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.

Comparative study of ring current development using empirical, dipolar, and self-consistent magnetic field simulations

Abstract: [1] The effects of nondipolar magnetic field configuration and the feedback of a self-consistently computed magnetic field on ring current dynamics are investigated during a double-dip storm with minima SYM-H = -90 nT at ~2000 UT, 20 November, and SYM-H = -127 nT at ~1000 UT, 21 November 2002. We use our kinetic ring current-atmosphere interactions model with self-consistent magnetic field (RAM-SCB) to study the redistribution of plasma in the inner magnetosphere after its fresh injection from the plasma sheet. The kinetic model is fully extended to nondipolar magnetic (B) field geometry and two-way coupled with an Euler-potential-based equilibrium model that calculates self-consistently the three-dimensional magnetic field in force balance with the anisotropic ring current distributions. The ring current source population is inferred from LANL geosynchronous satellite data; a superdense plasma sheet observed during the second storm main phase contributes significantly to ring current buildup. We find that the bounce-averaged velocities increase while the bounce-averaged geocoronal hydrogen densities decrease on the nightside when a nondipolar B field is used. A depression of the ring current fluxes and a confinement of the ring current close to Earth are thus observed on the nightside as geomagnetic activity increases. In contrast to the dipolar case, the proton anisotropy increases considerably in the postnoon sector, and the nondipolar simulations predict the excitation of intense EMIC waves at large L shells. The total ring current energy and |Dst| index calculated with the self-consistent B field are in best agreement with observations, being smaller compared to the dipolar calculations but larger than the empirical B field predictions.

Geomagnetic field behavior during the Iceland Basin and Laschamp geomagnetic excursions: A simple transitional field geometry?

Abstract: We present four new records of the Iceland Basin Excursion (IBE) and five new records of the Laschamp Excursion (LE) obtained from rapidly deposited marine sediments in the North Atlantic Ocean, the Nordic Seas, the Gulf of Mexico, the South China Sea, and the southern Indian Ocean. Marked minima in relative paleointensity correspond with the paleomagnetic directional changes associated with all of the excursion records. The virtual geomagnetic pole (VGP) paths of the four IBE records are all similar. The VGPs move southward over Europe and Africa, reaching the southern hemisphere (three reach Antarctica), and then move to more eastern longitudes before returning northward over Australia and east Asia, describing a large counterclockwise loop. The same VGP pattern is observed in other published records. The VGP paths observed for the LE are similar to those of the IBE; however, they loop clockwise instead of counterclockwise. Despite the different sense of looping, the marked similarity among the paths for the two excursions suggests that a similar, relatively simple geometry dominated the transitional field during both the IBE and the LE. Similar dynamo mechanisms must therefore have been active in the Earth's core for both excursions. The duration of the excursions is estimated at <2,000 years, which supports the suggestion that a difference exists between the mechanisms for excursions and reversals. However, the coincidence of the longitudinal bands for VGPs associated with excursions compared to some reversal paths could also indicate an inherent link between the mechanisms for reversals and excursions.

Deep-Earth reactor: nuclear fission, helium, and the geomagnetic field.

Abstract: Geomagnetic field reversals and changes in intensity are understandable from an energy standpoint as natural consequences of intermittent and/or variable nuclear fission chain reactions deep within the Earth. Moreover, deep-Earth production of helium, having (3)He/(4)He ratios within the range observed from deep-mantle sources, is demonstrated to be a consequence of nuclear fission. Numerical simulations of a planetary-scale geo-reactor were made by using the SCALE sequence of codes. The results clearly demonstrate that such a geo-reactor (i) would function as a fast-neutron fuel breeder reactor; (ii) could, under appropriate conditions, operate over the entire period of geologic time; and (iii) would function in such a manner as to yield variable and/or intermittent output power.

Simulation of the 23 July 2012 Extreme Space Weather Event: What if This Extremely Rare CME Was Earth Directed?

Abstract: Extreme space weather events are known to cause adverse impacts on critical modern day technological infrastructure such as high-voltage electric power transmission grids. On 23 July 2012, NASA's Solar Terrestrial Relations Observatory-Ahead (STEREO-A) spacecraft observed in situ an extremely fast coronal mass ejection (CME) that traveled 0.96 astronomical units (approx. 1 AU) in about 19 h. Here we use the SpaceWeather Modeling Framework (SWMF) to perform a simulation of this rare CME.We consider STEREO-A in situ observations to represent the upstream L1 solar wind boundary conditions. The goal of this study is to examine what would have happened if this Rare-type CME was Earth-bound. Global SWMF-generated ground geomagnetic field perturbations are used to compute the simulated induced geoelectric field at specific ground-based active INTERMAGNET magnetometer sites. Simulation results show that while modeled global SYM-H index, a high-resolution equivalent of the Dst index, was comparable to previously observed severe geomagnetic storms such as the Halloween 2003 storm, the 23 July CME would have produced some of the largest geomagnetically induced electric fields, making it very geoeffective. These results have important practical applications for risk management of electrical power grids.

Electromagnetic wave structures within subauroral polarization streams

Abstract: [1] We report on oscillations in electric (δEY) and magnetic (δBZ) fields and plasma density (δNi) observed by Defense Meteorological Satellite Program (DMSP) satellites within fast subauroral convection streams in the evening sector during the magnetic storm of 6 November 2001. There are two types of wave phenomena. The first and more common is characterized by electromagnetic and plasma density variations that have the same frequency range of ∼0.15 Hz in the spacecraft frame of reference. The second is characterized by large-amplitude plasma and field oscillations over a broader range of frequencies ∼0.1 to 0.3 Hz. In this case the perturbation densities and fields appear to have different frequency responses. In this and other magnetic storms, strong waves are associated with the precipitation of ∼30 keV ions. Ratios of δEY/δBZ indicate encounters with mixtures of electromagnetic (in part Alfvenic) and electrostatic modes. Poynting vectors associated with the oscillations can be directed either into or out of the ionosphere. The density perturbations appear to be extended east-west corrugations in the plasma flow streams with north-south wavelengths of ∼50 km. The δEY and δNi variations were anticorrelated, as required for current conservation. Our analysis shows that Alfvenic perturbations are consistent with expected effects of irregular potential distribution around ionospheric density irregularities mapped to the magnetosphere. Inertial currents act to generate mesoscale field-aligned currents carried by Alfven waves, as was previously discussed with regards to auroral arcs formation. We suggest that δNi irregularities observed by DMSP satellites in the evening sector began as striated plasma patches in the polar cap that convected to subauroral latitudes.