Field-Aligned Currents during the Strong December 2023 Storm: Local Time and Hemispheric Differences
<p>Typical storm-time solar wind parameters, including the IMF By (<b>a</b>) and Bz (<b>b</b>) components in the GSM coordinate system; solar wind dynamic pressure, Pd (<b>c</b>); merging electric field, Em (<b>d</b>); Dst (<b>e</b>); AsyH (<b>f</b>); and SMU and SML (<b>g</b>) variations on 30 November–3 December 2023. Storm-time (ST) means individual hours preceding or beginning at 00:00 UT on 1 December 2023. The black vertical dashed line marks the onset of the storm, while the blue vertical dashed line indicates the time of minimum Dst.</p> "> Figure 2
<p>Storm-time and latitudinal variation in the FACs compared with the Dst Index in both hemispheres. The top two panels (<b>a</b>–<b>d</b>) depict data from Swarms A/C, while the bottom two panels (<b>e</b>–<b>h</b>) depict data from Swarm B. The left panels (<b>a</b>,<b>c</b>,<b>e</b>,<b>g</b>) represent the Northern Hemisphere, and the right panels (<b>b</b>,<b>d</b>,<b>f</b>,<b>h</b>) represent the Southern Hemisphere. From top to bottom are the pre-noon (<b>a</b>,<b>b</b>), pre-midnight (<b>c</b>,<b>d</b>), post-noon (<b>e</b>,<b>f</b>), and post-midnight (<b>g</b>,<b>h</b>) sectors.</p> "> Figure 3
<p>Correlation of the upward and downward FACs between the daytime and nighttime sectors for both hemispheres. The correlation coefficients and mean current densities are displayed in each panel. The top two panels (<b>a</b>–<b>d</b>) present data from Swarms A/C in the pre-noon and pre-midnight sectors, while the bottom two panels (<b>e</b>–<b>h</b>) show data from Swarm B in the post-noon and post-midnight sectors. Panels (<b>a</b>,<b>c</b>,<b>e</b>,<b>g</b>) shown the Northern Hemisphere, and panels (<b>b</b>,<b>d</b>,<b>f</b>,<b>h</b>) show the Southern Hemisphere. The subscripts ‘up’ and ‘down’ denote the FACs flowing up from and down into the ionosphere, respectively.</p> "> Figure 4
<p>Correlations between the Northern and Southern Hemispheric peak upward and downward FACs. The correlation coefficient and mean current densities are shown in each panel. The top two panels show the upward and downward FACs from Swarms A/C in the pre-midnight (<b>a</b>,<b>c</b>) and pre-noon (<b>b</b>,<b>d</b>) sectors. The bottom two panels display the upward and downward FACs from Swarm B in the post-noon (<b>e</b>,<b>g</b>) and post-midnight (<b>f</b>,<b>h</b>) sectors.</p> "> Figure 5
<p>The Storm-Time Indexes, Dst, along the orbit segments observed by Swarm in the four local time sectors: (<b>a</b>) pre-midnight, (<b>b</b>) pre-noon, (<b>c</b>) post-noon, (<b>d</b>) post-midnight. Black represents the Dst values during the Northern Hemisphere sampling, and the blue shows the Dst values for the Southern Hemisphere observations.</p> "> Figure 6
<p>Scatter plots of the peak westward PEJ observed by the Swarms A and B satellites on the dayside (pre-noon and post-noon) and nightside (pre-midnight and post-midnight). The left panel (<b>a</b>) represents the Northern Hemisphere, and the right panel (<b>b</b>) represents the Southern Hemisphere.</p> "> Figure 7
<p>Correlation between Northern and Southern Hemispheric peak westward PEJ. The correlation coefficient and mean current densities are shown in each panel. The top panels show the PEJ from Swarm A in the pre-midnight (<b>a</b>) and pre-noon (<b>b</b>) sectors. The bottom panels display the PEJ from Swarm B in the post-noon (<b>c</b>) and post-midnight (<b>d</b>) sectors.</p> "> Figure 8
<p>The correlation coefficients between the averaged peak density of the FACs and the solar wind IMF and geomagnetic indices. Panels (<b>a</b>,<b>b</b>) correspond to the Northern Hemisphere, (<b>c</b>,<b>d</b>) correspond to the Southern Hemisphere. Panels (<b>a</b>–<b>c</b>) represent sectors in the local time of pre-noon (blue) and pre-midnight (red), while panels (<b>b</b>–<b>d</b>) represent sectors in the local time of post-noon (red) and post-midnight (blue). The highest correlation coefficients are denoted by yellow circles.</p> "> Figure 9
<p>The correlation coefficients between the mean MLat of peak density of the FACs and solar wind IMF and geomagnetic indices. Panels (<b>a</b>,<b>b</b>) correspond to the Northern Hemisphere, (<b>c</b>,<b>d</b>) to the Southern Hemisphere. Panels (<b>a</b>–<b>c</b>) represent sectors in local time of pre-noon (blue) and pre-midnight (red), while panels (<b>b</b>–<b>d</b>) represent sectors in local time of post-noon (red) and post-midnight (blue). The highest correlation coefficients are denoted by yellow circles.</p> ">
Abstract
:1. Introduction
2. Materials and Methods
3. Results
4. Discussion
4.1. Local Time and Hemispheric Differences in Density
4.2. Local Time and Hemispheric Differences in Latitude
4.3. Linear Regression Analysis
5. Conclusions
- (1)
- In the summer hemisphere (i.e., SH), the average pre-noon FACs are larger than those observed in the pre-midnight sector, and the FACs during post-noon are stronger compared to those during post-midnight. The summer daytime westward PEJ exceeds the nighttime westward PEJ.
- (2)
- In the winter hemisphere (i.e., NH), both the upward and downward averaged FACs exhibit greater strength in the pre-midnight sector compared to the pre-noon sector, and the mean downward FACs during post-noon are weaker than those during post-midnight. The winter nighttime westward PEJ is greater than during daytime.
- (3)
- In most local time sectors, the FACs are generally stronger in the SH compared to the NH. Similarly, the southern westward PEJs are larger than the northern PEJs. Such hemispheric differences are due to the summer vs. winter variations in the ionospheric conductivity.
- (4)
- The FACs and westward PEJ in the northern winter pre-midnight sector are significantly stronger than in the southern summer pre-midnight sector, indicating that the nighttime stronger substorm DP-1 westward currents in the winter hemisphere compared to the summer hemisphere.
- (5)
- The nighttime FACs are located at a lower MLat than the daytime. The pre-noon FACs are at a higher latitude than the post-noon. The winter hemispheric FACs are positioned more euqatorward than the summer hemispheric FACs.
- (6)
- The FACs in the NH correlate best with the Em in the pre-noon, post-noon, and post-midnight sector, while they correlate best with the SMU in the pre-midnight sector. In the Southern Hemisphere, the FACs correlate best with the SMU in the pre-midnight and pre-noon sectors and with the SML in the post-midnight sector and Em post-noon.
- (7)
- The latitude of peak FACs shows the strongest correlation with Em in most four local times and two hemispheres, except for the SH pre-noon and post-midnight.
Author Contributions
Funding
Data Availability Statement
Acknowledgments
Conflicts of Interest
References
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Northern Hemisphere | Southern Hemisphere | |||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Local Time | Pre-Noon | Pre-Midnight | Post-Noon | Post-Midnight | Pre-Noon | Pre-Midnight | Post-Noon | Post-Midnight |
ST (h) | 21.3 | 13.3 | 11.3 | 17.8 | 14.2 | 26.8 | 28.2 | 12.1 |
Peak (µA/m2) | −4.4 | −7.8 | 3.9 | 3.4 | −6.8 | −4.5 | −6.3 | −5.7 |
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Wang, H.; Wang, C.; Leng, Z. Field-Aligned Currents during the Strong December 2023 Storm: Local Time and Hemispheric Differences. Remote Sens. 2024, 16, 3130. https://doi.org/10.3390/rs16173130
Wang H, Wang C, Leng Z. Field-Aligned Currents during the Strong December 2023 Storm: Local Time and Hemispheric Differences. Remote Sensing. 2024; 16(17):3130. https://doi.org/10.3390/rs16173130
Chicago/Turabian StyleWang, Hui, Chengzhi Wang, and Zhiyue Leng. 2024. "Field-Aligned Currents during the Strong December 2023 Storm: Local Time and Hemispheric Differences" Remote Sensing 16, no. 17: 3130. https://doi.org/10.3390/rs16173130