Radar Observations of Interhemispheric Ionospheric Convection Morphology Associated with Magnetotail Dynamics

Abstract:

We discuss radar observations of the high-latitude ionospheric convection, in both the northern and southern hemispheres, in terms of the interplanetary magnetic field (IMF) orientation, prevailing geomagnetic conditions, and their associated timescales. Plasma velocity measurements, obtained by the Super Dual Auroral Radar Network (SuperDARN), have been used to derive patterns of the ionospheric electric potential in which interhemispheric asymmetries in the associated large-scale convection morphology are identified. In addition to the expected IMF B_Y-related asymmetries between the dusk and dawn convection cells, which tend to display the opposite sense in the two hemispheres, we find asymmetries related to magnetotail dynamics that exhibit a more complex behaviour. We attribute this to differences in the timescales required for the development of IMF-related asymmetries, and those associated with internal magnetospheric processes. We consider how the interplay between the magnetospheric regions involved determines the overall morphology of the system.

Back to: Interhemispheric Differences in High-Latitude Geospace I

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