Location
Yosemite National Park
Start Date
2-10-2014 4:40 PM
End Date
2-10-2014 5:10 PM
Description
The CLUSTER spacecraft have now been operating for 13 years, from 2001 through the present time, covering a full solar cycle. The CODIF instrument has provided a wealth of data over this time, allowing the solar cycle dependence of the ion composition over the energy range 40 eV/e to 40 keV/e throughout the magnetosphere to be determined for the first time. The solar cycle impacts the magnetosphere in a number of ways. As solar activity increases, the increased solar EUV flux increases the ionospheric scale height, which leads to more outflow. The smaller number of CMEs leads to fewer and smaller geomagnetic storms, which also decreases the outflow, both in the cusp and in the nightside auroral regions. In addition, the solar cycle impacts not only the ionospheric outflow, but also the transport, through changes in convection. Thus, different regions of the magnetosphere are impacted in different ways. In this paper we review recent results on how the solar cycle impacts the ionospheric contribution to the lobes, the ~20 Re plasma sheet, and the inner magnetosphere. In addition, we will discuss the impacts that increased heavy ions may have on the dynamics, including the importance to substorm loading and unloading, and the occurrence of sawtooth events.
Impacts of O+ Abundance in the Magnetosphere
Yosemite National Park
The CLUSTER spacecraft have now been operating for 13 years, from 2001 through the present time, covering a full solar cycle. The CODIF instrument has provided a wealth of data over this time, allowing the solar cycle dependence of the ion composition over the energy range 40 eV/e to 40 keV/e throughout the magnetosphere to be determined for the first time. The solar cycle impacts the magnetosphere in a number of ways. As solar activity increases, the increased solar EUV flux increases the ionospheric scale height, which leads to more outflow. The smaller number of CMEs leads to fewer and smaller geomagnetic storms, which also decreases the outflow, both in the cusp and in the nightside auroral regions. In addition, the solar cycle impacts not only the ionospheric outflow, but also the transport, through changes in convection. Thus, different regions of the magnetosphere are impacted in different ways. In this paper we review recent results on how the solar cycle impacts the ionospheric contribution to the lobes, the ~20 Re plasma sheet, and the inner magnetosphere. In addition, we will discuss the impacts that increased heavy ions may have on the dynamics, including the importance to substorm loading and unloading, and the occurrence of sawtooth events.