EGU22-2939
https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu22-2939
EGU General Assembly 2022
© Author(s) 2022. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.

Magnetospheric flux throughput in the Dungey cycle: identification of convection state during 2010

Steve Milan1,2, Jenny Carter1, Harneet Sangha1,3, Gemma Bower1, and Brian Anderson4
Steve Milan et al.
  • 1University of Leicester, School of Physics and Astronomy, Leicester, UK (steve.milan@le.ac.uk)
  • 2Birkeland Centre for Space Science, University of Bergen, Norway
  • 3University of Alabama in Huntsville, AL, USA
  • 4JHU/APL, Laurel, MA, USA

We quantify the contributions of different convection states to the magnetic flux through-put of the magnetosphere during 2010. To do this we provide a continuous classification of convection state for the duration of 2010 based upon observations of the solar wind and interplanetary magnetic field, geomagnetic indices, and field-aligned currents measured by the Active Magnetosphere and Planetary Electrodynamics Response Experiment (AMPERE). Convection states are defined as 1) quiet and 2) weak activity, substorm 3) growth, 4) expansion, and 5) recovery phases, 6) substorm driven phase (when relatively steady magnetospheric convection occurs), 7) recovery bays (when recovery phase is accompanied by a negative excursion of the AL electrojet index), and 8) periods of multiple intensifications (storm-time periods when continuous short-period AL activity occur). The magnetosphere is quiet for 46% of the time, when very little convection takes place. The majority of convection occurs during growth and driven phases (21% and 38%, respectively, of open magnetic flux accumulation by dayside reconnection). We discuss these results in the context of the expanding/contracting polar cap model of convection, and describe a framework within which isolated substorms and disturbances during periods of more continuous solar wind-magnetosphere driving can be understood.

How to cite: Milan, S., Carter, J., Sangha, H., Bower, G., and Anderson, B.: Magnetospheric flux throughput in the Dungey cycle: identification of convection state during 2010, EGU General Assembly 2022, Vienna, Austria, 23–27 May 2022, EGU22-2939, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu22-2939, 2022.

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