• Journal of The Korean Astronomical Society
• /
• v.49 no.2
• /
• pp.59-64
• /
• 2016

In this study, we investigate the kinetic properties of magnetic decreases observed in the solar wind at ~1 AU using the Cluster observations. We study two different magnetic decreases: one with a short observation duration of ~2.5 minutes and stable structure and the other with a longer observation duration of ~40 minutes and some fluctuations and substructures. Despite the contrast in durations and magnetic structures, the velocity space distributions of ions are similar in both events. The velocity space distribution becomes more anisotropic along the direction parallel to the magnetic field, which differs from observations obtained at high heliographic latitudes. On the other hand, electrons show different features from the ions. The core component of the electrons shows similar anisotropy to the ions, though the anisotropy is much weaker. However, while ions are heated in the magnetic decreases, the core electrons are slightly cooled, especially in the perpendicular direction. The halo component does not change much in the magnetic decreases from the ambient solar wind. The strahl component is observed only in one of the magnetic decreases. The results imply that the ions and electrons in the magnetic decreases can behave differently, which should be considered for the formation mechanism of the magnetic decreases.

• Journal of Astronomy and Space Sciences
• /
• v.27 no.4
• /
• pp.329-335
• /
• 2010

We investigate the sources of the variation of the high-latitude thermospheric neutral mass density depending on the interplanetary magnetic field (IMF) conditions. For this purpose, we have carried out the National Center for Atmospheric Research Thermosphere-Ionosphere Electrodynamics General Circulation Model (NCAR-TIEGCM) simulations for various IMF conditions under summer condition in the southern hemisphere. The NCAR-TIEGCM is combined with a new empirical model that provides a forcing to the thermosphere in high latitudes. The difference of the high-latitude thermospheric neutral mass density (subtraction of the values for zero IMF condition from the values for non-zero IMF conditions) shows a dependence on the IMF condition: For negative $B_y$ condition, there are significantly enhanced difference densities in the dusk sector and around midnight. Under the positive-$B_y$ condition, there is a decrease in the early morning hours including the dawn side poleward of $-70^{\circ}$. For negative $B_z$, the difference of the thermospheric densities shows a strong enhancement in the cusp region and around midnight, but decreases in the dawn sector. In the dusk sector, those values are relatively larger than those in the dawn sector. The density difference under positive-$B_z$ condition shows decreases generally. The density difference is more significant under negative-$B_z$ condition than under positive-$B_z$ condition. The dependence of the density difference on the IMF conditions in high latitudes, especially, in the dawn and dusk sectors can be explained by the effect of thermospheric winds that are associated with the ionospheric convection and vary following the direction of the IMF. In auroral and cusp regions, heating of thermosphere by ionospheric currents and/or auroral particle precipitation can be also the source of the dependence of the density difference on the IMF conditions.

• Journal of Astronomy and Space Sciences
• /
• v.25 no.2
• /
• pp.129-138
• /
• 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 Korean Astronomical Society
• /
• v.36 no.spc1
• /
• pp.101-107
• /
• 2003

The magnetosphere is often perturbed by impulsive input such as interplanetary shocks and solar wind discontinuities. We study how these initial perturbations are propagating within the magnetosphere over various latitude regions by adopting a three-dimensional numerical dipole model. We examine the wave propagation on a meridional plane in a time-dependent manner and compare the numerical results with multi-satellite and ground observations. The dipole model is used to represent the plasmasphere and magnetosphere with a realistic Alfven speed profile. It is found that the effects of refraction, which result from magnetic field curvature and inhomogeneous Alfven speed, are' found to become important near the plasmapause. Our results show that, when the disturbances are assumed at the subsolar point of the dayside magnetosphere, the travel time becomes smaller to the polar ionosphere compared to the equatorial ionosphere.

• International Union of Geodesy and Geophysics Korean Journal of Geophysical Research
• /
• v.23 no.1
• /
• pp.12-17
• /
• 1995

Space explorations by spacecraft have detected the solar wind and the interplanetary magnetic field (IMF), whose existences had been suggested to explain the narrow comet plasma tail formation before the space age. Thereafter, a global magnetic structure seperating the opposite polarity regions of IMF in the heliosphere was discovered (Wilcox and Ness, 1965). It is called helispheric current sheet (HCS). Comets have been proved as the useful heliospheric probes. Recently, another capability of comet as a probe of HCS was suggested by Yi (1994). In the process of comet plasma tail disconnection events (EDs) showing the ray folding and main tail severance between the folding rays (Brandt, 1982), the folding rays preceding DE might be the visualization of HCS draped around comet, In order to test this new idea, the association of comet Halley 16 DEs with comet crossings of HCS confirmed by spacecraft observations at the time of comet Halley apparition 1985~1986 was investigated.

• The Bulletin of The Korean Astronomical Society
• /
• v.37 no.2
• /
• pp.126.1-126.1
• /
• 2012

The middle-latitude ionization trough, the plasma density depletion in the subauroral region, has been extensively studied since its discovery in the 1960s. Our knowledge of the variability of the trough is mostly based on the observations in the northern hemisphere. Recently, the COSMIC observations enabled the investigation of the trough in both hemispheres at all local time. However, the investigation was limited to the period of the low solar activity. In this study, we investigate the variability of the trough location and morphology with local time, solar cycle, magnetic activity, and interplanetary magnetic field. For this purpose, we analyze the DMSP F15 data acquired during 2000-2010.

• The Bulletin of The Korean Astronomical Society
• /
• v.42 no.2
• /
• pp.62.3-63
• /
• 2017

The Mars Atmosphere and Volatile (MAVEN) mission has been providing valuable information on the atmospheric loss of Mars since its launch in November 2013. The Neutral Gass and Ion Mass Spectrometer (NGIMS) onboard MAVEN, was developed to analyze the composition of the Martian upper atmospheric neutrals and ions depending on various space weather conditions. We investigate a variation of upper atmospheric ion densities depending on the interplanetary coronal mass ejections (ICMEs). It is known that the Mars has a very weak global magnetic field, so upper atmosphere of Mars has been strongly affected by the solar activities. Meanwhile, a strong crustal magnetic field exists on local surfaces, so they also have a compensating effect on the upper atmospheric loss outside the Mars. The weak crustal field has an influence up to 200km altitude, but on a strong field region, especially east longitude of $180^{\circ}$ and latitude of $-50^{\circ}$, they have an influence over 1,400km altitude. In this paper, we investigated which is more dominant between the crustal field effect and the ICME effect to the atmospheric loss. At 400km altitude, the ion density over the strong crustal field region did not show a significant variation despite of ICME event. However, over the other areas, the variation associated with ICME event is far more overwhelming.

• Journal of Astronomy and Space Sciences
• /
• v.34 no.4
• /
• pp.237-244
• /
• 2017

Magnetic flux ropes, often observed during intervals of interplanetary coronal mass ejections, have long been recognized to be critical in space weather. In this work, we focus on magnetic flux rope structure but on a much smaller scale, and not necessarily related to interplanetary coronal mass ejections. Using near-Earth solar wind advanced composition explorer (ACE) observations from 1998 to 2016, we identified a total of 309 small-scale magnetic flux ropes (SMFRs). We compared the characteristics of identified SMFR events with those of normal magnetic cloud (MC) events available from the existing literature. First, most of the MCs and SMFRs have similar values of accompanying solar wind speed and proton densities. However, the average magnetic field intensity of SMFRs is weaker (~7.4 nT) than that of MCs (~10.6 nT). Also, the average duration time and expansion speed of SMFRs are ~2.5 hr and 2.6 km/s, respectively, both of which are smaller by a factor of ~10 than those of MCs. In addition, we examined the geoeffectiveness of SMFR events by checking their correlation with magnetic storms and substorms. Based on the criteria Sym-H < -50 nT (for identification of storm occurrence) and AL < -200 nT (for identification of substorm occurrence), we found that for 88 SMFR events (corresponding to 28.5 % of the total SMFR events), substorms occurred after the impact of SMFRs, implying a possible triggering of substorms by SMFRs. In contrast, we found only two SMFRs that triggered storms. We emphasize that, based on a much larger database than used in previous studies, all these previously known features are now firmly confirmed by the current work. Accordingly, the results emphasize the significance of SMFRs from the viewpoint of possible triggering of substorms.

• The Bulletin of The Korean Astronomical Society
• /
• v.35 no.1
• /
• pp.34.2-34.2
• /
• 2010

Cosmic rays registered by Neutron Monitors on the surface of the Earth are believed to be coming from outer space, and sometimes also from the exotic objects of the Sun. Ground level enhancement (GLE) is the sudden, sharp and short-lived increase in cosmic rays originated from the Sun. Since GLE is the signature in solar cosmic ray intensity, different solar factors erupted from the Sun can be responsible for causing it. In this context, an attempt has been made to determine quantitative relationships of GLEs > 5% with simultaneous solar, interplanetary and geophysical factors from 1997 through 2006 thereby searching the perpetrators which seem to be causing them. The study has revealed that solar flares are stronger ($0.71{\times}10-4$ w/m2) during GLE peaks than the solar flares ($1.10{\times}10-5$ w/m2) during GLE non-peaks and backgrounds. On the average, the solar wind plasma velocity and interplanetary magnetic field are found stronger during the GLE peaks than the GLE non-peaks and backgrounds indicating that the solar flares, in conjunction with interplanetary shocks, sometimes may cause GLE peaks. Direct proportionality of GLE peaks to simultaneous solar energetic particle (SEP) fluxes imply that the GLE peaks may often be caused by SEP fluxes. Although the high intensity of SEP fluxes are also seen extended few minutes even after GLE peaks, the mean (373.62 MeV) of the GLE associated SEP fluxes is much stronger than the mean (10.35 MeV) of the non-GLE associated SEP fluxes. Evidences are also supported by corresponding SEP fluences that the the mean fluence (${\sim}5.32{\times}107/cm2$) across GLE event was more intense than the mean fluence (${\sim}2.53{\times}106/cm2$) of SEP fluxes across non-GLE event.

• Bulletin of the Korean Space Science Society
• /
• 2008.10a
• /
• pp.25.2-25.2
• /
• 2008

Polar rain is a spatially uniform precipitation of electrons with energies around 100eV that penetrate into the polar cap region where geomagnetic field lines are connected to the Interplanetary Magnetic Fields (IMF). Since their occurrences depend on the IMF sector polarity, they are believed to originate from the field aligned component of the solar wind. However, statistically direct correlation between polar rain and solar wind has not been shown. In this presentation, we examined specifically the IMF strength influence on the polar rain flux variation by classifying of IMF sector polarities. For this study, we employed the polar rain flux data measured by STSAT-1 and compared them with the solar wind parameters obtained from the WIND and ACE satellites. We found the direct mutuality between polar rain flux and IMF strength with correlation coefficient above 0.5. This proportional tendency appears stronger when the northern hemisphere is in the away sector of the IMF, which could be associated with a favorable geometry for magnetic reconnection. Simple particle trajectory simulation clearly shows why polar rain intensity depends on the IMF sector polarity. These results are consistent with the direct entry model of Fairfield et al.(1985), while low correlation coefficient with solar wind density, the similarity between slops of both energy spectra shows that transport process occur without acceleration.