• Journal of Astronomy and Space Sciences
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• v.25 no.2
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• pp.129-138
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• 2008

This study attempts to show how the geomagnetic indices, AU, AL and Dst, respond to the interplanetary parameters, more specifically, the solar wind electric field VBz during southward interplanetary magnetic field (IMF) period. The AU index does not seem to respond linearly to the variation of southward IMF. Only a noticeable correlation between the AU and VBz is shown during summer, when the ionospheric conductivity associated with the solar EUV radiation is high. It is highly likely that the effect of electric field on the eastward electrojet intensification is only noticeable whenever the ionospheric conductivity is significantly enhanced during summer. Thus, one should be very cautious in employing the AU as a convection index during other seasons. The AL index shows a significantly high correlation with VBz regardless of season. Considering that the auroral electrojet is the combined result of electric field and ionospheric conductivity, the intensification of these two quantities seems to occur concurrently during southward IMF period. This suggests that the AL index behaves more like a convection index rather than a substorm index as far as hourly mean AL index is concerned. Contrary to the AU index, the AL index does not register the maximum value during summer for a given level of VBz. It has something to do with the findings that discrete auroras are suppressed in sunlight hemisphere (Newell et al. 1996), thus reducing the ionospheric conductivity during summer. As expected, the Dst index tends to become more negative as VBz gets intensified. However, the Dst index (nT) is less than or equal to 15VBz(mV/m) + 50(Bz < 0). It indicates that VBz determines the lower limit of the storm size, while another factor(s), possibly substorm, seems to get further involved in intensifying storms. Although it has not been examined in this study, the duration of southward IMF would also be a factor to be considered in determining the size of a storm.

• Journal of the Korea Institute of Information and Communication Engineering
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• v.19 no.11
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• pp.2562-2568
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• 2015

This paper proposes a detection method for irregularity of ionospheric delay in network RTK (Real Time Kinematic) Environment. The linearity of network RTK correction provided to user can't be assured when a characteristic of temporal-spatial of ionospheric delay is rapidly changed due to geomagnetic storm or solar flare. Therefore, incorrect ambiguity can be resolved and positioning error can be increased. A detection method for irregularity of ionospheric delay is needed to provide reliable correction. In this paper, index to detect irregularity of ionospheric delay is calculated from dispersive corrections and occurrence of irregularity is judged by comparing index and thresholds.

• Bulletin of the Korean Space Science Society
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• 2011.04a
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• pp.26.3-27
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• 2011

Formation of a steep plasma density gradient in the middle-latitude ionosphere during geomagnetic storms and the latitudinal migration of its location depending on the storm phase are suggested to be associated with the ionospheric signature of the plasmapause. We test this idea by using the satellite and ground observation data during the 11 April 2001 storm. The locations of the steep plasma density gradient identified by TOPEX/Poseidon (2001 LT) and DMSP (1800 and 2130 LT) satellites coincide with the ionospheric footprints of the plasmapause identified by the IMAGE satellite. This observation may support the dependence of the middle-latitude plasma density gradient location on the plasmapause motion, but does not explain why the steep density gradient whose morphology is largely different from the morphology of the middle-latitude ionization trough during quiet period is formed in association with the plasmapause. The ionospheric disturbances in the total electron content (TEC) maps shows that the steep TEC gradient is formed at the boundary of the positive ionospheric storm in low-middle latitudes and the negative ionospheric storm in middle-high latitudes. We interpret that the thermospheric neutral composition disturbance in the dayside is confined within the middle-high latitude ionospheric convection zone. The neutral composition latitudes and, therefore, the locations of the steep plasma density gradient coincide with the footprints of the plasmapause. The TEC maps show that the appearance of the steep plasma density gradient in the pre-midnight sector during the recovery phase is related to the co-rotation of the gradient that is created during the main phase.

• Journal of Astronomy and Space Sciences
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• v.39 no.4
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• pp.145-158
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• 2022

The dynamics of the outer zone radiation belt has received a lot of attention mainly due to the correlation between the occurrence of enhancing relativistic electron flux and spacecraft operation anomalies or even failures (e.g., Baker et al. 1994). Relativistic electron events are often observed during great storms associated with ultra low frequency (ULF) waves. For example, a large buildup of relativistic electrons was observed during the great storm of March 24, 1991 (e.g., Li et al. 1993; Hudson et al. 1995; Mann et al. 2013). However, the dominant processes which accelerate magnetospheric radiation belt electrons to MeV energies are not well understood. In this paper, we present observations of Pc5 ULF waves in the recovery phase of the Bastille day storm of July 16, 2000 and electron and proton flux simultaneously oscillating with the same frequencies as the waves. The mechanism for the observed electron and proton flux modulations is examined using ground-based and satellite observations. During this storm time, multiple packets of discrete frequency Pc5 ULF waves appeared associated with energetic particle flux oscillations. We model the drift paths of electrons and protons to determine if the particles drift through the ULF wave to understand why some particle fluxes are modulated by the ULF waves and others are not. We also analyze the flux oscillations of electrons and protons as a function of energy to determine if the particle modulations are caused by a ULF wave drift resonance or advection of a particle density gradient. We suggest that the energetic electron and proton modulations by Pc5 ULF waves provide further evidence in support of the important role that ULF waves play in outer radiation belt dyanamics during storm times.

• Journal of Astronomy and Space Sciences
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• v.20 no.2
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• pp.109-122
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• 2003

To examine the causal relationship between geomagnetic storm and substorm, we investigate the correlation between dispersionless particle injection rate of proton flux observed from geosynchronous satellites, which is known to be a typical indicator of the substorm expansion activity, and Dst index during magnetic storms. We utilize geomagnetic storms occurred during the period of 1996 ~ 2000 and categorize them into three classes in terms of the minimum value of the Dst index ($Dst_{min}$); intense ($-200nT{$\leq$}Dst_{min}{$\leq$}-100nT$), moderate($-100nT{\leq}Dst_{min}{\leq}-50nT$), and small ($-50nT{\leq}Dst_{min}{\leq}-30nT$) -30nT)storms. We use the proton flux of the energy range from 50 keV to 670 keV, the major constituents of the ring current particles, observed from the LANL geosynchronous satellites located within the local time sector from 18:00 MLT to 04:00 MLT. We also examine the flux ratio ($f_{max}/f_{ave}$) to estimate particle energy injection rate into the inner magnetosphere, with $f_{ave}$ and $f_{max}$ being the flux levels during quiet and onset levels, respectively. The total energy injection rate into the inner magnetosphere can not be estimated from particle measurements by one or two satellites. However, the total energy injection rate should be at least proportional to the flux ratio and the injection frequency. Thus we propose a quantity, “total energy injection parameter (TEIP)”, defined by the product of the flux ratio and the injection frequency as an indicator of the injected energy into the inner magnetosphere. To investigate the phase dependence of the substorm contribution to the development of magnetic storm, we examine the correlations during the two intervals, main and recovery phase of storm separately. Several interesting tendencies are noted particularly during the main phase of storm. First, the average particle injection frequency tends to increase with the storm size with the correlation coefficient being 0.83. Second, the flux ratio ($f_{max}/f_{ave}$) tends to be higher during large storms. The correlation coefficient between $Dst_{min}$ and the flux ratio is generally high, for example, 0.74 for the 75~113 keV energy channel. Third, it is also worth mentioning that there is a high correlation between the TEIP and $Dst_{min}$ with the highest coefficient (0.80) being recorded for the energy channel of 75~113 keV, the typical particle energies of the ring current belt. Fourth, the particle injection during the recovery phase tends to make the storms longer. It is particularly the case for intense storms. These characteristics observed during the main phase of the magnetic storm indicate that substorm expansion activity is closely associated with the development of mangetic storm.

• Bulletin of the Korean Space Science Society
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• 2008.10a
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• pp.24.1-24.1
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• 2008

We examine the eccentricity parameter (EP) of Coronal Mass Ejections (CMEs). For this, we select 298 front-side CMEs from SOHO LASCO CMEs whose speed is larger than 1000km/s and angular width is greater than $120^{\circ}$ during from 1997 to 2007. These are thought to be the most plausible candidate of geoeffective CMEs. We examine the relation between CMEs eccentricity parameter and the minimum value of the Dst index. We find that strong geomagnetic storms (Dst < -200nT) are well correlated with the EP from the scattered plot. We also find that CMEs have high geoeffectiveness when they occurred near the center of the solar disk with the small EP and they have the small speed with the small EP. These results indicate that the CME EP also can be an important indicator to forecast CME geoeffectiveness such as Earthward direction parameter (Moon et al. 2005, Kim et al. 2008).

• Bulletin of the Korean Space Science Society
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• 2008.10a
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• pp.31.1-31.1
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• 2008

While some observations in the geomagnetic tail region supported electrons could be accelerated by reconnection processes, we still need more observation data to confirm electron acceleration in this region. Because most acceleration processes accompany strong pitch angle diffusion, if the electrons were accelerated in this region, strong energetic electron precipitation should be observed near earth on aurora oval. Even though there are several low altitude satellites observing electron precipitation, intense and small scale precipitation events have not been identified successfully. In this presentation, we will show an observation of strong energetic electron precipitation that might be analyzed by relativistic electron acceleration in the confined region. This event was observed by low altitude Korean STSAT-1, where intense several hundred keV electron precipitation was seen simultaneously with 10 keV electrons during storm time. In addition, we observed large magnetic field fluctuations and an ionospheric plasma depletion with FUV aurora emissions. Our observation implies relativistic electrons can be generated in the small area where Fermi acceleration might work.

• Journal of Astronomy and Space Sciences
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• v.21 no.4
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• pp.303-314
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• 2004

In this paper we report some properties of inner magnetospheric structure inferred from the T01_s code, one of the latest magnetospheric models by Tsyganenko. We have constructed three average storms representing moderate, strong, and severe intensity storms using 95 actual storms. The three storms are then modelled by the T01_s code to examine differences in magnetic structure among them. We find that the magnetic structure of intense storms is strikingly different from the normal structure. First, when the storm intensity is large, the field lines anchored at dayside longitudinal sectors become warped tailward to align to the solar wind direction. This is particularly so for the field lines anchored at the longitudinal sectors from postnoon through dusk. Also while for the moderate storm the equatorial magnetic field near geosynchronous altitude is found to be weakest near midnight sector, this depression region expands into even late afternoon sector during the severe storm. Accordingly the field line curvature radius at the equator in the premidnight geosynchronous region becomes unusually small, reaching down to a value less than 500 km. We attribute this strong depression and the dawn-dusk asymmetry to the combined effect from the enhanced tail current and the westward expansion/rotation of the partial ring current.

• Journal of Astronomy and Space Sciences
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• v.29 no.3
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• pp.259-267
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• 2012

Polar cap potential has long been considered as an indicator for the amount of energy flowing in the magnetosphere-ionosphere system. Thus, the estimation of polar cap potential is important to understand the physical process of the magnetosphere. To estimate the polar cap potential in the Northern Hemisphere, merging electric field by Kan & Lee (1979) is adopted. Relationships between the PC index and calculated merging electric field ($E^*$) are examined during full-time and storm-time periods separately. For this purpose Dst, AL, and PC indices and solar wind data are utilized during the period from 1996-2003. From this linear relationship, polar cap potential (${\Phi}^*$) is estimated using the formula by Doyle & Burke (1983). The values are represented as $58.1{\pm}26.9$ kV for the full-time period and $123.7{\pm}84.1$ kV for a storm-time period separately. Considering that the average value of polar cap potential of Doyle & Burke (1983) is about 47 kV during moderately quiet intervals with the S3-2 measurements, these results are similar to such. The monthly averaged variation of Dst, AL, and PC indices are then compared. The Dst and AL indices show distinct characteristics with peaks during equinoctial season whereas the average PC index according to the month shows higher values in autumn than in spring. The monthly variations of the linear correlation coefficients between solar wind parameters and geomagnetic indices are also examined. The PC-AL linear correlation coefficient is highest, being 0.82 with peaks during the equinoctial season. As with the AL index, the PC index may also prove useful for predicting the intensity of an auroral substorm. Generally, the linear correlation coefficients are shown low in summer due to conductance differences and other factors. To assess the role of the PC index during the recovery phase of a storm, the relation between the cumulative PC index and the duration is examined. Although the correlation coefficient lowers with the storm size, it is clear that the average correlation coefficient is high. There is a tendency that duration of the recovery phase is longer as the PC index increases.

• Journal of The Korean Astronomical Society
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• v.36 no.spc1
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• pp.93-99
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• 2003

Various attempts have been made to explain the: pronounced seasonal and universal time (UT) variations of geomagnetic indices. As one of such attempts, we analyze the hourly-averaged auroral electroject indices obtained during the past 20 years. The AU and AL indices maximize during summer and equinoctial months, respectively. By normalizing the contribution of the solar conductivity enhancement to the AU index, or to the eastward electrojet, it is found that the AU also follows the same semiannual variation pattern of the AL index, suggesting that the electric field is the main modulator of the semiannual magnetic variation. The fact that the variation pattern of the yearly-mean AU index follows the mirror image of the AL index provides another indication that the electric field is the main modulator of magnetic disturbance. The pronounced UT variations of the auroral electrojet indices are also noted. To determine the magnetic activity dependence, the probability of recording a given activity level of AU and AL during each UT is examined. The UT variation of the AL index, thus obtained, shows a maximum at around 1200-1800 UT and a minimum around 0000-0800 UT particularly during winter. It is closely associated with the rotation of the geomagnetic pole around the rotational axis, which results in the change of the solar-originated ionospheric conductivity distribution over the polar region. On the other hand the UT variation is prominent during disturbed periods, indicating that the latitudinal mismatch between the AE stations and the auroral electrojet belt is responsible for it. Although not as prominent as the AL index, the probability distribution of the AU also shows two UT peaks. We confirm that the Dst index shows more prominent seasonal variation than the AE indices. However, the UT variation of the Dst index is only noticeable during the main phase of a magnetic storm. It is a combined result of the uneven distribution of the Dst stations and frequent developments of the partial ring current and substorm wedge current preferentially during the main phase.