observed field-aligned current saturate with increasing interplanetary electric field? Why doesn't the observed field‐aligned current saturate with increasing interplanetary electric field? 2024-11-01T00:00:00Z publication https://n2t.net/ark:/85065/d7n30271 https://doi.org/10.1029/2024GL110037 Yang, Z. author Zhang, Binzheng author Lei, J. author Lotko, William author UCAR/NCAR - Library publisher Theoretical studies indicate that electric potential saturation in a polar cap ionosphere is regulated by the limited reconnection rate at the magnetopause associated with field‐aligned currents (FACs), predicting the possible saturation of FACs under large interplanetary electric field (IEF). However, recent statistical studies have shown that observed FACs increase linearly with IEF. To reconcile this disparity, numerical experiments are conducted to explore the response of FACs under large IEF. Results show that FACs may exhibit either linear or saturated responses, depending on the Alfvén Mach number. The magnetospheric closure paths of region 1 currents differ significantly between the linear and saturated conditions. In the linear case, essential parts of the region 1 current extend toward dayside and connect to the magnetopause currents, whereas these parts of currents almost disappear in the saturation state. Saturation usually occurs under sub‐Alfvénic solar wind conditions, so the observed FACs generally grow linearly with IEF. UCAR/NCAR - Library OpenSky Support PO Box 3000 Boulder CO 80307-3000 opensky@ucar.edu http://opensky.ucar.edu/ homepage pointOfContact PDF Text theme Resource Type 2016-01-01T00:00:00Z publication Copyright author(s). This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License. None eng geoscientificInformation