Comparing the O+ and H+ Escape Fluxes from Fluid and Particle-in-Cell Solutions of the Polar Wind

Abstract:

There are different theoretical descriptions of the terrestrial polar wind. Fluid models of mass, momentum, and energy equations can be used to solve the field-aligned flow of H⁺ and O⁺ ions from the ionosphere into the earth’s magnetosphere. Particle-in-cell (PIC) codes, which include kinetic processes, have also treated polar wind flow between an active ionospheric boundary condition and the outflow boundary into the magnetosphere. In study, we compare the O+ and H+ escape fluxes from the USU Ionosphere-Plasmasphere Model (IPM) [Schunk et al., 2003] with the escape fluxes from the macroscopic PIC solution of the Generalized Polar Wind (GPW) Model of Barakat and Schunk [2006]. The IPM model results at 1500km are used to supply the time-varying boundary conditions to the GPW model. The escape flux comparisons will be made at the 2.5 Re, which is a typical boundary condition radius for fluxes into MHD magnetosphere models.

Classical fluid codes generate escape fluxes driven by the pressure gradients in the ionosphere, while the PIC code has additional energization processes for the polar wind fluxes. Differencing the two escape flux solutions at 2.5 Re will quantify the importance of the additional energization processes within the PIC GPW model. We will make the comparisons of escape fluxes using the model results of 4 different storm periods: an idealized storm period, April 5-8, 2000, 2002 September 27 to October 4, and 2002 October 22-29. These storm periods were chosen for the collaborative studies of the Outflow Measuring Modeling, and Merging GEM focus group.

Barakat, A. R. and R. W. Schunk (2006), A three-dimensional model of the generalized polar wind, J. Geophys. Res., 111, A12314, doi:10.1029/2006JA011662.

Schunk, R. W., J. V. Eccles, J. J. Sojka, D. C. Thompson, and L. Zhu (2003), Assimilation Ionosphere Model (AIM), Final report, Space Environment Corporation, Providence, Utah.