The impact of recent observations on theoretical understanding of solar wind-magnetosphere interactions.

Recent observations in the vicinity of the dayside magnetopause have led to much new information concerning the interactions between magnetosheath and magnetospheric plasma which lead to large-scale magnetospheric convection. In this paper the boundary observations are reviewed, and compared both with theoretical suggestions and with requirements imposed by measurements of the total transpolar voltage at low altitudes. It is concluded that (a) magnetic reconnection probably plays a dominant role in driving convection when IMF Bz is negative, the limited observational evidence being consistent with reconnection-associated phenomena generating voltages of several tens of kV as required by the low altitude observations; (b) when IMF Bz is positive, boundary processes appear to be compatible with generating -10-20kV background voltages as also observed at low altitudes, though the nature of the boundary interaction process remains unclear, and (c) recent observations at low altitudes in the vicinity of the dayside cusp contain evidence for impulsive phenomena occurring at the dayside magnetopause boundary, which are consistent with expectations based on reconnection-associated flux transfer events as opposed to the “impulsive penetration” picture.

[1]  S. Cowley.  Solar wind control of magnetospheric convection , 1984 .

[2]  M. Lockwood,et al.  A survey of simultaneous observations of the high-latitude ionosphere and interplanetary magnetic field with EISCAT and AMPTE-UKS , 1986 .

[3]  C. Russell,et al.  The distribution of reconnection geometry in flux transfer events using energetic ion, plasma and magnetic data. [on dayside magnetopause] , 1984 .

[4]  J. Scudder.  Fluid signatures of rotational discontinuities at the Earth's magnetopause , 1984 .

[5]  J. Dungey.  Interplanetary Magnetic Field and the Auroral Zones , 1961 .

[6]  R. W. Spiro,et al.  Dependence of polar cap potential drop on interplanetary parameters , 1981 .

[7]  P. Reiff,et al.  Upward electron beams measured by DE-1: A primary source of dayside region-1 Birkeland currents , 1983 .

[8]  W. P. Olson,et al.  The entry of AMPTE lithium ions into a magnetically closed magnetosphere , 1984 .

[9]  E. W. Hones,et al.  Structure of the low‐latitude boundary layer , 1980 .

[10]  W. Heikkila.  Impulsive plasma transport through the magnetopause , 1982 .

[11]  C. Russell,et al.  Observations of reverse polarity flux transfer events at the Earth's dayside magnetopause , 1982, Nature.

[12]  Nancy U. Crooker,et al.  Dayside merging and cusp geometry , 1979 .

[13]  F. Mozer,et al.  Comparison of S3-3 polar cap potential drops with the interplanetary magnetic field and models of magnetopause reconnection , 1983 .

[14]  Christopher T. Russell,et al.  Flux transfer events: Scale size and interior structure , 1984 .

[15]  J. Scudder,et al.  Observations of electron beams in the low-latitude boundary layer , 1984 .

[16]  W. J. Burke,et al.  S3‐2 measurements of the polar cap potential , 1983 .

[17]  C. Russell,et al.  On the source region of flux transfer events. [in interplanetary magnetic fields] , 1985 .

[18]  M. Kivelson,et al.  The Kelvin-Helmholtz instability on the magnetopause , 1984 .

[19]  K. Glassmeier,et al.  Observations of a possible ground signature of flux transfer events , 1985 .

[20]  E. Dubinin,et al.  Solar wind energy transfer regions inside the dayside magnetopause. I: Evidence for magnetosheath plasma penetration , 1984 .

[21]  M. Saunders,et al.  Interpretation of magnetic field perturbations in the earth's magnetopause boundary layers , 1983 .

[22]  N. Maynard,et al.  Electric field measurements at the magnetopause: 1. Observation of large convective velocities at rotational magnetopause discontinuities , 1983 .

[23]  R. Lundin.  Solar wind energy transfer regions inside the dayside magnetopause. II: Evidence for an MHD generator process , 1984 .

[24]  E. W. Hones,et al.  Reverse draping of magnetic field lines in the boundary layer , 1982 .

[25]  David J. Southwood,et al.  Theoretical aspects of ionosphere-magnetosphere-solar wind coupling , 1985 .

[26]  G. Sofko,et al.  The August 28, 1978, storm: 1. GEOS 2 observations of the initial magnetopause crossings and STARE observations near the ionospheric convection reversal , 1985 .

[27]  Christopher T. Russell,et al.  ISEE observations of flux transfer events at the dayside magnetopause , 1979 .

[28]  B. Tsurutani,et al.  Diffusion processes in the magnetopause boundary layer , 1982 .

[29]  J. Lemaire.  Impulsive penetration of filamentary plasma elements into the magnetospheres of the Earth and Jupiter , 1977 .

[30]  Christopher T. Russell,et al.  Initial ISEE magnetometer results - Magnetopause observations , 1978 .

[31]  S. Cowley.  Magnetospheric and ionospheric flow and the interplanetary magnetic field , 1981 .

[32]  F. Mozer.  Electric field evidence on the viscous interaction at the magnetopause , 1984 .

[33]  Christopher T. Russell,et al.  A survey of dayside flux transfer events observed by ISEE 1 and 2 magnetometers , 1984 .

[34]  N. Sckopke,et al.  The magnetopause as a tangential discontinuity for large field rotation angles , 1984 .

[35]  S. Cowley.  The causes of convection in the Earth's magnetosphere: A review of developments during the IMS , 1982 .

[36]  K. Schindler.  On the role of irregularities in plasma entry into the magnetosphere , 1979 .

[37]  C. Russell,et al.  ISEE observations of the magnetopause: Reconnection and the energy balance , 1985 .

[38]  M. Rycroft,et al.  Control of impulsive penetration of solar wind irregularities into the magnetosphere by the interplanetary magnetic field direction , 1979 .

[39]  I. Papamastorakis,et al.  Plasma and magnetic field characteristics of magnetic flux transfer events , 1982 .

[40]  C. Russell,et al.  Evidence for quasi-stationary reconnection at the dayside magnetopause , 1982 .

[41]  Stanley W. H. Cowley,et al.  Initial EISCAT observations of plasma convection at invariant latitudes 70°–77° , 1984 .

[42]  T. Eastman,et al.  Energetic Particle Observations in the Low‐Latitude Boundary Layer , 1985 .

[43]  I. Papamastorakis,et al.  Evidence for magnetic field reconnection at the Earth's magnetopause , 1981 .

[44]  J. Scudder,et al.  Observation of plasma deceleration at a rotational magnetopause discontinuity , 1984 .

[45]  H. Rishbeth,et al.  Ionospheric response to changes in the interplanetary magnetic field observed by EISCAT and AMPTE–UKS , 1985, Nature.

[46]  E. W. Hones,et al.  Characteristics of the magnetospheric boundary layer and magnetopause layer as observed by Imp 6 , 1979 .

[47]  D. Southwood,et al.  Some properties of a steady‐state geomagnetic tail , 1980 .

[48]  C. Russell,et al.  Patterns of potential magnetic field merging sites on the dayside magnetopause , 1984 .

[49]  G. Paschmann,et al.  ISEE plasma observations near the subsolar magnetopause , 1978 .

[50]  R. Gendrin.  Magnetic turbulence and diffusion processes in the magnetopause boundary layer , 1983 .

[51]  Christopher T. Russell,et al.  Flux transfer events on the magnetopause: Spatial distribution and controlling factors , 1984 .

[52]  A. Miura.  Anomalous transport by magnetohydrodynamic Kelvin‐Helmholtz instabilities in the solar wind‐magnetosphere interaction , 1984 .

[53]  N. Crooker.  The half‐wave rectifier response of the magnetosphere and antiparallel merging , 1980 .

[54]  E. Nielsen.  Observations of sunward propagating waves on the magnetopause , 1984 .

[55]  Per Even Sandholt,et al.  Large‐ and small‐scale dynamics of the polar cusp , 1985 .