Solar Wind — Magnetosphere Coupling

This monograph is the outgrowth of an AGU (American Geophysical Union) Chapman Conference on Solar Wind-Magnetosphere Coupling, and it contains most of the formal papers presented at the conference including the summary panel. The conference was held on February 12-15,1985 at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena, California, U.S.A. It was attended by over 150 scientists from most of the nations active in space research. The purpose of the conference was to bring together scientists from all areas of solar-terrestrial physics, both theoretical and experimental, in order to focus attention on the solar wind-magnetosphere coupling problem, to provide a timely forum for the exchange of ideas, and to promote interdisciplinary collaboration. The conference agenda consisted of eight sessions: six topical, one poster, and one summary. The topical sessions were "Solar Wind and Geomagnetic Activity," "AM PTE Mission," "Solar Wind and Polar Cusp," "Auroral Zone and Polar Cap," "Solar Wind and Magnetotail," and "Theoretical Modeling and Simulations." The conference concluded with a two-hour summary panel discussion which attempted to provide an assessment of the progress that has been made as well as underscore the problems, old and new, which remain unanswered. Sydney Chapman (1889-1970) was one of the early pioneers in the study of the influence of the sun and magnetosphere on the earth's upper atmosphere, and it was most appropriate that this conference be one in the AGU series named in his honor.

1. Geomagnetic Indices and Statistical Methods.- Merits and Limitations of the Use of Geomagnetic Indices in Solar Wind-Magnetosphere Coupling Studies.- Statistical Analyses in the Study of Solar Wind-Magnetosphere Coupling.- The Technique of Linear Prediction Filters Applied to Studies of Solar Wind-Magnetosphere Coupling.- Solar Wind Velocity Effects on the Auroral Zone Magnetic Disturbances.- Linear Filters as a Method of Real Time Prediction of Geomagnetic Activity.- Magnetospheric Response to Solar Wind Variations.- Solar Wind-Magnetosphere Energy Input Functions.- Prediction Filters for the Dst Index and the Polar Cap Potential.- Coupling Function between the Solar Wind and the Dst Index.- Real-Time Prediction of Global Geomagnetic Activity.- The 27-Day Recurrence Index.- A Comparison of Solar and Geomagnetic Activities from the 13th to the 21st Solar Cycles.- 2. Solar Wind and Magnetospheric Processes.- 2.1 Solar Wind Control of the Magnetosphere.- Solar Wind Parameters and Magnetospheric Coupling Studies.- Solar Cycle Variations in the Solar Wind.- MHD Simulation of the “Geoeffectiveness” of Interplanetary Disturbances.- Solar Wind Control of Magnetospheric Configuration.- Magnetospheric Equilibrium Configurations and Slow Adiabatic Convection.- Quantitative Model of Magnetic Coupling between Solar Wind and Magnetosphere.- 2.2 Dayside Interaction.- Global Geometry of Merging at the Dayside Magnetopause.- Magnetic Flux Transfer at the Earth’s Magnetopause.- Electric Field and Energy Transfer by Magnetopause Reconnection.- Plasma and Field Observations with High Time Resolution in Flux Transfer Events.- Electrons at the Dayside Magnetopause: Recent Observations by AMPTE-UKS.- Transport of Plasma across the Magnetopause.- 2.3 Solar Wind Disturbances andMagnetospheric Response.- Shocks and Storm Sudden Commencements.- Global Auroral Responses to Magnetospheric Compressions by Shocks in the Solar Wind: Two Case Studies.- Triggering of Magnetospheric Particle Bursts by SSC Events.- Observations of Energetic Electrons and VLF Waves at Geostationary Orbit during Storm Sudden Commencements (SSC).- Observations of Hydromagnetic-Band Energy in the Magnetosphere near L~2 to L~3 and Solar Wind Wave and Field Conditions.- 3. Electrodynamics of Magnetosphere-Ionosphere Coupling.- 3.1 Electric Fields and Currents.- Dayside Convection, Viscous Interaction and Magnetic Merging.- Solar Wind Control of the Polar Cusp.- DE-1 Observations of Solar Wind-Magnetosphere Coupling Processes in the Polar Cusp.- Solar Wind Control of the Polar-Cap Voltage.- Solar Wind Dependencies of High-Latitude Convection and Precipitation.- Sondrestrom Radar Observations of the Effect of the IMF By Component on Polar Cap Convection.- IMF By Control of Ionization and Electric Fields Measured by the Sondrestrom Radar.- Equatorial Ionospheric Electric Fields Associated with Magnetospheric Disturbances.- The Relationship of Birkeland and Ionospheric Current Systems to the Interplanetary Magnetic Field.- Magnetospheric Models from Field-Aligned Currents.- 3.2 Auroras and Auroral Precipitation.- The Characteristics of Polar Cap Precipitation and Their Dependence on the Interplanetary Magnetic Field and the Solar Wind.- Dynamic Variations of the Polar Cap.- The Dynamics of the Equatorward Boundary of the Auroral Oval.- Annual Variation of Aurora and Solar Wind Coupling.- 4. Solar Wind Control of Nightside Magnetosphere.- Solar Wind Control of the Magnetotail.- Solar Wind Influence on Magnetotail configuration and dynamics.- Observation of IMF-Associated MagneticField Perturbations in the GSM X Component at Geostationary Orbit.- Ion Composition of the Bulk Ring Current during a Magnetic Storm: Observations with the CHEM-Instrument on AMPTE/CCE.- Solar Wind Control of the Geomagnetic Mass Spectrometer.- Solar Wind-Magnetosphere Coupling and the Distant Magnetotail: ISEE-3 Observations.- Twisting of the Geomagnetic Tail.- Observations of a Large-Scale Vortex-Like Structure in the Deep-Tail Plasma Sheet Boundary Layer.- Planetary Boundary Layers in the Solar Wind.- Numerical Modeling on Magnetospheric Substorm.- 5. Summary Panel.- Coupling between the Solar Wind and the Earth’s Magnetosphere: Summary Comments.