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Relationship between cusp-region ion outflows and east-west magnetic field fluctuations in Southern and Northern Hemispheres
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  • Spencer Mark Hatch,
  • Therese Moretto Jorgensen,
  • Kristina A Lynch,
  • Karl M. Laundal,
  • Jesper W. Gjerloev,
  • Eric J Lund
Spencer Mark Hatch
Birkeland Centre for Space Science

Corresponding Author:[email protected]

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Therese Moretto Jorgensen
UNIVERSITY OF BERGEN
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Kristina A Lynch
Dartmouth College
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Karl M. Laundal
University of Bergen
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Jesper W. Gjerloev
APL-JHU
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Eric J Lund
College Brook Scientific
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Abstract

A number of interdependent conditions and processes contribute to ionospheric-origin energetic ion outflows. Due to these interdependences and the associated observational challenges, energetic ion outflows remain a poorly understood facet of atmosphere-ionosphere-magnetosphere coupling. Here we demonstrate the relationship between east-west magnetic field fluctuations ($\Delta B_{\textrm{EW}}$) and energetic outflows in the magnetosphere-ionosphere transition region. We use dayside cusp-region FAST satellite observations made at apogee ($\sim$4200-km altitude) near fall equinox and solstices in both hemispheres to derive statistical relationships between ion upflow and ($\Delta B_{\textrm{EW}}$) spectral power as a function of spacecraft-frame frequency bands between 0 and 4 Hz. Identification of ionospheric-origin energetic ion upflows is automated, and the spectral power $P_{EW}$ in each frequency band is obtained via integration of $\Delta B_{\textrm{EW}}$ power spectral density. Derived relationships are of the form $J_{\parallel,i} = J_{0,i} P_{EW}^\gamma$ for upward ion flux $J_{\parallel,i}$ at 130-km altitude. The highest correlation coefficients are obtained for spacecraft-frame frequencies $\sim$0.1–0.5 Hz. Summer solstice and fall equinox observations yield power law indices $\gamma \simeq$ 0.9–1.3 and correlation coefficients $r \geq 0.92$, while winter solstice observations yield $\gamma \simeq$ 0.4–0.8 with $r \gtrsim 0.8$. Mass spectrometer observations reveal that the oxygen/hydrogen ion composition ratio near summer solstice is much greater than the corresponding ratio near winter. These results thus reinforce the importance of ion composition in any outflow model. If observed $\Delta B_{\textrm{EW}}$ variations are purely spatial and not temporal, we show that spacecraft-frame frequencies $\sim$0.1–0.5 Hz correspond to perpendicular spatial scales of several to tens of kilometers.