The auroras of Earth: illuminating the engine of magnetospheric dynamics
Abstract
The auroral morphology and dynamics at Earth are primarily driven by the interaction of the solar wind with the terrestrial magnetosphere, and as such, observations of the auroras provide a powerful diagnostic of the coupling between the solar wind, magnetosphere, ionosphere, and atmosphere. Changes in the size of the polar cap, the dim region encircled by the auroral oval, quantifies variations in the open magnetic flux content of the magnetosphere, effected through magnetic reconnection occurring at the magnetopause and in the magnetotail. This reconnection drives the Dungey cycle of plasma and magnetic flux, the engine of magnetospheric dynamics. Features within the auroras reveal the working parts of this engine, such as the cusp spot, flux transfer events, the substorm auroral bulge, auroral streamers, and transpolar arcs.
- Publication:
-
European Planetary Science Congress
- Pub Date:
- April 2014
- Bibcode:
- 2014EPSC....9...59M