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.

A fast radiative transfer model for SSMIS upper atmosphere sounding channels

Abstract: [1] Special Sensor Microwave Imager/Sounder (SSMIS) on board the Defense Meteorology Satellite Program (DMSP) F-16 satellite probes the atmospheric temperature from surface to 100 km. SSMIS channels 19–22 are significantly affected by Zeeman splitting, which is dependent on the Earth’s magnetic field. Thus, in satellite data assimilation or retrieval systems, SSMIS brightness temperatures and their Jacobians (or gradient with respect to temperature) must be computed with a fast radiative transfer (RT) scheme that takes into account the Zeeman-splitting effect. In this study, an averaged transmittance within the channel frequency passbands is parameterized and predicted with atmospheric temperature, geomagnetic field strength, and the angle between the geomagnetic field vector and the electromagnetic wave propagation direction. The coefficients of predictors are trained with a line-by-line (LBL) radiative transfer model that accurately computes the monochromatic transmittances at fine frequency steps within each passband. The new radiative transfer scheme is compared to the results from the line-by-line model for the dependent and independent data sets. It is shown that the differences between the two models are well below the instrument noise levels but the new scheme is much faster. It is also shown that the SSMIS measurements agree well with the simulations that are based on the atmospheric profiles from the sounding of the atmosphere using broadband emission radiometry (SABER) on the Thermosphere-lonosphere-Mesosphere Energetics and Dynamics satellite and the COSPAR international reference atmosphere (CIRA) model.

SAMPEX observations of precipitation bursts in the outer radiation belt

Abstract: The occurrence frequency of precipitation bursts of > 1 MeV electrons in the outer radiation belt is examined using data from the SAMPEX satellite. Electron burst characteristics shown in this paper include the dependence of the precipitation on magnetic local time, radial distance and geomagnetic activity. Precipitation bursts with timescales < 1 s, i.e., microbursts, are studied in detail, including their dependence on the phases of geomagnetic storms. It is found that precipitation bursts occur typically in the region between L = 4 and L = 6. Microbursts tend to occur at L lower than the bursts with timescales of several tens of seconds. The number of observed microbursts significantly increases during storms, appearing mainly in the morning sector early in the recovery phase of storms. These findings suggest that the microbursts may be due to interactions with electron whistler waves, which take place near the dawnside plasmapause in the density irregularities that are perhaps created in the "recovering" plasmasphere. The prevalence of bursty precipitation indicates that this enhanced loss component of the relativistic electron flux should be taken into account in any quantitative model of relativistic electron acceleration processes.

Upper thermosphere winds and temperatures in the geomagnetic polar cap: Solar cycle, geomagnetic activity, and interplanetary magnetic field dependencies

Abstract: Ground-based Fabry-Perot interferometers located at Thule, Greenland (76.5 deg. N, 69.0 deg. W, lambda = 86 deg.) and at Sondre Stromfjord, Greenland (67.0 deg. N, 50.9 deg. W, lambda = 74 deg.) have monitored the upper thermospheric (approx. 240-km altitude) neutral wind and temperature over the northern hemisphere geomagnetic polar cap since 1983 and 1985, respectively. The thermospheric observations are obtained by determining the Doppler characteristics of the (OI) 15,867-K (630.0-nm) emission of atomic oxygen. The instruments operate on a routine, automatic, (mostly) untended basis during the winter observing seasons, with data coverage limited only by cloud cover and (occasional) instrument failures. This unique database of geomagnetic polar cap measurements now extends over the complete range of solar activity. We present an analysis of the measurements made between 1985 (near solar minimum) and 1991 (near solar maximum), as part of a long-term study of geomagnetic polar cap thermospheric climatology. The measurements from a total of 902 nights of observations are compared with the predictions of two semiempirical models: the Vector Spherical Harmonic (VSH) model of Killeen et al. (1987) and the Horizontal Wind Model (HWM) of Hedin et al. (1991). The results are also analyzed using calculations of thermospheric momentum forcing terms from the Thermosphere-ionosphere General Circulation Model TGCM) of the National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR). The experimental results show that upper thermospheric winds in the geomagnetic polar cap have a fundamental diurnal character, with typical wind speeds of about 200 m/s at solar minimum, rising to up to about 800 m/s at solar maximum, depending on geomagnetic activity level. These winds generally blow in the antisunward direction, but are interrupted by episodes of modified wind velocity and altered direction often associated with changes in the orientation of the Interplanetary Magnetic Field (IMF). The central polar cap (greater than approx. 80 magnetic latitude) antisunward wind speed is found to be a strong function of both solar and geomagnetic activity. The polar cap temperatures show variations in both solar and geomagnetic activity, with temperatures near 800 K for low K(sub p) and F(sub 10.7) and greater than about 2000 K for high K(sub p) and F(sub 10.7). The observed temperatures are significantly greater than those predicted by the mass spectrometer/incoherent scatter model for high activity conditions. Theoretical analysis based on the NCAR TIGCM indicates that the antisunward upper thermospheric winds, driven by upstream ion drag, basically 'coast' across the polar cap. The relatively small changes in wind velocity and direction within the polar cap are induced by a combination of forcing terms of commensurate magnitude, including the nonlinear advection term, the Coriolis term, and the pressure gradient force term. The polar cap thennospheric thermal balance is dominated by horizontal advection, and adiabatic and thermal conduction terms.

On the calculation of electric diffusion coefficient of radiation belt electrons with in situ electric field measurements by THEMIS

Abstract: Based on 7 years' observations from Time History of Events and Macroscale Interactions during Substorms (THEMIS), we investigate the statistical distribution of electric field Pc5 ULF wave power under different geomagnetic activities and calculate the radial diffusion coefficient due to electric field, DLLE, for outer radiation belt electrons. A simple empirical expression of DLLETHEMIS is also derived. Subsequently, we compare DLLETHEMIS to previous DLL models and find similar Kp dependence with the DLLECRRES model, which is also based on in situ electric field measurements. The absolute value of DLLETHEMIS is constantly higher than DLLECRRES, probably due to the limited orbital coverage of CRRES. The differences between DLLETHEMIS and the commonly used DLLMB‐A and DLLEOzeke models are significant, especially in Kp dependence and energy dependence. Possible reasons for these differences and their implications are discussed. The diffusion coefficient provided in this paper, which also has energy dependence, will be an important contributor to quantify the radial diffusion process of radiation belt electrons.

The shape of the tilted magnetopause

Abstract: A model for the determination of the shape of the magnetopause is developed that permits the inclusion of cases where the solar wind is directed obliquely toward the geomagnetic dipole axis. The solar wind is assumed to have no motions perpendicular to its (constant) velocity vector (zero temperature approximation) and to be free of magnetic fields. The region within the magnetopause is characterized as having only one magnetic source and as being free of plasma. The procedure used here is in many ways similar to the self-consistent field method developed by Mead and Beard to calculate the shape of the magnetopause when the solar wind flow is perpendicular to the dipole axis. They were able to find the surface shape (for perpendicular incidence) at one point at a time. In the present study, however, it is necessary to determine the position of the surface at several points at a time. The geocentric distance to the subsolar point is found to be largest for perpendicular incidence of the solar wind on the dipole axis. The cross sections of the tail of the magnetopause given by the model are not cylindrical but elongated in the direction perpendicular to the ecliptic plane. Generally, the boundary is very dependent upon the wind-dipole angle in the region of the neutral points but exhibits very little dependence on this angle in ‘equatorial’ regions.