Premium
New interpretation of magnetospheric energy circulation
Author(s) -
Pulkkinen T. I.,
Palmroth M.,
Tanskanen E. I.,
Janhunen P.,
Koskinen H. E. J.,
Laitinen T. V.
Publication year - 2006
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 - 10.1029/2005gl025457
Subject(s) - substorm , magnetosphere , dissipation , solar wind , physics , energy budget , geophysics , ionosphere , ring current , magnetohydrodynamics , energy transformation , magnetopause , atmospheric sciences , computational physics , plasma , quantum mechanics , thermodynamics
New results from the global MHD simulation GUMICS‐4 show that the energy transfer rate from the solar wind into the magnetosphere is a function of also the past values of the IMF. Furthermore, comparison of the energy input rate with the conversion and dissipation rates in the magnetosphere and ionosphere shows that the energy entering the magnetosphere is processed by the system without delay. This and earlier observations lead us to suggest that the role of energy input during the substorm growth phase is to facilitate the configuration change rather than to store energy for later dissipation. While the change of magnetotail stability requires configuration change, the substorm energetics after the onset is quite directly driven by the solar wind energy input.