Mercury’s Field-aligned Currents: Hybrid Simulation Results
- 1Institute of Geology and Geophysics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Key Laboratory of Earth and Planetary Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, China (shi_zhen@mail.iggcas.ac.cn)
- 2College of Earth and Planetary Sciences, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences; Beijing, China
- 3Mohe Observatory of Geophysics, Institute of Geology and Geophysics, Chinese Academy of Sciences; Beijing, China
- 4Department of Physics at Umeå University; Umeå, Sweden
- 5Center for Space Physics and Department of Astronomy, Boston University; Boston, MA, USA
Observations from the MESSENGER (MErcury Surface, Space Environment, GEochemistry, and Ranging) mission have demonstrated the presence of the region 1-like field-aligned currents (FACs) in Mercury’s northern hemisphere. Due to the limitations of the single-point measurement, the upstream solar wind condition is blind to MESSENGER when it’s inside the magnetosphere. Thus, the statistical analyses of FACs are hard to be carried out and the results could be obscured. Here, we used a hybrid model to investigate Mercury’s FACs. The two-layer model was concerned. We studied how Mercury’s conductivity profile controls the establishment and closure of the FACs, and how the IMF orientation regulated the intensity and the spatial distributions of the FACs. Previous statistical results of MESSENGER’s observations can be well explained by the simulations. And future observations from BepiColombo will help us gain a better understanding of Mercury’s FACs.
How to cite: Shi, Z., Rong, Z., Fatemi, S., Dong, C., Gao, J., and Wei, Y.: Mercury’s Field-aligned Currents: Hybrid Simulation Results, EGU General Assembly 2024, Vienna, Austria, 14–19 Apr 2024, EGU24-6904, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu24-6904, 2024.
