The role of inductive electric fields in the ring current enhancement during the March 17th, 2013 geomagnetic storm
Abstract
The terrestrial magnetosphere has the capability to rapidly accelerate charged particles up to very high energies over relatively short times and distances. These energetic particles are injected from the magnetotail into the inner magnetosphere through two primary mechanisms. One transport method is the potential-driven convection during periods of southward IMF, which allows part of the dawn-to-dusk solar wind electric field to effectively map down to the polar ionosphere. The second transport process involves a sudden reconfiguration of the magnetic field and the creation of transient induced electric fields. However, it is not possible to distinguish the two terms by only measuring the electric field. Assessing the relative contribution of potential versus inductive electric fields at the energization of the hot ion population in the inner magnetosphere is only possible by thorough examination of the time varying magnetic field and current systems using global modeling of the entire system. We developed a novel method to calculate the inductive and potential components of electric field in the entire magnetosphere domain. This approach removes the need to trace independent field lines and lifts the assumption that the magnetic field lines can be treated as frozen in a stationary ionosphere. We quantify the relative contributions of potential and inductive electric fields at driving plasma sheet ions into the inner magnetosphere during the March 17th, 2103 geomagnetic storm. The consequence of these injections on the distortion of the near-Earth magnetic field and current systems have been rarely separated in order to determine their relative effectiveness from a global perspective.
- Publication:
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AGU Fall Meeting Abstracts
- Pub Date:
- December 2016
- Bibcode:
- 2016AGUFMSM11A2128I
- Keywords:
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- 2431 Ionosphere/magnetosphere interactions;
- IONOSPHEREDE: 2778 Ring current;
- MAGNETOSPHERIC PHYSICSDE: 2788 Magnetic storms and substorms;
- MAGNETOSPHERIC PHYSICSDE: 7513 Coronal mass ejections;
- SOLAR PHYSICS;
- ASTROPHYSICS;
- AND ASTRONOMY