Birkeland current effects on high-latitude groundmagnetic field perturbations

TL;DR

This paper investigates how Birkeland currents influence high-latitude ground magnetic perturbations, revealing different current system dominance in sunlight versus darkness through combined ground and space observations.

Contribution

It provides a novel expression linking ground magnetic perturbations to Birkeland currents and distinguishes current system effects in different illumination conditions.

Findings

In darkness, magnetic perturbations align with Birkeland currents.

In sunlight, Hall currents dominate the magnetic perturbations.

Ground magnetic fields relate to different current systems based on sunlight exposure.

Abstract

Magnetic perturbations on ground at high latitudes are directly associated only with the divergence-free component of the height-integrated horizontal ionospheric current, $\textbf{J}_{\perp,df}$. Here we show how $\textbf{J}_{\perp,df}$ can be expressed as the total horizontal current $\textbf{J}_\perp$ minus its curl-free component, the latter being completely determined by the global Birkeland current pattern. Thus in regions where $\textbf{J}_\perp = 0$, the global Birkeland current distribution alone determines the local magnetic perturbation. We show with observations from ground and space that in the polar cap, the ground magnetic field perturbations tend to align with the Birkeland current contribution in darkness but not in sunlight. We also show that in sunlight, the magnetic perturbations are typically such that the equivalent overhead current is anti-parallel to the convection, indicating that the Hall current system dominates. Thus the ground magnetic field in the polar cap relates to different current systems in sunlight and in darkness.