| 1. |
- Andrews, David J., et al.
(författare)
-
Planetary period oscillations in Saturn's magnetosphere : Evolution of magnetic oscillation properties from southern summer to post-equinox
- 2012
-
Ingår i: Journal of Geophysical Research. - 0148-0227 .- 2156-2202. ; 117, s. A04224-
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- We investigate the evolution of the properties of planetary period magnetic field oscillations observed by the Cassini spacecraft in Saturn's magnetosphere over the interval from late 2004 to early 2011, spanning equinox in mid-2009. Oscillations within the inner quasi-dipolar region (L <= 12) consist of two components of close but distinct periods, corresponding essentially to the periods of the northern and southern Saturn kilometric radiation (SKR) modulations. These give rise to modulations of the combined amplitude and phase at the beat period of the two oscillations, from which the individual oscillation amplitudes and phases (and hence periods) can be determined. Phases are also determined from northern and southern polar oscillation data when available. Results indicate that the southern-period amplitude declines modestly over this interval, while the northern-period amplitude approximately doubles to become comparable with the southern-period oscillations during the equinox interval, producing clear effects in pass-to-pass oscillation properties. It is also shown that the periods of the two oscillations strongly converge over the equinox interval, such that the beat period increases significantly from similar to 20 to more than 100 days, but that they do not coalesce or cross during the interval investigated, contrary to recent reports of the behavior of the SKR periods. Examination of polar oscillation data for similar beat phase effects yields a null result within a similar to 10% upper limit on the relative amplitude of northern-period oscillations in the south and vice versa. This result strongly suggests a polar origin for the two oscillation periods.
|
|
| 2. |
- Edberg, Niklas J. T., et al.
(författare)
-
Atmospheric erosion of Venus during stormy space weather
- 2011
-
Ingår i: Journal of Geophysical Research. - 0148-0227 .- 2156-2202. ; 116, s. A09308-
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- We study atmospheric escape from Venus during solar minimum conditions when 147 corotating interaction regions (CIRs) and interplanetary coronal mass ejections (ICMEs) combined impact on the planet. This is the largest study to date of the effects of stormy space weather on Venus and we show for the first time statistically that the atmosphere of Venus is significantly affected by CIRs and ICMEs. When such events impact on Venus, as observed by the ACE and Venus Express satellites, the escape rate of Venus's ionosphere is measured to increase by a factor of 1.9, on average, compared to quiet solar wind times. However, the increase in escape flux during impacts can occasionally be significantly larger by orders of magnitude. Taking into account the occurrence rate of such events we find that roughly half (51%) of the outflow occurs during stormy space weather. Furthermore, we particularly discuss the importance of the increased solar wind dynamic pressure as well as the polarity change of the interplanetary magnetic field (IMF) in terms of causing the increase escape rate. The IMF polarity change across a CIR/ICME could cause dayside magnetic reconnection processes to occur in the induced magnetosphere of Venus, which would add to the erosion through associated particle acceleration.
|
|
| 3. |
- Edberg, Niklas J. T., et al.
(författare)
-
Magnetosonic Mach number effect of the position of the bow shock at Mars in comparison to Venus
- 2010
-
Ingår i: Journal of Geophysical Research. - 0148-0227 .- 2156-2202. ; 115, s. A07203-
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- We study the effect of the magnetosonic Mach number on the position of the bow shock (BS) at Mars. The magnetosonic Mach number is calculated from solar wind data obtained by the ACE satellite upstream of Earth and extrapolated to Mars during two intervals, starting in 2005 and 2007, when Mars and Earth were close to opposition. An increased Mach number is observed to cause the Martian BS to move to lower altitudes and the variation in the terminator altitude is proportional to the Mach number change. When the Mach number is lowered, the BS flares more. We also compare our results to previous studies at Venus. The variation in BS altitude with magnetosonic Mach number is found to be very similar to the variation of the Venusian BS, which has previously been shown to decrease linearly in altitude with increasing Mach number.
|
|
| 4. |
- Edberg, Niklas, et al.
(författare)
-
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-
-
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.
|
|
| 5. |
- Farrugia, C. J., et al.
(författare)
-
"Crater" flux transfer events : Highroad to the X line?
- 2011
-
Ingår i: Journal of Geophysical Research. - : American Geophysical Union (AGU). - 0148-0227 .- 2156-2202. ; 116:2
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- We examine Cluster observations of a so-called magnetosphere "crater FTE," employing data from five instruments (FGM, CIS, EDI, EFW, and WHISPER), some at the highest resolution. The aim of doing this is to deepen our understanding of the reconnection nature of these events by applying recent advances in the theory of collisionless reconnection and in detailed observational work. Our data support the hypothesis of a stratified structure with regions which we show to be spatial structures. We support the bulge-like topology of the core region (R3) made up of plasma jetting transverse to reconnected field lines. We document encounters with a magnetic separatrix as a thin layer embedded in the region (R2) just outside the bulge, where the speed of the protons flowing approximately parallel to the field maximizes: (1) short (fraction of a sec) bursts of enhanced electric field strengths (up to similar to 30 mV/m) and (2) electrons flowing against the field toward the X line at approximately the same time as the bursts of intense electric fields. R2 also contains a density decrease concomitant with an enhanced magnetic field strength. At its interface with the core region, R3, electric field activity ceases abruptly. The accelerated plasma flow profile has a catenary shape consisting of beams parallel to the field in R2 close to the R2/R3 boundary and slower jets moving across the magnetic field within the bulge region. We detail commonalities our observations of crater FTEs have with reconnection structures in other scenarios. We suggest that in view of these properties and their frequency of occurrence, crater FTEs are ideal places to study processes at the separatrices, key regions in magnetic reconnection. This is a good preparation for the MMS mission.
|
|
| 6. |
- Ågren, Karin, et al.
(författare)
-
Detection of currents and associated electric fields in Titan's ionosphere from Cassini data
- 2011
-
Ingår i: Journal of Geophysical Research. - 0148-0227 .- 2156-2202. ; 116:4, s. A04313-
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- We present observations from three Cassini flybys of Titan using data from the radio and plasma wave science, magnetometer and plasma spectrometer instruments. We combine magnetic field and cold plasma measurements with calculated conductivities and conclude that there are currents of the order of 10 to 100 nA m (2) flowing in the ionosphere of Titan. The currents below the exobase (similar to 1400 km) are principally field parallel and Hall in nature, while the Pedersen current is negligible in comparison. Associated with the currents are perpendicular electric fields ranging from 0.5 to 3 mu V m (1).
|
|
