Effects of the Dayside Ionospheric Conductance on Solar Wind-Magnetosphere-Ionosphere Coupling

In the present study we seek to observationally address the role of ionospheric conductance in the solar wind-magnetosphere coupling in terms of global field-aligned currents (FACs). Solar EUV irradiance changes during a solar cycle, and so does its contribution to the ionospheric conductance. We statistically examine how, for fixed ranges of external driver, the intensities of the R1 and R2 currents and their demarcation latitude depend on solar activity (F10.7). An emphasis is placed on night-side FACs in the dark hemisphere. The result shows that under fixed external conditions, the night-side FACs are more intense for higher solar activity irrespective of their polarities or local time. It is also found that the overall FAC system, therefore the auroral oval, moves equatorward as the solar activity increases. For both current intensity and latitude, the dependence on solar activity is more sensitive for smaller values of F10.7 and it becomes more gradual with increasing F10.7. The intensities of dayside FACs reveal similar F10.7 dependence as expected from the enhancement of the local ionospheric conductance. Interestingly, they also move equatorward with increasing solar activity. We suggest that as the dayside R1 current becomes more intense with increasing solar activity, the magnetosphere shrinks on the day side and expands on the night side. This configurational change of the magnetosphere is considered to affect the energy transport from the solar wind to the magnetosphere, although the details still remain to be understood. We conclude that the ionospheric conductance actively affects the solar wind-magnetosphere-ionosphere coupling.