Identification

Title

The relation between dayside local Poynting flux enhancement and cusp reconnection

Abstract

The Defense Meteorological Satellite Program (DMSP) F15 satellite frequently observes an unusually high level of local Poynting flux when the interplanetary magnetic field (IMF) is northward but also has a large By component. We use the Open Geospace General Circulation Model (OpenGGCM) coupled magnetosphere-ionosphere-thermosphere code to study several events where, under such conditions, unusually large earthward Poynting flux has been observed. We find that the Joule heating rate in the model agrees well with the observed Poynting flux. Analysis of the model results shows that the strong Poynting flux hot spots are physically linked with magnetic reconnection at the high-latitude cusps. The solar wind mechanical force and the J × B force act on the newly opened field lines created by cusp reconnection to produce a Pedersen current, which consequently generates an intense Joule heating region, and a pair of adjacent and opposite field-aligned currents (FACs) connecting to the magnetopause currents forming a closed circuit. The intense Joule heating region is also the region with strong downward Poynting flux. The distribution, scale, and magnitude of this Joule heating region and corresponding FACs in the polar regions are mainly controlled by IMF clock angle, IMF magnitude, and solar wind dynamic pressure. A northward IMF condition with a large By component will result in an extended region with intense Joule heating and FAC, thus making a spacecraft transiting the dayside region more likely to observe a strong downward Poynting flux.

Resource type

document

Resource locator

Unique resource identifier

code

http://n2t.net/ark:/85065/d7qj7j1w

codeSpace

Dataset language

eng

Spatial reference system

code identifying the spatial reference system

Classification of spatial data and services

Topic category

geoscientificInformation

Keywords

Keyword set

keyword value

Text

originating controlled vocabulary

title

Resource Type

reference date

date type

publication

effective date

2016-01-01T00:00:00Z

Geographic location

West bounding longitude

East bounding longitude

North bounding latitude

South bounding latitude

Temporal reference

Temporal extent

Begin position

End position

Dataset reference date

date type

publication

effective date

2011-08-05T00:00:00Z

Frequency of update

Quality and validity

Lineage

Conformity

Data format

name of format

version of format

Constraints related to access and use

Constraint set

Use constraints

Limitations on public access

None

Responsible organisations

Responsible party

contact position

OpenSky Support

organisation name

UCAR/NCAR - Library

full postal address

PO Box 3000

Boulder

80307-3000

email address

opensky@ucar.edu

web address

http://opensky.ucar.edu/

name: homepage

responsible party role

pointOfContact

Metadata on metadata

Metadata point of contact