Dawn-dusk asymmetries in the coupled solar wind-magnetosphere-ionosphere system: a review

TL;DR

This review summarizes current understanding of dawn-dusk asymmetries in the Earth's magnetosphere-ionosphere system, highlighting external influences, internal properties, and feedback mechanisms, while identifying gaps in knowledge.

Contribution

It provides a comprehensive synthesis of recent research on dawn-dusk asymmetries, emphasizing key aspects and highlighting areas needing further investigation.

Findings

Persistent asymmetries in plasma structures across geospace

Influence of solar wind interactions on asymmetries

Identified gaps in current understanding

Abstract

Dawn-dusk asymmetries are ubiquitous features of the coupled solar-wind-magnetosphere-ionosphere system. During the last decades, increasing availability of satellite and ground-based measurements has made it possible to study these phenomena in more detail. Numerous publications have documented the existence of persistent asymmetries in processes, properties and topology of plasma structures in various regions of geospace. In this paper, we present a review of our present knowledge of some of the most pronounced dawn-dusk asymmetries. We focus on four key aspects: (1) the role of external influences such as the solar wind and its interaction with the Earth's magnetosphere; (2) properties of the magnetosphere itself; (3) the role of the ionosphere and (4) feedback and coupling between regions. We have also identified potential inconsistencies and gaps in our understanding of dawn-dusk asymmetries in the Earth's magnetosphere and ionosphere.