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Footprints of lobe reconnection observed in ionospheric electron density under steady northward IMF
Author(s) -
Pryse S. E.,
Smith A. M.,
Moen J.,
Lorentzen D. A.
Publication year - 1999
Publication title -
geophysical research letters
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.007
H-Index - 273
eISSN - 1944-8007
pISSN - 0094-8276
DOI - 10.1029/1998gl900242
Subject(s) - ionosphere , geophysics , noon , geology , physics , plasma sheet , magnetic reconnection , atmospheric sciences , plasma , magnetosphere , quantum mechanics
The paper focuses on ionospheric signatures of lobe reconnection near magnetic noon under steady northward IMF. Enhanced Type 2 aurora observed by a meridian scanning photometer and reverse ion energy dispersion measured during a DMSP satellite pass provide evidence for the reconnection. Tomographic imaging of the spatial plasma distribution reveals key footprints of the processes, including the location of the adiaroic boundary separating the lobe cells from the closed LLBL precipitation, the dispersion of precipitating soft ions along sunward convecting field lines, and the possible presence of a Birkeland current sheet at the adiaroic boundary. The chain of ionospheric tomography receivers from Tromsø to Svalbard provides a powerful tool for investigation of the ionospheric response to magnetospheric boundary layer processes and their coupling to the ionosphere.