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Theoretical study of polar cap arcs: Time‐dependent model and its applications
Author(s) -
Zhu L.,
Sojka J. J.,
Schunk R. W.,
Crain D. J.
Publication year - 1994
Publication title -
radio science
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.371
H-Index - 84
eISSN - 1944-799X
pISSN - 0048-6604
DOI - 10.1029/93rs01508
Subject(s) - polar , polar cap , ionosphere , magnetosphere , physics , atmospheric sciences , arc (geometry) , coupling (piping) , computational physics , atmospheric models , geophysics , geology , plasma , geometry , materials science , mathematics , astronomy , quantum mechanics , metallurgy
A time‐dependent theoretical model of polar cap arcs developed during the Coupling, Energetics, and Dynamics of Atmospheric Regions/High‐Latitude Plasma Structures (CEDAR/HLPS) campaigns in the past two years is briefly described. In the model the electrodynamics of the polar cap arcs are treated self‐consistently in the frame of the coupled magnetosphere‐ionosphere system. The preliminary simulation results of the temporal evolution and spatial structure of the polar cap arcs for both winter and summer conditions are presented. The model can be used to conduct both the model‐observation study of specific features of the polar cap arcs and the quantitative theoretical study of typical or average features of the arcs. Several potential specific applications of the model to the polar cap arc phenomenon are also discussed in the paper.