The Earth’s magnetosheath and cusps are the sources of soft X-rays. In the accompanying paper (Part 1) and this paper, we discuss the methods of finding the magnetopause position by analyzing the X-ray images. We use the software developed for the Soft X-ray Imager (SXI) on board the forthcoming Solar wind - Magnetosphere - Ionosphere Link Explorer (SMILE) mission. We show how to find the maximum SXI count rate in noisy count maps. We verify the assumption that the maximum of the X-ray emissivity integrated along the Line-of-Sight (Ix) is tangent to the magnetopause. We consider two cases using two MHD models and apply different methods of magnetospheric masking. Overall, the magnetopause is located close to the maximum Ix gradient or between the maximum Ix gradient and the maximum Ix depending on the method used. But since the angular distance between the maximum Ix gradient and the maximum Ix is relatively small (about 3{degree sign}), the maximum Ix might be used as an indicator of the outer boundary of a wide magnetopause layer usually obtained in MHD simulations.

The magnetopause standoff distance characterizes global magnetospheric compression and deformation in response to changes in the solar wind dynamic pressure and interplanetary magnetic field orientation. We cannot derive this parameter from in-situ spacecraft measurements. However, time-series of the magnetopause standoff distance can be obtained in the near future using observations by soft X-ray imagers. In two companion papers, we describe methods of finding the standoff distance from X-ray images. In Part 1, we present the results of MHD simulations which we use for the calculation of the X-ray emissivity in the magnetosheath and cusps. Some MHD models predict relatively high density in the magnetosphere, larger than observed in the data. Correcting this, we develop magnetospheric masking methods to separate the magnetosphere from the magnetosheath and cusps. We simulate the X-ray emissivity in the magnetosheath for different solar wind conditions and dipole tilts.

Upstream solar wind measurements from near the L1 Lagrangian point are commonly used to investigate solar wind-magnetosphere coupling. The off-Sun-Earth line distance of such solar wind monitors can be large, up to 100 RE. We investigate how the correlation between measurements of the interplanetary magnetic field and associated ionospheric responses deteriorates as the off-Sun-Earth line distance increases. Specifically, we use the magnitude and polarity of the dayside region 0 field-aligned currents (R0 FACs) as a measure of IMF BY-associated magnetic tension effects on newly-reconnected field lines, related to the Svalgaard-Mansurov effect. The R0 FACs are derived from Advanced Magnetosphere and Planetary Electrodynamics Response Experiment (AMPERE) measurements by a principal component analysis, for the years 2010 to 2016. We perform cross-correlation analyses between time-series of IMF BY, measured by the Wind spacecraft and propagated to the nose of the bow shock by the OMNI technique, and these R0 FAC measurements. Typically, in the summer hemisphere, cross-correlation coefficients between 0.6 and 0.9 are found. However, there is a reduction of order 0.1 to 0.15 in correlation coefficient between periods when Wind is close to (within 45 RE) and distant from (beyond 70 RE) the Sun-Earth line. We find a time-lag of around 17 minutes between predictions of the arrival of IMF features at the bow shock and their effect in the ionosphere, irrespective of the location of Wind.

On October 28th 2021 the Sun released a large Coronal Mass Ejection (CME) in Earth’s direction. An X1.0 class solar flare and a rare ground level enhancement (GLE) were observed, along with bright solar radio bursts. Here we examine data from the near-Earth environment to investigate the terrestrial response to this solar event, as a typical example of Sun-Earth interactions. The CME arrival is tracked at $\sim$1 AU from Wind radio observations and the interplanetary magnetic field (IMF) and solar wind dynamic pressure by \textit{in-situ} measurements of OMNI spacecraft. Geomagnetic activity is studied with indices including SYM-H while the auroral response is monitored by remote Wind radio measurements of Auroral Kilometric Radiation (AKR) and SSUSI UV observations. We quantify the timeline for solar wind-magnetosphere coupling via exploration of the dayside reconnection rate and polar cap voltages and address the visibility of AKR sources for a dayside radio observatory.

We quantify the contributions of different convection states to the magnetic flux throughput 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.

We examine the average evolution of precipitation-induced height-integrated conductances, along with field-aligned currents, in the nightside sector of the polar cap over the course of a substorm. Conductances are estimated from the average energy flux and mean energies derived from auroral emission data. Data are binned using a superposed epoch analysis on a normalised time grid based on the time between onset and recovery phase ($\delta$t) of each contributing substorm. We also examine conductances using a fixed time binning of width 0.25 hr. We split the data set by magnetic latitude of onset. We find that the highest conductances are observed for substorms with onsets that occur between 63 and 65 degrees magnetic latitude, peaking at around 11 mho (Hall) and 4.8 mho (Pedersen). Substorms with onsets at higher magnetic latitudes show lower conductances and less variability. Changes in conductance over the course of a substorm appear primarily driven by changes (about 40% at onset) in the average energy flux, rather than the average energy of the precipitation. Average energies increase after onset slower than energy flux, later these energies decrease slowly for the lowest latitude onsets. No clear expansion of the main region 1 and region 2 field-aligned currents is observed. However, we do see an ordering of the current magnitudes with magnetic latitude of onset, particularly for region 1 downwards FAC in the morning sector. Peak current magnitudes occur slightly after or before the start of the recovery phase for the normalised and fixed-time grids.

We model an interval of sustained northward interplanetary magnetic field, for which we have a comprehensive set of observational data. This interval is associated with the arrival of an interplanetary coronal mass ejection. The solar wind densities at the time are particularly high and the interplanetary magnetic field is primarily northward. This results in strong auroral emissions within the polar cap in a cusp spot, which we associate with lobe reconnection at the high-latitude magnetopause. We also observe areas of upwards field-aligned current within the summer Northern Hemisphere polar cap that exhibit large current magnitudes. The model is able to reproduce the spatial distribution of the field-aligned currents well, even under changing conditions in the incoming interplanetary magnetic field. Discrepancies exist between the modeled and observed current magnitudes. Notably, the winter Southern Hemisphere exhibits much lower current magnitudes overall. We also model a sharp transition of the location of magnetopause reconnection. This changes rapidly from a subsolar location at the low-latitude magnetopause under southward interplanetary magnetic field conditions, to a high-latitude lobe reconnection location when the field is northward. This occurs during a fast rotation of the IMF at the shock front of a magnetic cloud.

The Earth’s magnetosheath and cusps emit soft X-rays due to the interaction between highly charged solar wind ions and exospheric hydrogen atoms. The LEXI and SMILE missions are scheduled to image the Earth’s dayside magnetosphere system in soft X-rays and thus to investigate global-scale magnetopause reconnection modes under varying solar wind conditions. The exospheric neutral hydrogen density distribution is an important consideration in the calculation of X-ray emissivities. The value of this density at the subsolar magnetopause is of particular interest for understanding X-ray emissions near this boundary, and is used as a comparison between competing models of hydrogen distribution. This paper estimates the exospheric density during solar minimum by using X-ray Multimirror Mission (XMM) astrophysics observations. We searched 11 years of XMM soft X-ray data and provided a list of 193 events with a possible detection of X-rays of magnetospheric origin. These events occurred during relatively constant solar wind and interplanetary magnetic field conditions. During these events the location of the magnetopause was measured in-situ by heliospheric missions. Thus the location of the solar wind ions responsible for the magnetospheric emission are well constrained by observation. We detected one particular event on 12-Nov-2008 and and estimated an exospheric density using the Open Geospace Global Circulation Model and a spherically symmetric exosphere model. The OpenGGCM magnetosheath parameters were used to disentangle soft X-rays of exospheric origin from the XMM signal. The lower limit of the exospheric density of this solar minimum event is 36.8 cm$^{-3}$ at 10 $R_E$ subsolar location.

We present observations of the northern hemisphere auroras taken with the Far UV cameras onboard the Imager for Magnetopause-to-Aurora Global Exploration (IMAGE) spacecraft during a compression of the magnetosphere by a solar wind pressure step on 30 December 2001. The compression occurs during a period of northward IMF which has given rise to the presence of a pair of transpolar arcs (TPAs) near the dawnside oval. The compression causes a brightening of the oval, from dayside to nightside over the course of 10 mins, followed by a brightening of the midnight sector oval and TPAs from nightside to dayside, again over 10 mins. We suggest that the brightening is caused by pitch angle scattering of particles trapped on closed magnetic field lines, and that the sequence of the brightening tracks the solar wind pressure step as it progresses along the length of the magnetotail. Travelling at 600 km s$^{-1}$, the step reaches up to 90 $R_E$ down-tail over the period of brightening, suggesting that the magnetic field lines which map to the TPAs are closed and stretch almost this length down-tail.

We propose a mechanism for the formation of the horse-collar auroral configuration during periods of strongly northwards interplanetary magnetic field, invoking the action of dual-lobe reconnection (DLR). Auroral observations are provided by the Imager for Magnetopause-to-Auroras Global Exploration (IMAGE) satellite and spacecraft of the Defense Meteorological Satellite Program (DMSP). We also use ionospheric flow measurements from DMSP and polar maps of field-aligned currents (FACs) derived from the Active Magnetosphere and Planetary Electrodynamics Response Experiment (AMPERE). Sunward convection is observed within the dark polar cap, with antisunwards flows within the horse-collar auroral region, together with the NBZ FAC distribution expected to be associated with DLR. We suggest that newly-closed flux is transported antisunwards and to dawn and dusk within the reverse lobe cell convection pattern associated with DLR, causing the polar cap to acquire a teardrop shape and weak auroras to form at high latitudes. Horse-collar auroras are a common feature of the quiet magnetosphere, and this model provides a first understanding of their formation, resolving several outstanding questions regarding the nature of DLR and the magnetospheric structure and dynamics during northwards IMF. The model can also provide insights into the trapping of solar wind plasma by the magnetosphere and the formation of a low-latitude boundary layer and cold, dense plasma sheet.

Following the St. Patrick’s Day (17 March) geomagnetic storm of 2013, the interplanetary magnetic field had near-zero clock angle for almost two days. Throughout this period multiple cusp-aligned auroral arcs formed in the polar regions; we present observations of, and provide a new explanation for, this poorly-understood phenomenon. The arcs were observed by auroral imagers onboard satellites of the Defense Meteorological Satellite Program (DMSP). Ionospheric flow measurements and observations of energetic particles from the same satellites show that the arcs were produced by inverted-V precipitation associated with upward field-aligned currents at shears in the convection pattern. The large-scale convection pattern revealed by the Super Dual Auroral Radar Network (SuperDARN) and the corresponding FAC pattern observed by the Active Magnetosphere and Planetary Electrodynamics Response Experiment (AMPERE) suggest that dual-lobe reconnection was ongoing to produce significant closure of the magnetosphere. However, we propose that once the magnetosphere became nearly closed complicated lobe reconnection geometries arose that produced interleaving of regions of open and closed magnetic flux and spatial and temporal structure in the convection pattern that evolved on timescales shorter than the orbital period of the DMSP spacecraft.