loading page

Estimating the Ionospheric Induction Electric Field using Ground Magnetometers
  • +5
  • Michael Madelaire,
  • Karl Laundal,
  • Spencer Hatch,
  • Heikki Vanhamäki,
  • Jone Reistad,
  • Anders Ohma,
  • Viacheslav Merkin,
  • Dong Lin
Michael Madelaire
Department of Physics and Technology, University of Bergen

Corresponding Author:[email protected]

Author Profile
Karl Laundal
Department of Physics and Technology, University of Bergen
Spencer Hatch
Department of Physics and Technology, University of Bergen
Heikki Vanhamäki
Space Physics and Astronomy Research Unit, University of Oulu
Jone Reistad
Department of Physics and Technology, University of Bergen
Anders Ohma
Department of Physics and Technology, University of Bergen
Viacheslav Merkin
Applied Physics Laboratory, Johns Hopkins University
Dong Lin
High Altitude Observatory, National Center for Atmospheric Research

Abstract

The ionospheric convection electric field is often assumed to be a potential field. This assumption is not always valid, especially when the ionosphere changes on short time scales $T \lesssim 5$~min. We present a technique for estimating the induction electric field using ground magnetometer measurements. The technique is demonstrated on real and simulated data for sudden increases in solar wind dynamic pressure of $\sim$1 and 10 nPa, respectively. For the real data, the ionospheric induction electric field is 0.15$\pm$0.015 mV/m, and the corresponding compressional flow is 2.5$\pm$0.3 m/s. For the simulated data, the induction electric field and compressional flow reach 3 mV/m and 50 m/s, respectively. The induction electric field can locally constitute tens of percent of the total electric field. Inclusion of the induction electric field increased the total Joule heating by 2.4\%. Locally the Joule heating changed by tens of percent. This corresponds to energy dissipation that is not accounted for in existing models.
02 Feb 2024Submitted to ESS Open Archive
02 Feb 2024Published in ESS Open Archive