A case study of storm commencement and recovery plasmaspheric electric fields near L=2.5 at equinox
Data from the VLF Doppler experiment at Faraday, Antarctica (65° S, 64° W) are used to study the penetration of the high-latitude convection electric field to lower latitudes during severely disturbed conditions. Alterations of the electric field at L -values within the range 2.0 - 2.7 are studied f...
| Published in: | Annales Geophysicae |
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| Main Authors: | , , |
| Format: | Article in Journal/Newspaper |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
Copernicus Publications
1994
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| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.1007/s00585-994-0625-z https://doaj.org/article/d8d8ccc700f54ae6815c6f233e91e676 |
| Summary: | Data from the VLF Doppler experiment at Faraday, Antarctica (65° S, 64° W) are used to study the penetration of the high-latitude convection electric field to lower latitudes during severely disturbed conditions. Alterations of the electric field at L -values within the range 2.0 - 2.7 are studied for two cases at equinox (10 - 12 September 1986 and 1 - 3 May 1986). The recovery of the electric field is found to be approximately an exponential function of time. Values for the equatorial meridional E × B drift velocity, inferred from the data, are used as inputs to a model of the plasmasphere and ionosphere. The model and experimental results are used to investigate the post-storm alteration of ionospheric coupling processes. The magnitude of the effect of ionosphere-plasmasphere coupling fluxes on N m F 2 values and the O + -H + transition height is dependent on the local time of storm commencement, and on the orientation of the electric field. The coupling fluxes appear to have a maximum influence on ionospheric content during the main phase of geomagnetic activity that produces outward motion of plasmaspheric whistler ducts. |
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