The ultraviolet imager (UVI) of the Polar spacecraft and an all-sky camera at Longyearbyen contemporaneously detected an auroral vortex structure (so-called “auroral spiral”) on 10 January 1997. From space, the auroral spiral was observed as a “small spot” (one of an azimuthally-aligned chain of similar spots) in the poleward region of the main auroral oval from 18 h to 24 h magnetic local time. These auroral spots were formed while the substorm-associated auroral bulge was subsiding and several poleward-elongated auroral streak-like structures appeared during the late substorm recovery phase. During the spiral interval, the geomagnetically north-south and east-west components of the geomagnetic field, which were observed at several ground magnetic stations around Svalbard island, showed significant negative and positive bays caused by the field-aligned currents related with the aurora spiral appearance. The negative bays were reflected in the variations of local geomagnetic activity index (SML) which was provided from the SuperMAG magnetometer network at high latitudes. To pursue the spiral source region in the magnetotail, we trace each UVI image along field lines to the magnetic equatorial plane of the nightside magnetosphere using an empirical magnetic field model. Interestingly, the magnetotail region corresponding to the auroral spiral covered a broad region from Xgsm ~ -40 to -70 RE at Ygsm ~ 8 to 12 RE. The appearance of this auroral spiral suggests that extensive areas of the magnetotail (but local regions in the ionosphere) remain active even when the substorm almost ceases, and geomagnetic conditions are almost stable.

We investigate ionospheric flow patterns occurring on 28 January 2002 associated with the development of the nightside distorted end of a J-shaped transpolar arc (nightside distorted TPA). Based on the nightside ionospheric flows near to the TPA, detected by the SuperDARN (Super Dual Auroral Radar Network) radars, we discuss how the distortion of the nightside end toward the pre-midnight sector is produced. The J-shaped TPA was seen under southward interplanetary magnetic field (IMF) conditions, in the presence of a dominant dawnward IMF-By component. At the onset time of the nightside distorted TPA, particular equatorward plasma flows at the TPA growth point were observed in the post-midnight sector, flowing out of the polar cap and then turning toward the pre-midnight sector of the main auroral oval along the distorted nightside part of the TPA. We suggest that these plasma flows play a key role in causing the nightside distortion of the TPA. SuperDARN also found ionospheric flows typically associated with Tail Reconnection during IMF Northward Non-substorm Intervals (TRINNIs) on the nightside main auroral oval, before and during the TPA interval, indicating that nightside magnetic reconnection is an integral process to the formation of the nightside distorted TPA. During the TPA growth, SuperDARN also detected anti-sunward flows across the open–closed field line boundary on the dayside that indicate the occurrence of low-latitude dayside reconnection and ongoing Dungey cycle driving. This suggests that nightside distorted TPA can grow even in Dungey-cycle-driven plasma flow patterns.

The terrestrial magnetosphere is perpetually exposed to, and significantly deformed by the Interplanetary Magnetic Field (IMF) in the solar wind. This deformation is typically detected at discrete locations by space- and ground-based observations. Earth’s aurora, on the other hand, is a globally distributed phenomenon that may be used to elucidate magnetospheric deformations caused by IMF variations, as well as plasma supply from the deformed magnetotail to the high-latitude atmosphere. We report the utilization of an auroral form known as the transpolar arc (TPA) to diagnose the plasma dynamics of the globally deformed magnetosphere. Nine TPAs examined in this study have two types of a newly identified morphology, which are designated as “J”- and “L”-shaped TPAs from their shapes, and are shown to have antisymmetric morphologies in the Northern and Southern Hemispheres, depending on the IMF polarity. The TPA-associated ionospheric current profiles suggest that electric currents flowing along the magnetic field lines (Field-Aligned Currents: FACs), connecting the magnetotail and the ionosphere, may be related to the “J”- and “L”-shaped TPA formations. The FACs can be generated by velocity shear between fast plasma flows associated with nightside magnetic reconnection and slower background magnetotail plasma flows. Complex large-scale TPA FAC structures, previously unravelled by an Magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) simulation, cannot be elucidated by our observations. However, our interpretation of TPA features in a global context facilitates the usage of TPA as a diagnostic tool to effectively remote-sense globally deformed terrestrial and planetary magnetospheric processes in response to the IMF and solar wind plasma conditions.

Nightside magnetospheric processes (dynamics) directly reflect to auroral morphology and type. By investing type of auroras and the auroral morphological changes, we can expect to understand what physical processes would take place in the magnetotail. Under northward Interplanetary Magnetic Field (IMF) conditions, transpolar arcs (TPAs) and aurora spiral can be observed. A source of TPA is considered as field-aligned currents induced by the plasma flow shear (including the plasma flow vortices) between the fast plasma flows generated by magnetotail magnetic reconnection and slower background magnetospheric plasma flows. On the other hand, it is well-known that aurora spiral is also likely to be formed by the field-aligned current induced by the flow shear in the magnetotail, such as the Kelvin-Helmholtz instabilities. Based on the contemporaneous observations of TPA and aurora spiral, we try to investigate (diagnose) how the plasma and its energy are transported in the nightside magnetosphere toward ionosphere under northward IMF conditions. On January 10th, 1997, transpolar arc (TPA) and aurora spiral contemporaneously occurred for about 5.5 hours between 17:58 UT and 22:23 UT even when Interplanetary Magnetic Field (IMF) orientation changed from weakly southward to northward at ~21:00 UT. Because no in-situ magnetotail observations were unfortunately found in this day, we performed global MHD simulations based on the Open Geospace General Circulation Model (Open GGCM) distributed in the Community Coordinated Modeling Center (CCMC), and discussed the physical relation between two different auroral appearances and nightside magnetospheric processes. In this simulation, after the IMF-Bz orientation turned from weakly southward to northward, clear flow shear between fast earthward plasma flows triggered by magnetotail reconnection and slower tailward background magnetospheric flows was seen around Xgsm ~ -40 Re in the dawn sector, being consistent with the TPA and aurora spiral brightening. These flow shears may be a “source” of field-aligned currents to form the TPA. Furthermore, they bifurcated toward dawn and dusk, and showed stronger vortices in the dusk region than those in the dawnward sector. These vortex(-like) structures, bifurcated duskward, and associated field-aligned currents would be linked to the formation of the aurora spiral. In this presentation, we will discuss further the relation between the variations of these flow shear (vortex) structures, TPA and aurora spiral formations under northward IMF conditions, followed by weak southward IMF intervals.

Based on a large database of Wideband Imaging Camera (WIC), which is a part of Far Ultraviolet (FUV) instrument, onboard the Imager for Magnetopause-to-Aurora Global Exploration (IMAGE) satellite during 5 years between 2000 and 2005, we found a new morphological type of transpolar arcs (TPAs), which are identified as “nightside distorted TPAs”. The nightside ends of the dawnside (duskside) TPAs got distorted toward pre- (post-) midnight sector; These TPAs look like the shape of an alphabetical letter of “J” or “L”. We identified 17 nightside distorted TPAs from our database. The 12 events out of 17 nightside distorted TPA events were the dawnside TPA with the nightside end distorted toward the pre-midnight sector (“J”-shaped TPA), and the TPAs in the duskside, whose nightside parts got distorted toward the post-midnight sector, were found in the remnant 5 events (“L”-shaped TPA). Statistically, the nightside distorted TPAs can dominantly be found under the northward Interplanetary Magnetic Field (IMF) conditions. Furthermore, when the IMF-By component pointed to the dawnward (duskward) direction, the “J” (“L”)-shaped TPAs were dominantly observed, suggesting that the relation between the IMF-Bz and By orientations, and the locations of the nightside distorted TPAs is consistent with that between the IMF conditions and regular TPA previously reported. We also followed the time sequence of the nightside distorted TPA evolution with the IMAGE FUV-WIC imager and additional Polar UVI data. In most cases, the “J” and “L”-shaped TPAs started to grow from the nightside main auroral oval, and protruded to the dayside region with being distorted. In this presentation, we will introduce several selected cases of the nightside distorted TPA among our database, and discuss why and how the nightside end of the TPA became distorted toward pre- or post-midnight sectors based on the in-situ satellite nightside plasma sheet observations and the electron drift velocity distribution calculated utilizing a simple electromagnetic field model in magnetotail, together with the auroral imager data.

Since we discovered the newly morphological transpolar arc (TPA), whose nightside end got distorted toward pre- or post-midnight, identified as “nightside distorted TPAs”, their fundamental characteristics have been revealed based on investigations of the space-borne auroral imager data and corresponding solar wind conditions. Nightside distorted TPAs had two types; “J”- and “L”-shaped TPAs, and their locations of appearance (dawn or duskside of the polar cap) were governed by the polarity of the By component of the Interplanetary Magnetic Field (IMF). Furthermore, we found that the nightside distorted TPAs have antisymmetric morphologies in the Northern and Southern hemispheres, also depending on the IMF-By orientation. In this presentation, we show that that the electric currents flowing aligned to the magnetic field lines which connect between the magnetotail and the ionosphere, that is, Field-aligned currents (FACs) play an essential role in the formations of the “J”- and “L”-shaped TPAs. They are induced by significant plasma flow velocity difference (plasma flow shear) between the fast plasma flows associated with nightside magnetic reconnection and slower background plasma flows in the magnetotail. The current vortex structures with the counterclockwise rotation are also clearly seen in the ionospheric current vectors derived from fluctuations of the geomagnetic field measured at the ground observatories beneath and in close proximity of the growth regions of the nightside distorted TPA. This result suggests that the FACs were flowing out of the ionosphere toward the magnetotail (upward FACs) near the TPA. Furthermore, based on the geomagnetic field variations and the SuperDARN HF radar data, we obtained evidence in which the locations of magnetotail magnetic reconnection, which persisted even during northward IMF-Bz intervals, that is, the TPA durations, retreated further down tail as the TPA grew to the dayside. Taking into account these observational results, we finally show a model to illustrate the nightside distorted TPA (particularly, “L”-shaped TPA) formation.

In this study, we try to explore the feasibility on whether or not the magnetospheric processes under northward Interplanetary Magnetic Field (IMF) conditions can be diagnosed using two different auroral phenomena; transpolar arc (TPA) and omega-band aurora. Both TPA and omega-band aurora can occur during the northward IMF intervals, and their appearances are closely related with the nightside magnetospheric processes. TPA can be formed and grown by the field-aligned currents induced by the plasma flow shear or the plasma vortex structures between the fast plasma flows generated by magnetotail magnetic reconnection and slower background magnetospheric flows, and the convection of the reconnection-formed closed magnetic fluxes, which cause in the nightside plasma sheet. On the other hand, the omega-band aurora can be attributed to the Kelvin-Helmholtz instabilities triggered by the flow shear between the plasma flows of the nightside magnetospheric boundary layer such as low-latitude boundary layer (LLBL) and background magnetospheric (plasma sheet) flows. If both auroral phenomena can simultaneously be observed, we might remotely investigate (diagnose) how the plasma and its energy are transported in the nightside magnetosphere and at the magnetospheric boundary region under northward IMF conditions. We will discuss the feasibility of this magnetospheric diagnosis, giving the observational example(s) of simultaneous observations of two different auroral phenomena, that is, TPA and omega-band aurora, and in-situ magnetospheric observation(s). Keyword: 1. Transpolar arc and omega band aurora 2. Solar wind-magnetotail-ionosphere coupling 3. Magnetospheric diagnosis 4. Magnetospheric dynamics under northward IMF conditions

Predicting geomagnetic conditions based on in-situ solar wind observations allows us to evade disasters caused by large electromagnetic disturbances originating from the Sun to save lives and protect economic activity. In this study, we aimed to examine the relationship between the Kp index, representing global magnetospheric activity level, and solar wind conditions using an interpretable neural network known as potential learning (PL). Data analyses based on neural networks are difficult to interpret; however, PL learns by focusing on the “potentiality of input neurons” and can identify which inputs are significantly utilized by the network. Using the full advantage of PL, we extracted the influential solar wind parameters that disturb the magnetosphere under southward Interplanetary magnetic field (IMF) conditions. The input parameters of PL were the three components of the IMF (Bx, By, -Bz(Bs)), solar wind flow speed (Vx), and proton number density (Np) in geocentric solar ecliptic (GSE) coordinates obtained from the OMNI solar wind database between 1998 and 2019. Furthermore, we classified these input parameters into two groups (targets), depending on the Kp level: Kp = 6- to 9 (positive target) and Kp = 0 to 1+ (negative target). Negative target samples were randomly selected to ensure that numbers of positive and negative targets were equal. The PL results revealed that solar wind flow speed is an influential parameter for increasing Kp under southward IMF conditions, which was in good agreement with previous reports on the statistical relationship between the Kp index and solar wind velocity, and the Kp formulation based on the IMF and solar wind plasma parameters. Based on this new neural network, we aim to construct a more correct and parameter-dependent space weather forecasting model.