Inductive-dynamic coupling of the ionosphere with the thermosphere and the magnetosphere

Over the past decades, countless studies have been dedicated to describing the magnetosphere-ionosphere/thermosphere coupling and the influences of the magnetospheric variations on the ionosphere/thermosphere system. The models that have been used for practical purposes in global sense are with either a static ionosphere or a height-integrated ionosphere, both of which are not valid or adequate to describe the transient ionospheric processes such as substorms or auroral brightenings. A framework of theory has been proposed and is being developed to self-consistently describe an electromagnetically coupled collisional plasma-neutral system with the inductive and plasma as well as neutral dynamic effects. In this presentation, we compare the differences between this inductive-dynamic theory and the conventional magnetosphere-ionosphere/thermosphere coupling mechanisms. The inductive-dynamic theory shows that the transition for the ionosphere to respond to a magnetospheric change lasts about 20-30 min, the critical time scale for most of ionospheric dynamic processes. During the transition period, large amplitude fluctuations and enhanced heating are expected.