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Energetics of Magnetic Storms Driven by Corotating Interaction Regions: A Study of Geoeffectiveness
Recurrent Magnetic Storms: Corotating Solar Wind Streams
  • Niescja E Turner, Trinity University
  • E J Mitchell
  • D J Knipp
  • B A Emery
Document Type
Contribution to Book
Publication Date
1-1-2006
Abstract

We investigate the energetics of magnetic storms associated with corotating interaction regions (CIRs). We analyze 24 storms driven by CIRs and compare to 18 driven by ejecta-related events to determine how they differ in overall properties and in particular in their distribution of energy. To compare these different types of events, we look at events with comparable input parameters such as the epsilon parameter and note the properties of the resulting storms. We estimate the energy output by looking at the ring current energy along with ionospheric Joule heating derived from the PC and Dst indices. We also include the energy of auroral precipitation, estimated from NOAA/TIROS and DMSP observations. In general, ejecta-driven storms produce more intense events, as parameterized by Dst*, but they are usually not as long lasting, and in most cases deposit less energy. This is observed even for events that have similar input quantities, such as epsilon. This may be related to the high speed of the solar wind, in that an increased magnetosonic Mach number may influence the reconnection rate and therefore the coupling. Additionally, we find the efficiency of the coupling varies greatly from CIR-driven to ejecta-driven storms, with the CIRdriven storms coupling substantially more efficiently, particularly in the recovery phase. The efficiency of coupling (output energy divided by input energy) for CIRdriven storms in recovery phase was double that of ejecta-driven storms.

Editor
Bruce Tsurutani, Robert McPherron, Gang Lu, José H. A. Sobral, & Natchimuthukonar Gopalswamy
Identifier
10.1029/167GM11
Publisher
Blackwell Publishers Ltd.
ISBN
9780875904320, 9781118666456
Citation Information
Turner, N. E., Mitchell, E. J., Knipp, D. J., & Emery, B. A. (2006). Energetics of magnetic storms driven by corotating interaction regions: A study of geoeffectiveness. In B. Tsurutani, R. McPherron, G. Lu, J. H. A. Sobral, & N. Gopalswamy (Eds.), Recurrent magnetic storms: Corotating solar wind streams (vol. 167, pp. 113-124). American Geophysical Union.