Location
Yosemite National Park
Start Date
2-10-2014 5:55 PM
End Date
2-10-2014 6:25 PM
Description
Outflow from the ionosphere into the magnetosphere is simulated and compared with solar wind entry as a source of ions to the magnetotail and plasma sheet. The coupled codes within the Space Weather Modeling Framework is used to assess the relative contributions of these two populations to geospace composition. The study employs both the multi-species and multi-fluid versions of the BATS-R-US magnetohydrodynamic model to investigate the influence of numerical approach on the resulting source term concentrations within the magnetosphere. Several idealized conditions are considered as well as a few real event cases. The ionospheric outflow within the SWMF is compared against several statistical studies of high-latitude measurements of this population, in particular those from the Polar spacecraft, to assess the validity of the assumed outflow conditions. It is found that during southward interplanetary magnetic field (IMF), the central plasma sheet is dominated by ionospheric material entering the plasma sheet near the midnight meridian. This population then dominates the high temperature and low density plasma delivered to the inner magnetophere, with only a small contribution from the solar wind. However, during northward IMF, solar wind entry on the dayside by double lobe reconnection allows for this population to dominate the ion density everywhere in the outer magnetosphere and provide a cold, dense ion population to near-Earth space.
Ionospheric Contribution to Magnetospheric Ion Density and Temperature Throughout the Magnetotail
Yosemite National Park
Outflow from the ionosphere into the magnetosphere is simulated and compared with solar wind entry as a source of ions to the magnetotail and plasma sheet. The coupled codes within the Space Weather Modeling Framework is used to assess the relative contributions of these two populations to geospace composition. The study employs both the multi-species and multi-fluid versions of the BATS-R-US magnetohydrodynamic model to investigate the influence of numerical approach on the resulting source term concentrations within the magnetosphere. Several idealized conditions are considered as well as a few real event cases. The ionospheric outflow within the SWMF is compared against several statistical studies of high-latitude measurements of this population, in particular those from the Polar spacecraft, to assess the validity of the assumed outflow conditions. It is found that during southward interplanetary magnetic field (IMF), the central plasma sheet is dominated by ionospheric material entering the plasma sheet near the midnight meridian. This population then dominates the high temperature and low density plasma delivered to the inner magnetophere, with only a small contribution from the solar wind. However, during northward IMF, solar wind entry on the dayside by double lobe reconnection allows for this population to dominate the ion density everywhere in the outer magnetosphere and provide a cold, dense ion population to near-Earth space.