Please note that this session was withdrawn and is no longer available in the respective programme. This withdrawal might have been the result of a merge with another session.
ST2.2 | Global magnetospheric dynamics in simulations and observations
EDI
Global magnetospheric dynamics in simulations and observations
Convener: Andrey Samsonov | Co-conveners: Yulia Bogdanova, Yann Pfau-Kempf, Tianran Sun, David Sibeck
Large-scale dynamic processes in different magnetospheric regions, e.g., in the magnetosheath, at the magnetopause, in the outer and inner magnetosphere, magnetotail, ring current, plasmasphere, and ionosphere, are closely interconnected. The magnetosphere should therefore be considered as a global system. The state of the magnetosphere is controlled mainly by solar wind conditions. The interplanetary magnetic field and solar wind velocity govern the energy input into the magnetosphere. However, solar wind properties change when plasma moves through the bow shock and magnetosheath. The magnetic reconnection rate at the dayside magnetopause depends on parameters in the surrounding magnetosheath and magnetosphere rather than directly on the solar wind conditions. Once dayside reconnection starts, magnetic flux accumulates in the magnetotail lobes, eventually resulting in substorms or steady magnetospheric convection from the nightside to the dayside. Magnetic reconnection in the magnetotail injects thermal and energetic particles into the inner magnetosphere and downward along magnetic field lines into the ionosphere. On the other hand, the polar wind flowing upward from the upper atmosphere may influence the nightside reconnection rate. The Kelvin-Helmholz instability provides another important mechanism of energy and momentum transition from the solar wind into the magnetosphere. Global magnetospheric dynamics can be studied by means of sophisticated numerical simulations (MHD, hybrid, or fully kinetic), with empirical and semi-empirical models, or using multipoint in situ spacecraft observations. Arrays of ground-based observatories and a fleet of space missions can image magnetospheric and ionospheric phenomena globally, providing crucial information concerning the positions and dynamics of the magnetospheric plasma boundaries and the global distribution of ionospheric currents, convective flows, and particle precipitation. Past and future global imaging missions (e.g., TWINS, LEXI, SMILE, EZIE, GEO-X) can complete this picture providing large-scale snapshots of some geospace regions. Accurate modelling of global magnetospheric processes is an essential condition for successful space weather predictions, but sometimes model predictions are very different from each other even for typical solar wind conditions. We welcome any work presenting results on the global dynamics of the Earth’s magnetosphere as well as the magnetospheres of other planets.