Ring Current Modeling with the Rice Convection Model

Abstract:

While magnetohydrodynamics (MHD) is a reasonable first order, self-consistent representation of the physics of the magnetosphere, there are regions and processes where it is inadequate. One example is in the ring current region where energy dependent non-MHD drifts, such as gradient and curvature drifts, become important. This presentation will describe the basic assumptions that go into the Rice Convection Model (RCM), which also includes the self-consistent coupling to the ionosphere through Birkeland currents. Extensions to the RCM to include a force balanced magnetic field (RCM-E) and coupling to Global MHD will also be described. Finally, our approach to including physics not represented in the original RCM framework will be described. One example of this is representing transient bursts of rapid transport, termed "bursty bulk flows (BBFS) " or "bubbles” that have important consequences on the structure and dynamics of electric and magnetic fields in the inner magnetosphere.