Earth's magnetic field

About: Earth's magnetic field is a research topic. Over the lifetime, 20360 publications have been published within this topic receiving 446747 citations. The topic is also known as: magnetic field of Earth & geomagnetic field.

The Current-Voltage Relationship in Auroral Current Sheets.

Abstract: The current-voltage relation within narrow auroral current sheets is examined through the use of high-resolution data from the high-altitude Dynamics Explorer 1 satellite. The north-south perpendicular electric field and the east-west magnetic field are shown for three cases in which there are large amplitude, oppositely directed paired electric fields which are confined to a region less than 20 km wide. The magnetic field variations are found to be proportional to the second integral of the high-altitude perpendicular electric field. It is shown that at the small-scale limit, this relationship between ΔB and E is consistent with a linear “Ohm's law” relationship between the current density and the parallel potential drop along the magnetic field line. This linear relationship had previously been verified for large-scale auroral formations greater than 20 km wide at the ionosphere. The evidence shown here extends our knowledge down to the scale size of discrete auroral arcs.

Observations of geomagnetic cutoff variations during solar energetic particle events and implications for the radiation environment at the Space Station

Abstract: Data from the polar-orbiting Solar, Anomalous, and Magnetospheric Particle Explorer (SAMPEX) satellite have been used to measure the location of the geomagnetic cutoff for low-energy protons and alpha particles during several large solar energetic particle events from mid-1992 to late 1998. When fluxes are sufficiently high, the cutoff latitude can be measured up to four times per orbit, allowing the variability of the cutoff to be observed on relatively short timescales. We find significant changes in the cutoff location, often by more than 5° in less than 1 day, and these changes are well correlated with geomagnetic activity as measured by either Dst or Kp. Spacecraft in intermediate-inclination orbits such as the International Space Station (ISS) graze the geomagnetic polar cap at certain longitudes each day. Calculations show that a 5° suppression in the average geomagnetic cutoff increases by more than a factor of 2.5 the time that the ISS spends in the polar cap exposed to energetic particles. Since the Station is only vulnerable at certain longitudes, however, real-time monitoring of the cutoff location from a polar-orbiting spacecraft could be used to provide advance notice of the polar cap location and conditions, sometimes hours before the Space Station itself reaches high magnetic latitudes.

Geomagnetic Jerks: Rapid Core Field Variations and Core Dynamics

Abstract: The secular variation of the core field is generally characterized by smooth variations, sometimes interrupted by abrupt changes, named geomagnetic jerks. The origin of these events, observed and investigated for over three decades, is still not fully understood. Many fundamental features of geomagnetic jerks have been the subject of debate, including their origin internal or external to the Earth, their occurrence dates, their duration and their global or regional character. Specific tools have been developed to detect them in geomagnetic field or secular variation time series. Recently, their investigation has been advanced by the availability of a decade of high-quality satellite measurements. Moreover, advances in the modelling of the core field and its variations have brought new perspectives on the fluid motion at the top of the core, and opened new avenues in our search for the origin of geomagnetic jerks. Correlations have been proposed between geomagnetic jerks and some other geophysical observables, indicating the substantial interest in this topic in our scientific community. This paper summarizes the recent advances in our understanding and interpretation of geomagnetic jerks.

Influence of the solar wind dynamic pressure on the decay and injection of the ring current

Abstract: The influence of the solar wind dynamic pressure on the decay and injection of thering current is investigated empirically, on the basis of the solar wind and the geomagneticindex Dst of the OMNI database, for the period from January 1964 to July 2001. Wefound that when the position of the ring current is closer to the Earth for a higher solarwind dynamic pressure, the decay time of the ring current decreases. The decay time, inhours, varies as follows, t = 8.70 exp(6.66/(6.04 + P)), for northward interplanetarymagnetic fields (IMF), where P is the solar wind dynamic pressure in nanopascals. It isalso found, by minimizing the root mean square errors of the hourly Dst differencebetween the calculated values and the measured ones, that the ring current injection rate isproportional to the solar wind dynamic pressure, with a power index equal to 0.2 duringsouthward IMF. This implies that the ring current injection increases when themagnetosphere is more compressed by high solar wind dynamic pressure. On the basis ofour new results we demonstrate that the predictions of Dst using O’Brien andMcPherron’s [2000a] model are improved, especially for intense geomagnetic stormswhen the influence of the solar wind dynamic pressure on the decay and injection of ringcurrent is taken into consideration.

Orbital Influence on Earth's Magnetic Field: 100,000-Year Periodicity in Inclination

Abstract: A continuous record of the inclination and intensity of Earth's magnetic field, during the past 2.25 million years, was obtained from a marine sediment core of 42 meters in length. This record reveals the presence of 100,000-year periodicity in inclination and intensity, which suggests that the magnetic field is modulated by orbital eccentricity. The correlation between inclination and intensity shifted from antiphase to in-phase, corresponding to a magnetic polarity change from reversed to normal. To explain the observation, we propose a model in which the strength of the geocentric axial dipole field varies with 100,000-year periodicity, whereas persistent nondipole components do not.