Extreme Poynting Flux Depostion in the Polar Cap and Polar Cap Boundary Regions During Northward IMF

Abstract:

We investigate several intervals of prolonged northward Interplanetary Magnetic Field (IMF) and describe the correlation between strong Poynting flux and the transverse components of the IMF. We primarily focus on Summer events in each hemisphere when the polar regions are sunlit. During northward IMF the magnetic reconnection regions can form tailward of the magnetic cusp. Using data from the Defense Meteorological Satellite Program (DMSP) F13, F15 and F16 spacecraft we looked for and found areas of strong Poynting flux over the magnetic polar cap regions. Values ranging from 20 mW/m^2 to 140 mW/m^2 were measured in narrow channels, showing that there can be significant energy transport to small concentrated regions at very high latitudes. An example of an event from 2001 is shown in the attached image. We also show where these events occur with respect to the dynamic polar cap boundary and discuss the implications of this extreme Poynting flux for other aspects of polar thermodynamics and electrodynamics.