Sunlight effects on the 3D polar current system determined from low Earth orbit measurements

TL;DR

This study uses satellite magnetic measurements to analyze the global polar current system, revealing how sunlight influences Birkeland and horizontal ionospheric currents and their interactions.

Contribution

It provides the first combined estimates of Birkeland and horizontal currents from the same satellite data, accounting for sunlight conditions and Earth's magnetic field variations.

Findings

Birkeland currents vary with solar EUV and particle precipitation.

Horizontal currents form two cells resembling ionospheric convection.

Total horizontal current approaches zero in the polar cap during darkness.

Abstract

Interaction between the solar wind and the Earth's magnetosphere is associated with large-scale currents in the ionosphere at polar latitudes that flow along magnetic field lines (Birkeland currents) and horizontally. These current systems are tightly linked, but their global behaviors are rarely analyzed together. In this paper, we present estimates of the average global Birkeland currents and horizontal ionospheric currents from the same set of magnetic field measurements. The magnetic field measurements, from the low Earth orbiting $\textit{Swarm}$ and CHAMP satellites, are used to co-estimate poloidal and toroidal parts of the magnetic disturbance field, represented in magnetic apex coordinates. The use of apex coordinates reduces effects of longitudinal and hemispheric variations in the Earth's main field. We present global currents from both hemispheres during different sunlight conditions. The results show that the Birkeland currents vary with the conductivity, which depends most strongly on solar EUV emissions on the dayside and on particle precipitation at pre-midnight magnetic local times. In sunlight, the horizontal equivalent current flows in two cells, resembling an opposite ionospheric convection pattern, which implies that it is dominated by Hall currents. By combining the Birkeland current maps and the equivalent current, we are able to calculate the total horizontal current, without any assumptions about the conductivity. We show that the total horizontal current is close to zero in the polar cap when it is dark. That implies that the equivalent current, which is sensed by ground magnetometers, is largely canceled by the horizontal closure of the Birkeland currents.