Simultaneous observations of traveling convection vortices: Ionosphere-thermosphere coupling

We present simultaneous observations of magnetosphere-ionosphere-thermosphere coupling over Svalbard during a traveling convection vortex (TCV) event. Various spaceborne and ground-based instruments made coordinated measurements, including magnetometers, particle detectors, an all-sky camera, Europe...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Journal of Geophysical Research: Space Physics
Main Authors: Kim, Hyomin, Lessard, Marc R., Jones, Sarah L., Lynch, Kristina A., Fernandes, Philip A., Aruliah, Anasuya L., Engebretson, Mark J., Moen, Jøran I., Oksavik, Kjellmar, Yahnin, Alexander G., Yeoman, Timothy K.
Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
Language:English
Published: American Geophysical Union (AGU) 2017
Subjects:
Science & Technology
Physical Sciences
Astronomy & Astrophysics
FIELD-ALIGNED CURRENTS
FLUX-TRANSFER EVENTS
GROUND MAGNETIC SIGNATURES
LATITUDE BOUNDARY-LAYER
SOLAR-WIND
VORTEX EVENT
IMPULSE EVENTS
TWIN VORTICES
NEUTRAL WINDS
MAGNETOSPHERE
Svalbard
EISCAT
Online Access:http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/2017JA023904/abstract
http://hdl.handle.net/2381/40222
https://doi.org/10.1002/2017JA023904
Description
Summary:We present simultaneous observations of magnetosphere-ionosphere-thermosphere coupling over Svalbard during a traveling convection vortex (TCV) event. Various spaceborne and ground-based instruments made coordinated measurements, including magnetometers, particle detectors, an all-sky camera, European Incoherent Scatter (EISCAT) Svalbard Radar, Super Dual Auroral Radar Network (SuperDARN), and SCANning Doppler Imager (SCANDI). The instruments recorded TCVs associated with a sudden change in solar wind dynamic pressure. The data display typical features of TCVs including vortical ionospheric convection patterns seen by the ground magnetometers and SuperDARN radars and auroral precipitation near the cusp observed by the all-sky camera. Simultaneously, electron and ion temperature enhancements with corresponding density increase from soft precipitation are also observed by the EISCAT Svalbard Radar. The ground magnetometers also detected electromagnetic ion cyclotron waves at the approximate time of the TCV arrival. This implies that they were generated by a temperature anisotropy resulting from a compression on the dayside magnetosphere. SCANDI data show a divergence in thermospheric winds during the TCVs, presumably due to thermospheric heating associated with the current closure linked to a field-aligned current system generated by the TCVs. We conclude that solar wind pressure impulse-related transient phenomena can affect even the upper atmospheric dynamics via current systems established by a magnetosphere-ionosphere-thermosphere coupling process. Peer-reviewed Publisher Version

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