| 21. |
- Collier, A. B., et al.
(författare)
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Correlation between global lightning and whistlers observed at Tihany, Hungary
- 2009
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Ingår i: Journal of Geophysical Research. - 0148-0227 .- 2156-2202. ; 114, s. A07210-
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Although the generation and propagation mechanisms for whistlers are fairly well understood, the location and extent of the lightning source region for the whistlers observed at a given station are currently unknown. The correlation of whistler observations against global lightning data allows an estimate of the size and position of the source region. For whistlers detected at Tihany, Hungary, an area of positive correlation with radius of similar to 1000 km was found to be centered on the conjugate point. Although the maximal sample correlation coefficient was relatively low, r = 0.065, it has a high statistical significance, indicating that it is extremely improbable that the whistlers and lightning in this region are actually uncorrelated. Other smaller areas of positive correlation were found further afield in South America and the Maritime Continent. Lightning in the northern hemisphere displayed a negative correlation with whistlers at Tihany.
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| 22. |
- Cui, J., et al.
(författare)
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Diurnal variations of Titan's ionosphere
- 2009
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Ingår i: Journal of Geophysical Research. - 0148-0227 .- 2156-2202. ; 114:6, s. A06310-
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- We present our analysis of the diurnal variations of Titan's ionosphere (between 1000 and 1300 km) based on a sample of Ion Neutral Mass Spectrometer (INMS) measurements in the Open Source Ion (OSI) mode obtained from eight close encounters of the Cassini spacecraft with Titan. Although there is an overall ion depletion well beyond the terminator, the ion content on Titan's nightside is still appreciable, with a density plateau of similar to 700 cm(-3) below similar to 1300 km. Such a plateau is a combined result of significant depletion of light ions and modest depletion of heavy ones on Titan's nightside. We propose that the distinctions between the diurnal variations of light and heavy ions are associated with their different chemical loss pathways, with the former primarily through "fast'' ion-neutral chemistry and the latter through "slow'' electron dissociative recombination. The strong correlation between the observed night-to-day ion density ratios and the associated ion lifetimes suggests a scenario in which the ions created on Titan's dayside may survive well to the nightside. The observed asymmetry between the dawn and dusk ion density profiles also supports such an interpretation. We construct a time-dependent ion chemistry model to investigate the effect of ion survival associated with solid body rotation alone as well as superrotating horizontal winds. For long-lived ions, the predicted diurnal variations have similar general characteristics to those observed. However, for short-lived ions, the model densities on the nightside are significantly lower than the observed values. This implies that electron precipitation from Saturn's magnetosphere may be an additional and important contributor to the densities of the short-lived ions observed on Titan's nightside.
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| 23. |
- Cully, C.M., et al.
(författare)
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Electrostatic structure around spacecraft in tenuous plasmas
- 2007
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Ingår i: Journal of Geophysical Research. - 0148-0227 .- 2156-2202. ; 112:A9, s. A09211-
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Most satellite-based in situ plasma experiments are affected in some manner by the electrostatic structure surrounding the spacecraft. In order to better understand this structure, we have developed a fully three-dimensional self-consistent model that can accept realistic spacecraft geometry, including both thin (similar to 10(-4) m) wires and long (similar to 10(2) m) booms, with open boundary conditions. The model uses an integral formulation incorporating boundary element, multigrid and fast multipole methods to overcome problems associated with the large range in scale sizes and inherently three-dimensional structure. By applying the model to the Cluster spacecraft, we show that the electric potential structure is dominated by the charge on the wire booms, with the spacecraft body contributing at small distances. Consequently, the potential near the EFW ( Electric Fields and Waves experiment) probes at the end of the wire booms is typically significantly above the true plasma potential. For the Cluster spacecraft, we show that this effect causes a 19% underestimation of the spacecraft potential and 13% underestimation of the ambient electric field. We further assess the electric field due to the sunward-oriented photoelectron cloud, showing that the cloud contributes little to the observed spurious sunward field in the EFW data.
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| 24. |
- Cumnock, Judy A.
(författare)
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High-latitude aurora during steady northward interplanetary magnetic field and changing IMF B-y
- 2005
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Ingår i: Journal of Geophysical Research. - 0148-0227 .- 2156-2202. ; 110:A2, s. A02304-
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- High-latitude transpolar arcs (TPAs) are often observed during northward interplanetary magnetic field (IMF); of these, theta aurora are seen when transpolar arcs move in the dawn or dusk direction across the entire polar region in response to IMF By changes. Periods of study were chosen when By changes sign during steady northward IMF in order to determine the influence of IMF B-x, B-y, the strength of the IMF, the solar wind, and Earth dipole tilt on the occurrence and motion of high-latitude TPAs forming theta aurora. For a 4.5-year period there are 55 events for which IMF B-z is northward for at least 2 hours before and at least 3 hours after a B-y sign change. Of these, 19 occurred when the Polar satellite was over the Northern Hemisphere for the duration of the event. We find that for northward IMF and a B-y sign change theta aurora are almost always formed in the Northern Hemisphere, regardless of B-x and dipole tilt. This implies that theta aurorae form simultaneously in both hemispheres. IMF B-y does not appear to influence the intensity and duration of the arc. Strongest UV emissions occur in the summer hemisphere. Evolution time has a fairly complex dependence on solar wind parameters.
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| 25. |
- De Conti, Alberto, et al.
(författare)
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A comparison of different approaches to simulate a nonlinear channel resistance in lightning return stroke models
- 2008
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Ingår i: Journal of Geophysical Research. - 0148-0227 .- 2156-2202. ; 113:D14, s. D14129-
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Different physical models that describe the time variation of the channel resistance are investigated in a lightning return stroke model. Such models consider one of the three following hypotheses: (1) the channel resistance decays exponentially with time, (2) the channel resistance decays with the radial expansion of the channel core, which is assumed to be described by the strong-shock approximation, or (3) the channel resistance varies with time according to three different arc resistance models (defined by Toepler, Barannik and Kushner et al.). Analyses illustrate the effect of a time-varying channel resistance on channel currents and corresponding electromagnetic fields. It is shown that the strong-shock approximation is able to predict typical features of experimentally observed lightning electromagnetic fields and return stroke speed profiles. It is also shown that results predicted by the strong-shock approximation can be qualitatively reproduced by either using simplified arc resistance equations (such as Toepler's and Barannik's ones) or considering an exponential decay of the channel resistance with attenuation constants linearly increasing with height.
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| 26. |
- Deng, X. H., et al.
(författare)
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Dynamics and waves near multiple magnetic null points in reconnection diffusion region
- 2009
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Ingår i: Journal of Geophysical Research. - : Blackwell Publishing. - 0148-0227 .- 2156-2202. ; 114:7
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Identifying the magnetic structure in the region where the magnetic field lines break and how reconnection happens is crucial to improving our understanding of three-dimensional reconnection. Here we show the in situ observation of magnetic null structures in the diffusion region, the dynamics, and the associated waves. Possible spiral null pair has been identified near the diffusion region. There is a close relation among the null points, the bipolar signature of the Z component of the magnetic field, and enhancement of the flux of energetic electrons up to 100 keV. Near the null structures, whistler-mode waves were identified by both the polarity and the power law of the spectrum of electric and magnetic fields. It is found that the angle between the fans of the nulls is quite close to the theoretically estimated maximum value of the group-velocity cone angle for the whistler wave regime of reconnection.
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| 27. |
- Divine, D. V., et al.
(författare)
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Deuterium excess record from a small Arctic ice cap
- 2008
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Ingår i: Journal of Geophysical Research. - 0148-0227 .- 2156-2202. ; 113:D19, s. D19104-
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- In this paper we present a deuterium excess (d) record from an ice core drilled on a small ice cap in Svalbard in 1997. The core site is located at Lomonosovfonna at 1255 m asl, and the analyzed time series spans the period 1400-1990 A. D. The record shows pronounced multidecadal to centennial-scale variations coherent with sea surface temperature changes registered in the subtropical to southern middle-latitude North Atlantic during the instrumental period. We interpret the negative trend in the deuterium excess during the 1400s and 1500s as an indication of cooling in the North Atlantic associated with the onset of the Little Ice Age. Consistently positive anomalies of d after 1900, peaking at about 1950, correspond with well-documented contemporary warming. Yet the maximum values of deuterium excess during 1900-1990 are not as high as in the early part of the record (pre-1550). This suggests that the sea surface temperatures during this earlier period of time in the North Atlantic to the south of approximately 45 degrees N were at least comparable with those registered in the 20th century before the end of the 1980s. We examine the potential for a cold bias to exist in the deuterium excess record due to increased evaporation from the local colder sources of moisture having isotopically cold signature. It is argued that despite a recent oceanic warming, the contribution from this local moisture to the Lomonosovfonna precipitation budget is still insufficient to interfere with the isotopic signal from the primary moisture region in the midlatitude North Atlantic.
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| 28. |
- Eastwood, J.P., et al.
(författare)
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Multi-point observations of the Hall electromagnetic field and secondary island formation during magnetic reconnection
- 2007
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Ingår i: Journal of Geophysical Research. - 0148-0227 .- 2156-2202. ; 112:A6, s. A06235-
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- A key feature of collisionless magnetic reconnection is the formation of Hall magnetic and electric field structure in the vicinity of the diffusion region. Here we present multi‐point Cluster observations of a reconnection event in the near‐Earth magnetotail where the diffusion region was nested by the Cluster spacecraft; we compare observations made simultaneously by different spacecraft on opposite sides of the magnetotail current sheet. This allows the spatial structure of both the electric and magnetic field to be probed. It is found that, close to the diffusion region, the magnetic field displays a symmetric quadrupole structure. The Hall electric field is symmetric, observed to be inwardly directed on both sides of the current sheet. It is large (∼40 mV m−1) on the earthward side of the diffusion region, but substantially weaker on the tailward side, suggesting a reduced reconnection rate reflected by a similar reduction in Ey. A small‐scale magnetic flux rope was observed in conjunction with these observations. This flux rope, observed very close to the reconnection site and entrained in the plasma flow, may correspond to what have been termed secondary islands in computer simulations. The core magnetic field inside the flux rope is enhanced by a factor of 3, even though the lobe guide field is negligible. Observations of the electric field inside the magnetic island show extremely strong (∼100 mV m−1) fields which may play a significant role in the particle dynamics during reconnection.
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| 29. |
- Edberg, Niklas, et al.
(författare)
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Statistical analysis of the location of the Martian magnetic pileup boundary and bow shock and the influence of crustal magnetic fields
- 2008
-
Ingår i: Journal of Geophysical Research. - 0148-0227 .- 2156-2202. ; 113:A8, s. A08206-
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- We use the data set from the magnetometer and electron reflectometer instruments on board the Mars Global Surveyor spacecraft to show that the crustal magnetic fields of Mars affect the location of the magnetic pileup boundary (MPB) and bow shock (BS) globally. We search for crossings of the MPB and BS in the data that were observed over the first 16 months of the mission. To identify the influence of the crustal magnetic fields, all crossings are extrapolated to the terminator plane in order to remove the solar zenith angle (SZA) dependence, and to make it possible to compare crossings independently of location. The MPB crossings that were observed over regions on Mars, which contain strong crustal magnetic fields, are on average located further out than crossings observed over regions with weak crustal fields. This is shown in three separate longitude intervals. We also find that the dayside BS crossings observed over the southern hemisphere of Mars are on average located further out than the BS crossings observed over the northern hemisphere, possibly because of the influence of the crustal fields. We also study the magnetic field strength and its variation at the inside of the MPB and their dependence on the SZA and altitude. We find that the magnitude of the magnetic field in the MPB is closely linked to the altitude of the MPB, with the magnitude increasing as the MPB is observed closer to the planet.
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| 30. |
- Ejiri, M.K., et al.
(författare)
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Validation of the Improved Limb Atmospheric Spectrometer-II (ILAS-II) Version 1.4 nitrous oxide and methane profiles
- 2006
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Ingår i: Journal of Geophysical Research. - 0148-0227 .- 2156-2202. ; 111:D22
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- This study assesses polar stratospheric nitrous oxide (N(2)O) and methane (CH(4)) data from the Improved Limb Atmospheric Spectrometer-II (ILAS-II) on board the Advanced Earth Observing Satellite-II (ADEOS-II) retrieved by the Version 1.4 retrieval algorithm. The data were measured between January and October 2003. Vertical profiles of ILAS-II volume mixing ratio (VMR) data are compared with data from two balloon-borne instruments, the Michelson Interferometer for Passive Atmospheric Sounding (MIPAS-B) and the MkIV instrument, as well as with two satellite sensors, the Odin Sub-Millimetre Radiometer (SMR) for N(2)O and the Halogen Occultation Experiment (HALOE) for CH(4). Relative percentage differences between the ILAS-II and balloon/satellite data and their median values are calculated in 10-ppbv-wide bins for N(2)O (from 0 to 400 ppbv) and in 0.05-ppmv-wide bins for CH(4) (from 0 to 2 ppmv) in order to assess systematic differences between the ILAS-II and balloon/satellite data. According to this study, the characteristics of the ILAS-II Version 1.4 N(2)O and CH(4) data differ between hemispheres. For ILAS-II N(2)O VMR larger than 250 ppbv, the ILAS-II N(2)O agrees with the balloon/SMR N(2)O within +/- 20% in both hemispheres. The ILAS-II N(2)O in the VMR range from 30-50 to 250 ppbv (corresponding to altitudes of similar to 17-30 km in the Northern Hemisphere (NH, mainly outside the polar vortex) and similar to 13-21 km in the Southern Hemisphere (SH, mainly inside the polar vortex) is smaller by similar to 10-30% than the balloon/SMR N(2)O. For ILAS-II N(2)O VMR smaller than 30 ppbv (>similar to 21 km) in the SH, the differences between the ILAS-II and SMR N(2)O are within +/- 10 ppbv. For ILAS-II CH(4) VMR larger than 1 ppmv (similar to 30 km) and the ILAS-II CH(4) for its VMR smaller than 1 ppmv (>similar to 25 km) only in the NH, are abnormally small compared to the balloon/satellite data.
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