Factors related to two sources of energy input to the ionosphere, the Poynting flux associated with both quasistatic fields (Sdc) and Alfvénic fluctuations (Sac), and the soft electron precipitation, ...are investigated to evaluate their correlations with the O+ and the H+ outflows in the dayside cusp region by using recalibrated FAST/Time‐of‐Flight Energy, Angle, and Mass Spectrograph (TEAMS) data during the 24–25 September 1998 geomagnetic storm studied by Strangeway et al. (2005, https://doi.org/10.1029/2004JA010829). The Poynting flux and the soft electron precipitation are well correlated with ion outflow flux in the dayside cusp region. Sdc shows the highest correlation with the O+ outflows, while it is the electron number flux that correlates best with the H+ outflows. The Alfvénic waves play an essential role in accelerating outflows. The averaged O+/H+ flux ratio is 3.0 and is positively correlated to the Poynting flux, suggesting that the O+ flux increases more strongly with the energy input.
Plain Language Summary
Ionospheric outflows are a major plasma source for the Earth's magnetosphere, especially during geomagnetic storms. Various parameters related to the electromagnetic energy input, the electron precipitation, and the extremely low frequency plasma waves are used to investigate their correlations with ion outflows in the dayside cusp region during the 24–25 September 1998 geomagnetic storm. We first recalibrated the data from the FAST/Time‐of‐Flight Energy, Angle, and Mass Spectrograph (TEAMS) instrument before using it. The electromagnetic energy has the highest correlations with the oxygen ion outflows, while it is the electron precipitation for proton outflows. The energy input associated with Alfvén waves also shows strong correlations. Maxima of the energy input show better correlations than the averages. The oxygen ion is the dominant outflow species in this storm with an average flux ratio of 3.0 to proton outflows. A higher ratio is observed with more energy input to the Earth's ionosphere.
Key Points
The best controlling factor for driving O+ and H+ outflows is quasistatic Poynting flux and soft electron precipitation, respectively
The averaged O+/H+ flux ratio is 3.0 over the cusp region. The ratio is positively correlated to energy input to the ionosphere
The Poynting flux associated with Alfvén waves also shows strong correlation with outflows in the dayside cusp region
The recalibrated FAST/TEAMS data is used to study the response of O+ and H+ outflow to energy inputs in the nightside aurora during the 24–25 September 1998 geomagnetic storm, the same storm studied ...by Strangeway et al. (2005), https://doi.org/10.1029/2004JA010829. In contrast to the cusp, the Poynting flux and electron precipitation energy input are not as well correlated on the nightside, so their effects on outflow can be differentiated. The O+ outflow shows a strong correlation with both the Alfvénic Poynting flux (r = 0.71) and the soft electron precipitation (r = 0.69), while the H+ outflow only correlates well with the electron number flux (r = 0.74). This indicates that the auroral H+ outflow is close to its limiting flux without additional wave acceleration, while the outflow for the heavier O+ ion is increased by additional wave acceleration.
Plain Language Summary
Geomagnetic activity can cause electrons to precipitate into the ionosphere in the nightside auroral region. It can also deliver electromagnetic wave energy to the same region. The electron precipitation can both heat and further ionize the ionosphere, leading to ions moving up along the field line. The wave energy can further accelerate the ions. If the ions are accelerated enough by these processes, they will flow out along the magnetic field, escaping the ionosphere. This paper finds that the H+ outflow increases with increased precipitating electrons in the nightside aurora. The O+ outflow increases with both electron precipitation and wave acceleration.
Key Points
Electron precipitation and Poynting flux are less correlated on the nightside than the cusp, so their effects on outflow can be distinguished
O+ outflow is correlated with both Poynting flux and electron precipitation, while H+ is only correlated with electron precipitation
Parameterization of the outflow dependence is consistent between the dayside cusp and the nightside auroral regions
Equatorial noise (EN) emissions are observed inside and outside the plasmapause. EN emissions are referred to as magnetosonic mode waves. Using data from Van Allen Probes and Arase, we found ...conversion from EN emissions to electromagnetic ion cyclotron (EMIC) waves in the plasmasphere and in the topside ionosphere. A low‐frequency part of EN emissions becomes EMIC waves through branch splitting of EN emissions, and the mode conversion from EN to EMIC waves occurs around the frequency of M/Q = 2 (deuteron and/or alpha particles) cyclotron frequency. These processes result in plasmaspheric EMIC waves. We investigated the ion composition ratio by characteristic frequencies of EN emissions and EMIC waves and obtained ion composition ratios. We found that the maximum composition ratio of M/Q = 2 ions is ~10% below 3,000 km. The quantitative estimation of the ion composition will contribute to improving the plasma model of the deep plasmasphere and the topside ionosphere.
Plain Language Summary
Equatorial noise (EN) emissions are whistler mode waves. Using Van Allen Probe and Arase (ERG) plasma wave data, we found that EN emissions propagate toward the Earth and are converted to electromagnetic ion cyclotron (EMIC) waves in the deep plasmasphere and the topside ionosphere. We suggest that minor ions with a mass per charge (M/Q) = 2, that is, deuteron or alpha particles, play an important role in this process. The processes reported here are a new generation process of plasmaspheric EMIC waves. Moreover, we determined the ion composition ratio using characteristics of wave dispersion. We derived the altitude profile of the ion composition ratio and identified the maximum ratio of M/Q = 2 ions of about 10% in the deep plasmasphere.
Key Points
The first measurements of the conversion from equatorial noise to EMIC waves are presented
Existence of M/Q = 2 ions (deuteron or alpha particle) in the deep plasmasphere is essential to cause the conversion
The ion composition ratio is quantitatively estimated in the deep plasmasphere using characteristics of the wave dispersion
The first-order Fermi acceleration of electrons requires an injection of electrons into a mildly relativistic energy range. However, the mechanism of injection has remained a puzzle both in theory ...and observation. We present direct evidence for a novel stochastic shock drift acceleration theory for the injection obtained with Magnetospheric Multiscale observations at the Earth's bow shock. The theoretical model can explain electron acceleration to mildly relativistic energies at high-speed astrophysical shocks, which may provide a solution to the long-standing issue of electron injection.
We use the Polar Wind Outflow Model (PWOM) to study the geomagnetically quiet conditions in the polar cap during solar maximum. The PWOM solves the gyrotropic transport equations for O+, H+, and He+ ...along several magnetic field lines in the polar region in order to reconstruct the full 3D solution. We directly compare our simulation results to the data based empirical model of Kitamura et al. (2011) of electron density which is based on 63 months of Akebono satellite observations. The modeled ion and electron temperatures are also compared with a statistical compilation of quiet time data obtained by the EISCAT Svalbard Radar (ESR) and Intercosmos Satellites. The data and model agree reasonably well, albeit with some differences. This study shows that photoelectrons play an important role in explaining the differences between sunlit and dark results of electron density, ion composition, as well as ion and electron temperatures of the quiet time polar wind solution. Moreover, these results provide an initial validation of the PWOM's ability to model the quiet time “background” solution.
Key Points
Photoelectrons play a role in the difference between sunlit and dark polar wind
O+ is the main polar wind species up to at least 8000 km under sunlit conditions
We present an initial validation of the quiet time PWOM solution
The near‐Earth plasma sheet becomes cold and dense under northward interplanetary magnetic field (IMF) condition, which suggests efficient solar wind plasma entry into the magnetosphere across the ...magnetopause for northward IMF and a possible contribution of ionospheric oxygen ion outflow. The cold and dense characteristics of the plasma sheet are more evident in the magnetotail flank regions that are the interface between cold solar wind plasma and hot magnetospheric plasma. Several physical mechanisms have been proposed to explain the solar wind plasma entry across the magnetopause and resultant formation of the cold‐dense plasma sheet (CDPS) in the tail flank regions. However, the transport path of the cold‐dense plasma inside the magnetotail has not been understood yet. Here, we present a case study of the CDPS in the dusk magnetotail by magnetospheric multiscale (MMS) spacecraft under strongly northward IMF and high‐density solar wind conditions. The ion distribution function consists of high‐ and low‐energy components, and the low‐energy one intermittently shows energy dispersion in the directions parallel and antiparallel to the local magnetic field. The time‐of‐flight analysis of the energy‐dispersed low‐energy ions suggests that these ions originate in the region farther down the tail, move along the magnetic field toward the ionosphere and then come back to the magnetotail by the mirror reflection. The pitch‐angle dispersion analysis gives consistent results on the traveling time and path length of the energy‐dispersed ions. Based on these observations, we discuss possible generation mechanisms of the energy‐dispersed structure of the low‐energy ions during the northward IMF.
Key Points
MMS observed the cold‐dense plasma sheet in the dusk magnetotail under strongly northward interplanetary magnetic field
Energy dispersions of field‐aligned and anti‐field‐aligned streaming low‐energy ions were identified
These ions were injected from tailside regions of the MMS location and moved along the magnetic field
Particle acceleration by plasma waves and spontaneous wave generation are fundamental energy and momentum exchange processes in collisionless plasmas. Such wave-particle interactions occur ...ubiquitously in space. We present ultrafast measurements in Earth's magnetosphere by the Magnetospheric Multiscale spacecraft that enabled quantitative evaluation of energy transfer in interactions associated with electromagnetic ion cyclotron waves. The observed ion distributions are not symmetric around the magnetic field direction but are in phase with the plasma wave fields. The wave-ion phase relations demonstrate that a cyclotron resonance transferred energy from hot protons to waves, which in turn nonresonantly accelerated cold He
to energies up to ~2 kilo-electron volts. These observations provide direct quantitative evidence for collisionless energy transfer in plasmas between distinct particle populations via wave-particle interactions.
We investigate the average location of magnetic reconnection on the Earth's dayside magnetopause, based on spatial distributions of northward and southward reconnection jets observed by the THEMIS ...spacecraft at the near‐noon (10–14 magnetic local time) magnetopause. A total of 711 reconnection jets were identified by applying the Walén relation, the tangential stress balance relation to be satisfied for a reconnected (rotational discontinuity) magnetopause, to magnetopause crossings identified from 10 years of THEMIS observations. The directions and positions of jets indicate that during southward interplanetary magnetic field (IMF) conditions, the dayside X‐line location shifts from the subsolar point toward the winter hemisphere by about 6 Earth radii under the largest tilt of the geomagnetic dipole axis. The X‐line location also shifts northward (southward) by at most 2.5 Earth radii when the IMF is predominantly radial and its x component is positive (negative). The dipole tilt effect on the shift of the X‐line location becomes smaller for higher solar wind Alfvén Mach numbers. The dipole tilt effect being larger than the IMF Bx effect suggests that the X‐line location has a seasonal dependence. Since models and theory show that the reconnection rate away from the subsolar magnetopause is lower than that at the subsolar magnetopause, the dipole tilt dependence of the X‐line location suggests that the efficiency of solar wind energy transfer into the magnetosphere may decrease under larger dipole tilt; this may partially account for seasonal variations of geomagnetic activity, which is known to decrease under larger dipole tilts.
Plain Language Summary
The near‐Earth space environment is strongly affected by solar wind energy that comes from the Sun. Entry of the energy into the near‐Earth space occurs as a result of merging the magnetic fields of the Sun and the Earth on the dayside of the Earth through a physical process known as magnetic reconnection. The location of magnetic reconnection is expected to control the efficiency of energy influx; however, the average location is not well understood. In this study, the average location of the reconnection process is statistically investigated from 10 years of THEMIS spacecraft observations. We revealed how much the reconnection position shifts depending on the season. In addition, the average reconnection location is affected by the magnitude of the Sun's magnetic fields along the Sun‐Earth line just outside of the near‐Earth space. We also discuss a possibility that the reconnection location changes the amount of the Sun's energy flux flowing into the near‐Earth space.
Key Points
The X‐line location on the dayside magnetopause is estimated from observed locations of northward and southward reconnection jets
The X‐line shifts poleward from the subsolar point under tilted dipole or finite IMF Bx when IMF By is small and Bz is negative
The dipole tilt effect is larger than that of IMF Bx, suggesting that the X‐line location has a seasonal dependence
In the magnetosheath, intense whistler mode waves, called “Lion roars,” are often detected in troughs of magnetic field intensity in mirror mode structures. Using data obtained by the four ...Magnetospheric Multiscale (MMS) spacecraft, we show that reversals of gradient of magnetic field intensity along the magnetic field correspond to reversals of the field‐aligned component of Poynting flux of whistler mode waves in the troughs. Such a characteristic is consistent with the idea that the whistler mode waves are effectively generated near the local minima of magnetic field intensity because of the smallest cyclotron resonance velocity and propagate toward regions of larger magnetic field intensity along the magnetic field lines on both sides. We use the reversal of the Poynting flux as an indicator of wave source regions. In these regions, we find that pancake or an outer edge of butterfly electron distributions above ~100 eV are good candidates for wave generation. Unclear correlations of phase difference and amplitude variations of whistler mode waves in cases of ~40 km spacecraft separation indicate that a simple plane wave approximation with a constant amplitude is not valid at this spatial scale that is much smaller than the ion gyroradius. The whistler mode waves consist of small coherent wave packets from multiple sources with spatial scales smaller than tens of electron gyroradii transverse to the background magnetic field in a mirror mode structure.
Key Points
Whistler mode waves are generated near local minima of magnetic field intensity and propagate along field lines on both sides
Pancake or an outer edge of butterfly electron distributions above ~100 eV are good candidates for wave generation
The waves consist of many small coherent wave packets of tens of electron gyroradii perpendicular to magnetic fields
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