New-generation empirical magnetic field models: Increasing resolution of equatorial and Birkeland currents and transition from modeling to nowcasting

Abstract:

Classical empirical geomagnetic field models were built using rigid electric current modules whose amplitude and size were determined by predefined functions of solar wind and global parameters, which limited their ability to reconstruct the global morphology of the magnetosphere and its dynamic evolution during geomagnetic storms. The TS07D model mitigated these limitations by replacing the equatorial current modules with basis-function expansions and by introducing a dynamical binning approach based on nearest neighbors. Here we further progress this avenue. Firstly, the number of basis functions is increased and new data from Van Allen Probes and THEMIS missions is added, allowing the model to resolve the spatial structure and evolution of the innermost eastward and banana currents. Then, an enhanced Birkeland current module that more accurately reconstructs the realistic morphology, including the Harang discontinuity and IMF By dependence, is discussed. Lastly, the performance of various nowcasting versions of the model with different sets of the binning parameters is examined for the first time using their direct validation by in-situ geomagnetic field observations, leading to an optimum nowcasting version of the model. Furthermore, the plasma pressure is reconstructed assuming force balance with the empirical magnetic field, and the role of pressure-driven currents is examined.