We review the morphology and dynamics of the electrical current systems of the terrestrial magnetosphere and ionosphere. Observations from the Active Magnetosphere and Planetary Electrodynamics Response Experiment (AMPERE) over the three years 2010 to 2012 are employed to illustrate the variability of the field-aligned currents that couple the magnetosphere and ionosphere, on timescales from minutes to years, in response to the impact of solar wind disturbances on the magnetosphere and changes in the level of solar illumination of the polar ionospheres. The variability is discussed within the context of the occurrence of magnetic reconnection between the solar wind and terrestrial magnetic fields at the magnetopause, the transport of magnetic flux within the magnetosphere, and the onset of magnetic reconnection in the magnetotail. The conditions under which the currents are expected to be weak, and hence minimally contaminate measurements of the internallyproduced magnetic field of the Earth, are briefly outlined.

[1] On the basis of the RHESSI results it has been suggested that terrestrial gamma flashes (TGFs) are produced at very low altitudes. On the other hand some of the Burst and Transient Source Experiment (BATSE) spectra show unabsorbed fluxes of X rays in the 25-50 keV energy range, indicating a higher production altitude. To investigate this, we have developed a Monte Carlo code for X-ray propagation through the atmosphere. The most important features seen in the modeled spectra are (1) a low-energy cutoff which moves to lower energies as TGFs are produced at higher altitudes, (2) a high-energy cutoff which moves to lower energies as TGFs are observed at larger zenith angles, and (3) time delays are observed for TGFs produced at 20 km (and some at 30 km) altitude when observed at larger zenith angle than the half-angle defining the initial isotropic X-ray beam. This is a pure Compton effect. The model results and an optimization procedure are used to estimate production altitudes of the BATSE TGFs. The main findings are (1) half or more of the BATSE TGFs are produced at low altitudes, 20 km, (2) a significant portion of the BATSE TGFs are produced at higher altitudes, 30 km to 40 km, (3) for the TGFs produced at 20 km (and some at 30 km) altitudes the dispersion signatures can be explained as a pure Compton effect, and (4) the softening of the BATSE spectra for increasing zenith angles and the time dispersions both indicate that the initial TGF distribution is beamed.

We used the Lyon‐Fedder‐Mobarry global magnetohydrodynamics model to study the effects of the interplanetary magnetic field (IMF) By component on the coupling between the solar wind and magnetosphere‐ionosphere system. When the IMF reconnects with the terrestrial magnetic field with IMF By≠0, flux transport is asymmetrically distributed between the two hemispheres. We describe how By is induced in the closed magnetosphere on both the dayside and nightside and present the governing equations. The magnetosphere imposes asymmetric forces on the ionosphere, and the effects on the ionospheric flow are characterized by distorted convection cell patterns, often referred to as “banana” and “orange” cell patterns. The flux asymmetrically added to the lobes results in a nonuniform induced By in the closed magnetosphere. By including the dynamics of the system, we introduce a mechanism that predicts asymmetric Birkeland currents at conjugate foot points. Asymmetric Birkeland currents are created as a consequence of y directed tension contained in the return flow. Associated with these currents, we expect fast localized ionospheric azimuthal flows present in one hemisphere but not necessarily in the other. We also present current density measurements from Active Magnetosphere and Planetary Electrodynamics Response Experiment that are consistent with this picture. We argue that the induced By produces asymmetrical Birkeland currents as a consequence of asymmetric stress balance between the hemispheres. Such an asymmetry will also lead to asymmetrical foot points and asymmetries in the azimuthal flow in the ionosphere. These phenomena should therefore be treated in a unified way.

While narrow bipolar events (NBEs) could be related with lightning initiation, their intrinsic physics remains in question. Here we report on optical measurements by the Atmosphere‐Space Interactions Monitor (ASIM) on the International Space Station (ISS) of blue flashes associated with NBEs. They are observed in a narrow blue band centered at 337 nm, with no simultaneous activity at 777.4 nm, considered a strong lightning emission line. From radio waves measured from the ground, we find that 7 of 10 single‐pulse blue events can be identified as positive NBEs. The source altitudes estimated from optical and radio signals agree and indicate that the sources of the blue flashes are located between ∼8.5 and ∼14 km, in a cloud reaching 14–15 km altitude. The observations suggest that single‐pulse blue flashes are from cold ionization waves, so‐called streamers, and that positive NBEs are corona discharges formed by many streamers.

The Atmosphere-Space Interactions Monitor (ASIM) is an instrument suite on the International Space Station (ISS) for measurements of lightning, Transient Luminous

During the last few years our knowledge about the X-ray emission from bodies within the solar system has significantly improved. Several new solar system objects are now known to shine in X-rays at energies below 2 keV. Apart from the Sun, the known X-ray emitters now include planets (Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter, and Saturn), planetary satellites (Moon, Io, Europa, and Ganymede), all active comets, the Io plasma torus (IPT), the rings of Saturn, the coronae (exospheres) of Earth and Mars, and the heliosphere. The advent of higher-resolution X-ray spectroscopy with the Chandra and XMM-Newton X-ray observatories has been of great benefit in advancing the field of planetary X-ray astronomy. Progress in modeling X-ray emission, laboratory studies of X-ray production, and theoretical calculations of cross-sections, have all contributed to our understanding of processes that produce X-rays from the solar system bodies. At Jupiter and Earth, both auroral and non-auroral disk X-ray emissions have been observed. X-rays have been detected from Saturn's disk, but no convincing evidence of an X-ray aurora has been observed. The first soft (0.1- 2 keV) X-ray observation of Earth's aurora by Chandra shows that it is highly variable. The non-auroral X-ray emissions from Jupiter, Saturn, and Earth, those from the disk of Mars, Venus, and Moon, and from the rings of Saturn, are mainly produced by scattering of solar X-rays. The spectral characteristics of X-ray emission from comets, the heliosphere, the geocorona, and the Martian halo are quite similar, but they appear to be quite different from those of Jovian auroral X-rays. X-rays from the Galilean satellites and the IPT are mostly driven by impact of Jovian magnetospheric particles. This paper reviews studies of the soft X-ray emission from the solar system bodies, excluding the Sun

[1] In this paper we use the fluence distributions observed by two different instruments, RHESSI and Fermi GBM, corrected for the effects of their different orbits, combined with their different daily TGF detection rates and their relative sensitivities to make an estimate of the true fluence distribution of TGFs as measured at satellite altitudes. The estimate is then used to calculate the dead-time loss for an average TGF measured by RHESSI. An independent estimate of RHESSI dead-time loss and true fluence distribution is obtained from a Monte Carlo (MC) simulation in order to evaluate the consistency of our results. The two methods give RHESSI dead-time losses of 24-26% for average fluence of 33-35 counts. Assuming a sharp cut-off the true TGF fluence distribution is found to follow a power law with l = 2.3 AE 0.2 down to $5/600 of the detection threshold of RHESSI. This corresponds to a lowest number of electrons produced in a TGF of $10 14 and a global production rate within AE38 latitude of 50000 TGFs/day or about 35 TGFs every minute, which is 2% of all IC lightning. If a more realistic distribution with a roll-off below 1/3 (or higher) of the RHESSI lower detection threshold with a true distribution with l ≤ 1.7 that corresponds to a source distribution with l ≤ 1.3 is considered, we can not rule out that all discharges produce TGFs. In that case the lowest number of total electrons produced in a TGF is $10 12 .

During 2001 and 2002, when the Imager for Magnetopause‐to‐Aurora Global Exploration (IMAGE) satellite had its apogee in the Northern Hemisphere and the Polar spacecraft, owing to the apsidal precession of its orbit, reached higher altitudes in the Southern Hemisphere, the two spacecraft offered a unique opportunity to study the aurora in the conjugate hemispheres simultaneously. Owing to the large fields of view of the Polar Visible Imaging System (VIS) Earth camera and the IMAGE‐FUV instruments, substorms and auroral features were imaged on a global scale in both hemispheres. We have identified five substorm onsets and several auroral features that can be unambiguously identified and compared in the two hemispheres. When mapped onto apex coordinates in the two hemispheres, we find that substorm onset locations and auroral features are usually not symmetric. The longitudinal displacement in one hemisphere compared with the other can be as much as 1.5 hours of local time (∼1500 km). For southward interplanetary magnetic field (IMF) the hemispherical asymmetry (ΔMLT) is strongly correlated with the IMF clock angle (θC) and a linear fit, ΔMLT = −0.017θC + 3.44, gives a correlation coefficient of 0.83 with a mean deviation of 0.4ΔMLT. These findings are interpreted as the magnetic tensions force acting on open magnetic field lines before reconnecting in the magnetotail. This can also be thought of as the IMF penetrating the magnetosphere.