Determination of Auroral Electrodynamic Parameters From AMPERE Field‐Aligned Current Measurements

Abstract

Relations between field-aligned currents and ionospheric conductances are used to model electrical properties at high latitudes.The spatial and temporal distribution of electric fields and currents can be calculated from maps of field-aligned currents.The currents derived from the model accurately replicate magnetic indices based on the SuperMAG global magnetometer network.

Steepening Plasma Density Spectra in the Ionosphere: The Crucial Role Played by a Strong E‐Region

“…Furthermore, given a fuller understanding of precipitation‐induced energy injection, analyses of break‐points in plasma density spectra can give observational constraints on the distribution of high‐latitude E‐region conductance. This method can work in synergy with other methods of diagnosing ionospheric conductances, which could be based on ionospheric reflection coefficients (e.g., Ivarsen et al., 2020; Pakhotin et al., 2018), or on global FAC density maps ((Robinson et al., 2021), and references therein).…”

“…Thus, the flux of highly energetic auroral precipitation exhibits opposite seasonal behavior to that of EUV photoionization. Pedersen conductivity consequently does not exhibit strong seasonal dependencies in the auroral zone E‐region (Kwak & Richmond, 2007), where deeply penetrating electrons assure that both Pedersen and Hall conductances remain relatively high regardless of solar EUV photoionization (Robinson et al., 2021). When SZA is not in control of E‐region conductance, the aurora then steps in.…”

Explicit IMF By‐Dependence in Geomagnetic Activity: Quantifying Ionospheric Electrodynamics

“…The methodology used here is described in detail in Robinson et al. (2021).…”

“…Plots comparing the input and output FACs (and modeled electrostatic potentials) for different seasons and signs of IMF B y are included in Figures S1-S8. The methodology used here is described in detail in Robinson et al (2021).…”

“…The second goal of this study is to quantify the B y -dependence in the auroral electrojets in different MLT sectors. We reach this goal by determining horizontal (Hall and Pedersen) ionospheric currents from a continuity equation, which connects the horizontal currents to measured FACs and modeled conductances using the method recently developed by Robinson et al (2021). There are two main advantages of using the AMPERE measurements and the Robinson et al (2020) conductance model.…”