Magnetosphere sawtooth oscillations induced by ionospheric outflow
The sawtooth mode of convection of Earth's magnetosphere is a 2- to 4-hour planetary-scale oscillation powered by the solar wind-magnetosphere-ionosphere (SW-M-I) interaction. Using global simulations of geospace, we have shown that ionospheric O⁺ outflows can generate sawtooth oscillations. As the outflowing ions fill the inner magnetosphere, their pressure distends the nightside magnetic field. When the outflow fluence exceeds a threshold, magnetic field tension cannot confine the accumulating fluid; an O⁺-rich plasmoid is ejected, and the field dipolarizes. Below the threshold, the magnetosphere undergoes quasi-steady convection. Repetition and the sawtooth period are controlled by the strength of the SW-M-I interaction, which regulates the outflow fluence.
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https://n2t.org/ark:/85065/d75m678n
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2016-01-01T00:00:00Z
publication
2011-06-03T00:00:00Z
Copyright 2011 Author(s)s. This is the author's version of the work. It is posted here by permission of the AAAS for personal use, not for redistribution. The definitive version was published in Science [332, (3 June 2011)], doi:10.1126/science.1202869.
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