Can Particle Precipitation Affect the Magnetic Reconnection Rate in the Magnetosphere?

Using computer simulations we investigate how dayside and nightside magnetic reconnection is affected by variations in particle precipitation. OpenGGCM was used to simulate two events occurring on May 4, 2005 and March 17, 2013. The first day has average solar wind conditions, the March 17 event is a storm period. We ran three simulations for each event where the precipitation was multiplied by factors of .01, 1, and 10. By modulating precipitation the conductivity of the ionosphere changes, which modifies the magnetospheric convection . The change in magnetospheric convection affects magnetic reconnection rate. Using the Hesse-Forbes-Birn method to calculate the magnetic reconnection rate we found that by decreasing the precipitation by an order of magnitude the reconnection rate increased 20-30% on average. Increasing the precipitation by an order of magnitude caused a decrease in magnetic reconnection of 20-30% for the two event periods simulated.