A Magnetospheric Driver of Westward Traveling Surge: Plasma‐Sheet Bubble
Abstract The westward traveling surge (WTS) is one of the most significant manifestations of auroral substorms. The formation and evolution of WTS are the key to understanding the dynamics of substorm. However, the generation mechanism of WTS remains unclear. This study investigates the magnetospher...
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| Main Authors: | , , , , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
Wiley
2021-10-01
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| Series: | Geophysical Research Letters |
| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.1029/2021GL095539 |
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| _version_ | 1849422869991260160 |
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| author | Dong Wei Fei Zhang Jian Yang Wenrui Wang Weiqin Sun Jun Cui Vassilis Angelopoulos |
| author_facet | Dong Wei Fei Zhang Jian Yang Wenrui Wang Weiqin Sun Jun Cui Vassilis Angelopoulos |
| author_sort | Dong Wei |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Abstract The westward traveling surge (WTS) is one of the most significant manifestations of auroral substorms. The formation and evolution of WTS are the key to understanding the dynamics of substorm. However, the generation mechanism of WTS remains unclear. This study investigates the magnetospheric driver of WTS using numerical simulations of the Inertialized Rice Convection Model. We model a typical WTS event by specifying a low‐entropy bubble injection from the magnetotail. The simulated characteristics of the WTS are consistent with typical observed features. Simulation confirms that the bubble injection creates an intense upward Region‐1 field‐aligned current to flow into the ionosphere, which is responsible for the prominent auroral structure. Moreover, the calculated speed of westward expansion of the bubble in the magnetosphere agrees very well with the speed of the westward surge in the ionosphere. Therefore, the plasma‐sheet bubble is believed to be a possible magnetospheric source of the WTS. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-86cdca2a6c04472f9dc209c81f00f634 |
| institution | Kabale University |
| issn | 0094-8276 1944-8007 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2021-10-01 |
| publisher | Wiley |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Geophysical Research Letters |
| spelling | doaj-art-86cdca2a6c04472f9dc209c81f00f6342025-08-20T03:30:53ZengWileyGeophysical Research Letters0094-82761944-80072021-10-014820n/an/a10.1029/2021GL095539A Magnetospheric Driver of Westward Traveling Surge: Plasma‐Sheet BubbleDong Wei0Fei Zhang1Jian Yang2Wenrui Wang3Weiqin Sun4Jun Cui5Vassilis Angelopoulos6Department of Earth and Space Sciences Southern University of Science and Technology Shenzhen ChinaDepartment of Earth and Space Sciences Southern University of Science and Technology Shenzhen ChinaDepartment of Earth and Space Sciences Southern University of Science and Technology Shenzhen ChinaDepartment of Earth and Space Sciences Southern University of Science and Technology Shenzhen ChinaDepartment of Earth and Space Sciences Southern University of Science and Technology Shenzhen ChinaSchool of Atmospheric Sciences Sun Yat‐sen University Zhuhai ChinaDepartment of Earth, Planetary, and Space Sciences University of California, Los Angeles Los Angeles CA USAAbstract The westward traveling surge (WTS) is one of the most significant manifestations of auroral substorms. The formation and evolution of WTS are the key to understanding the dynamics of substorm. However, the generation mechanism of WTS remains unclear. This study investigates the magnetospheric driver of WTS using numerical simulations of the Inertialized Rice Convection Model. We model a typical WTS event by specifying a low‐entropy bubble injection from the magnetotail. The simulated characteristics of the WTS are consistent with typical observed features. Simulation confirms that the bubble injection creates an intense upward Region‐1 field‐aligned current to flow into the ionosphere, which is responsible for the prominent auroral structure. Moreover, the calculated speed of westward expansion of the bubble in the magnetosphere agrees very well with the speed of the westward surge in the ionosphere. Therefore, the plasma‐sheet bubble is believed to be a possible magnetospheric source of the WTS.https://doi.org/10.1029/2021GL095539 |
| spellingShingle | Dong Wei Fei Zhang Jian Yang Wenrui Wang Weiqin Sun Jun Cui Vassilis Angelopoulos A Magnetospheric Driver of Westward Traveling Surge: Plasma‐Sheet Bubble Geophysical Research Letters |
| title | A Magnetospheric Driver of Westward Traveling Surge: Plasma‐Sheet Bubble |
| title_full | A Magnetospheric Driver of Westward Traveling Surge: Plasma‐Sheet Bubble |
| title_fullStr | A Magnetospheric Driver of Westward Traveling Surge: Plasma‐Sheet Bubble |
| title_full_unstemmed | A Magnetospheric Driver of Westward Traveling Surge: Plasma‐Sheet Bubble |
| title_short | A Magnetospheric Driver of Westward Traveling Surge: Plasma‐Sheet Bubble |
| title_sort | magnetospheric driver of westward traveling surge plasma sheet bubble |
| url | https://doi.org/10.1029/2021GL095539 |
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