Magnetic Mapping of Geosynchronous Orbit to the Ionosphere
Abstract
A previously compiled database of magnetic conjunctions between geosynchronous satellites and low-altitude, polar-orbiting DMSP satellites is compared with the predictions of the most recently available Tsyganenko model of the geomagnetic field. The conjunctions were identified on the basis of the spectral match between the plasma-sheet electron distributions observed at low altitudes and those observed simultaneously at geosynchronous altitudes [Weiss et al., J. Geophys. Res., 100, 4911, 1997.]. The input parameters of the latest Tsyganenko model include the Dst-index, the instantaneous solar wind conditions (speed, density, and IMF components), and the time history of those conditions during the preceding 1-hour interval. (See http://www-istp.gsfc.nasa.gov/Modeling/group.html). The conjunctions identified by Weiss et al. showed that the magnetic connectivity between geosynchronous orbit and the auroral ionosphere is highly dynamic and spans a wide range of possible latitudes. We compare the connectivity predicted by the latest Tsyganenko model with the observed satellite conjunctions and with the mapping predicted using previous magnetic field models.
- Publication:
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AGU Fall Meeting Abstracts
- Pub Date:
- December 2001
- Bibcode:
- 2001AGUFMSM31C..07W
- Keywords:
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- 2700 MAGNETOSPHERIC PHYSICS;
- 2730 Magnetosphere: inner;
- 2736 Magnetosphere/ionosphere interactions;
- 2753 Numerical modeling