Assessment of inductive electric fields contribution to the overall particle energization in the terrestrial magnetosphere

Abstract:

The terrestrial magnetosphere has the capability to rapidly accelerate charged particles up to very high energies over relatively short times and distances. These energetic particles are injected from the magnetotail into the inner magnetosphere through two primary mechanisms. One transport method is the potential-driven convection during periods of southward IMF, which allows part of the dawn-to-dusk solar wind electric field to effectively map down to the polar ionosphere. The second transport process involves a sudden reconfiguration of the magnetic field and the creation of transient induced electric fields.

However, it is not possible to distinguish the two terms by only measuring the electric field. Assessing the relative contribution of potential versus inductive electric fields at the energization of the hot ion population in the inner magnetosphere is only possible by thorough examination of the time varying magnetic field and current systems using global modeling of the entire system.

We developed a new method to calculate the induced electric field in the entire magnetosphere domain. This approach removes the need to trace independent field lines and lifts the assumption that the magnetic field lines can be treated as frozen in a stationary ionosphere. We quantify the relative contributions of potential and inductive electric fields at driving plasma sheet ions into the inner magnetosphere during disturbed conditions. The consequence of these injections on the distortion of the near-Earth magnetic field and current systems have been rarely separated in order to determine their relative effectiveness from a global perspective.