Article
Model-Based Properties of the Dayside Open/closed Boundary: Is There a UT-Dependent Variation
Space Weather
(2019)
Abstract
The open-closed boundary (OCB) defines a region of significant transformation in Earth's protective magnetic shield. Principle among these changes is the transition of magnetic field lines from having two foot points, one in each hemisphere, to one foot point at Earth, the other mapping to the solar wind (SW). Charged particles in the SW are able to follow these open field lines into Earth's upper atmosphere. The OCB also defines the polar cap boundary (PCB). Being able to identify and track the OCB allows study of several components of the geomagnetic system. Among them are the electrodynamics of the geomagnetic field and the reconnection balance between the dayside and nightside of the geomagnetic field. Furthermore, the OCB can provide insights into the precipitation of energetic protons into the ionosphere. Using the Tsyganenko model of the geomagnetic field (T96) we demonstrate a diurnal fluctuation which we call the Universal Time (UT) effect of the OCB. This UT effect is independent of all other inputs. We anticipate this UT effect to have important consequences in modeling the OCB and other polar cap-associated structures, especially polar cap absorption (PCA) events which adversely affect high frequency radio wave propagation in polar regions.
Keywords
- Open/Closed Boundary,
- Polar Cap Boundary,
- Diurnal Variation,
- OCB,
- Polar Cap Absorption
Disciplines
Publication Date
Winter November 8, 2019
Citation Information
Smith, D. A., & Sojka, J. J. (2019), Model-based properties of the dayside open/closed boundary: is there a UT-dependent variation? Space Weather, 17. https://doi.org/10.1029/2019SW002299
Creative Commons license
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons CC_BY International License.