Open AccessPenetration electric fields driving main phase Dst
Author(s) -
Burke William J.,
Gentile Louise C.,
Huang Cheryl Y.
Publication year - 2007
Publication title -
journal of geophysical research: space physics
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.67
H-Index - 298
eISSN - 2156-2202
pISSN - 0148-0227
DOI - 10.1029/2006ja012137
Subject(s) - physics , magnetosphere , geomagnetic storm , solar wind , electric field , polar , geodesy , storm , quiet , geophysics , magnetic field , computational physics , meteorology , astrophysics , atmospheric sciences , geology , astronomy , quantum mechanics
On the basis of three selection criteria we have analyzed the main phase electrodynamics of 17 magnetic storms that occurred between 1999 and mid‐2005: (1) the availability of solar wind measurements from the Advanced Composition Explorer (ACE) satellite, (2) a minimum Dst ≤ −100 nT, and (3) no significant recovery episode between the beginning and maximum epoch of the main phase ( dDst / dt > 0). We combined the Volland‐Stern and Siscoe‐Hill models to estimate the intensities of electric fields ( E VS ) in the equatorial plane as the polar cap potential divided by the width of the magnetosphere along the dawn‐dusk axis. A survey of provisional Dst and E VS traces over the 5.5 years of interest shows that all sustained excursions of E VS above quiet time levels of 0.22 ± 0.08 mV/m were closely tied to the main phases of storms. In every instance, E VS returned to background at or near the beginning of the recovery phase. The data indicate very high correlations between Dst and I VS = ∫ E VS dt during the main phase of all selected storms.