We present a new technique for the upcoming tri-static incoherent scatter radar system EISCAT 3D (E3D) to perform a volumetric reconstruction of the 3D ionospheric electric current density vector field, focusing on the feasibility of the E3D system. The input to our volumetric reconstruction technique are estimates of the 3D current density perpendicular to the main magnetic field, $\mathbf{j}_\perp$, and its co-variance, to be obtained from E3D observations based on two main assumptions: 1) Ions fully magnetised above the $E$ region, set to 200 km here. 2) Electrons fully magnetised above the base of our domain, set to 90 km. In this way, $\mathbf{j}_\perp$ estimates are obtained without assumptions about the neutral wind field, allowing it to be subsequently determined. The volumetric reconstruction of the full 3D current density is implemented as vertically coupled horizontal layers represented by Spherical Elementary Current Systems with a built-in current continuity constraint. We demonstrate that our technique is able to retrieve the three dimensional nature of the currents in our idealised setup, taken from a simulation of an active auroral ionosphere using the Geospace Environment Model of Ion-Neutral Interactions (GEMINI). The vertical current is typically less constrained than the horizontal, but we outline strategies for improvement by utilising additional data sources in the inversion. The ability to reconstruct the neutral wind field perpendicular to the magnetic field in the $E$ region is demonstrated to mostly be within $\pm 50$ m/s in a limited region above the radar system in our setup.

One of the primary mechanisms of loss of Earth’s atmosphere is the persistent “cold” (T ≲ 20 eV) ion outflow that has been observed in the magnetospheric lobes over large volumes with dimensions of order several Earth radii. As the main source of this cold ion outflow, the polar cap F-region ionosphere and conditions within it have a disproportionate influence on these magnetospheric regions. Using 15 years of measurements of plasma density Ne made by the Swarm spacecraft constellation and the CHAMP spacecraft within the F region of the polar cap above 80° Apex magnetic latitude, we report evidence of several types of seasonal asymmetries in polar cap Ne. Among these, the transition between “winter-like” and “summer-like” median polar cap Ne occurs one week prior to local spring equinox in the Northern Hemisphere (NH), and one week after local spring equinox in the Southern Hemisphere (SH). Thus the median SH polar cap Ne lags the median NH polar cap Ne by approximately two weeks with respect to hemispherically local spring and fall equinox. From interhemispheric comparison of statistical distributions of polar cap plasma density around each equinox and solstice, we find that distributions in the SH are often flatter (i.e., less skewed and kurtotic) than in the NH. Perhaps of most significance to cold ion outflow, we find no evidence of an F-region plasma density counterpart to a previously reported hemispheric asymmetry whereby cold plasma density is higher in the NH magnetospheric lobe than in the SH lobe.

A number of interdependent conditions and processes contribute to ionospheric-origin energetic ion outflows. Due to these interdependences and the associated observational challenges, energetic ion outflows remain a poorly understood facet of atmosphere-ionosphere-magnetosphere coupling. Here we demonstrate the relationship between east-west magnetic field fluctuations ($\Delta B_{\textrm{EW}}$) and energetic outflows in the magnetosphere-ionosphere transition region. We use dayside cusp-region FAST satellite observations made at apogee ($\sim$4200-km altitude) near fall equinox and solstices in both hemispheres to derive statistical relationships between ion upflow and ($\Delta B_{\textrm{EW}}$) spectral power as a function of spacecraft-frame frequency bands between 0 and 4 Hz. Identification of ionospheric-origin energetic ion upflows is automated, and the spectral power $P_{EW}$ in each frequency band is obtained via integration of $\Delta B_{\textrm{EW}}$ power spectral density. Derived relationships are of the form $J_{\parallel,i} = J_{0,i} P_{EW}^\gamma$ for upward ion flux $J_{\parallel,i}$ at 130-km altitude. The highest correlation coefficients are obtained for spacecraft-frame frequencies $\sim$0.1–0.5 Hz. Summer solstice and fall equinox observations yield power law indices $\gamma \simeq$ 0.9–1.3 and correlation coefficients $r \geq 0.92$, while winter solstice observations yield $\gamma \simeq$ 0.4–0.8 with $r \gtrsim 0.8$. Mass spectrometer observations reveal that the oxygen/hydrogen ion composition ratio near summer solstice is much greater than the corresponding ratio near winter. These results thus reinforce the importance of ion composition in any outflow model. If observed $\Delta B_{\textrm{EW}}$ variations are purely spatial and not temporal, we show that spacecraft-frame frequencies $\sim$0.1–0.5 Hz correspond to perpendicular spatial scales of several to tens of kilometers.

Lobe reconnection is usually thought to play an important role in geospace dynamics only when the Interplanetary Magnetic Field (IMF) is mainly northward. This is because the most common and unambiguous signature of lobe reconnection is the strong sunward convection in the polar cap ionosphere observed during these conditions. During more typical conditions, when the IMF is mainly oriented in a dawn-dusk direction, plasma flows initiated by dayside and lobe reconnection both map to high latitude ionospheric locations in close proximity to each other on the dayside. This makes the distinction of the source of the observed dayside polar cap convection ambiguous, as the flow magnitude and direction are similar from the two topologically different source regions. We here overcome this challenge by normalizing the ionospheric convection observed by the Super Dual Aurora Radar Network (SuperDARN) to the polar cap boundary, inferred from simultaneous observations from the Active Magnetosphere and Planetary Electrodynamics Response Experiment (AMPERE). This new method enable us to separate and quantify the relative contribution of both lobe reconnection and dayside/nightside (Dungey cycle) reconnection during periods of dominating IMF By. Our main findings are twofold. First, the lobe reconnection rate can typically account for 20% of the Dungey cycle flux transport during local summer when IMF By is dominating and IMF Bz > 0. Second, the dayside convection relative to the open/closed boundary is vastly different in local summer versus local winter, as defined by the dipole tilt angle.