Storm-Time Behaviour of Meso-Scale Field-Aligned Currents: Case Study with Three Geomagnetic Storm Events

Abstract

Challenging Minisatellite Payload (CHAMP) satellite magnetic data are used to investigate the latitudinal variation of the storm-time meso-scale field-aligned currents by defining a new metric called the FAC range. Three major geomagnetic storm events are considered. Alongside SymH, the possible contributions from solar wind dynamic pressure and interplanetary magnetic field (IMF) Bz are also investigated. The results show that the new metric predicts the latitudinal variation of FACs better than previous studies. As expected, the equatorward expansion and poleward retreat are observed during the storm main phase and recovery phase respectively. The equatorward shift is prominent on the northern duskside, at ~58° coinciding with the minimum SymH and dayside at ~59° compared to dawnside and nightside respectively. The latitudinal shift of FAC range is better correlated to IMF Bz in northern hemisphere dusk-dawn magnetic local time (MLT) sectors than in southern hemisphere. The FAC range latitudinal shifts responds better to dynamic pressure in the duskside northern hemisphere and dawnside southern hemisphere than in southern hemisphere dusk sector and northern hemisphere dawn sector respectively. FAC range exhibits a good correlation with dynamic pressure in the dayside (nightside) southern (northern) hemispheres depicting possible electrodynamic similarity at day-night MLT sectors in the opposite hemispheres.

Keywords

• high latitude ionospheric currents
• field-aligned currents
• auroral ionosphere
• magnetosphere-ionosphere coupling
• geomagnetic storms