Utilising magnetic field measurements made by the Iridium satellites and by ground magnetometers in North America we calculate the full ionospheric current system and investigate the substorm current wedge. The current estimates are independent of ionospheric conductance, and are based on estimates of the divergence-free (DF) ionospheric current from ground magnetometers and curl-free (CF) ionospheric currents from Iridium. The DF and CF currents are represented using spherical elementary current systems (SECS), derived using a new inversion scheme that ensures the current systems’ spatial scales are consistent. We present 18 substorm events and find a typical substorm current wedge (SCW) in 12 events. Our investigation of these substorms shows that during substorm expansion, equivalent field-aligned currents (EFACs) derived with ground magnetometers are a poor proxy of the actual FAC. We also find that the intensification of the westward electrojet can occur without an intensification of the FACs. We present theoretical investigations that show that the observed deviation between FACs estimated with satellite measurements and ground-based EFACs are consistent with the presence of a strong local enhancement of the ionospheric conductance, similar to the substorm bulge. Such enhancements of the auroral conductance can also change the ionospheric closure of pre-existing FACs such that the ground magnetic field, and in particular the westward electrojet, changes significantly. These results demonstrate that attributing intensification of the westward electrojet to SCW current closure can yield false understanding of the ionospheric and magnetospheric state.

The aurora often appears as an approximately oval shape surrounding the magnetic poles, and is a visible manifestation of the intricate coupling between the Earth’s upper atmosphere and the near-Earth space environment. While the average size of the auroral oval increases with geomagnetic activity, the instantaneous shape and size of the aurora is highly dynamic. The identification of auroral boundaries holds significant value in space physics, as it serves to define and differentiate regions within the magnetosphere connected to the aurora by magnetic field lines. In this work, we demonstrate a method to detect and model the poleward and equatorward boundaries in global UV images. Our methodology enables analysis of the spatiotemporal variation in auroral boundaries from 2.5 years of UV imagery from the IMAGE satellite. The resulting dataset reveals a root mean square boundary normal velocity of 149 m/s for the poleward boundary and 96 m/s for the equatorward boundary and the velocities are shown to be stronger on the nightside than on the dayside. Interestingly, our findings demonstrate an absence of correlation between the amount of open magnetic flux and the amount of flux enclosed within the auroral oval. Furthermore, we highlight the inadequacy of a simplistic generalization of the expanding-contracting polar cap paradigm in explaining temporal variations in the auroral oval area, underscoring the imperative for an enhanced understanding of equatorward boundary fluctuations.

Recent improvements to hardware for the Super Dual Auroral Radar Network systems operated by the University of Saskatchewan (named Borealis) have allowed for greater control of radar transmit and receive functionalities than previously possible. One of these functionalities is the application of a new operational mode, known as wide-beam imaging, which vastly improves the temporal resolution of the radars without compromising their spatial coverage. Wide-beam imaging allows for the retrieval of line-of-sight ionospheric drift velocities at a temporal resolution of 3.7\,s, a sixteen-fold improvement from the one-minute resolution offered by traditional operational modes. In this paper, we use wide-beam data from the Borealis SuperDARN systems, located in Canada, to derive local horizontal ionospheric plasma velocity fields above Northern Canada, Greenland, and the polar cap, at a 3.7\,s temporal resolution. For this local fitting of ionospheric velocity data, we use the Local Mapping of Ionospheric Electrodynamics (Lompe) spherical elementary current systems technique. This new data product, which we call the Fast Borealis Ionosphere (FBI), is compared to both the global SuperDARN spherical harmonic convection pattern data product (the Map Potential technique), as well as Lompe convection patterns derived using the traditional SuperDARN narrow-beam scanning mode. We show that Lompe systematically produces a better representation of the underlying radar velocity data than Map Potential, that the 3.7\,s wide-beam data contains a significant amount more ionospheric variability than narrow-beam, and that the high time-resolution convection patterns can resolve dynamic ionospheric events lasting on the order of tens of seconds.

Using a substorm onset list from the Imager for Magnetopause to Aurora Global Exploration (IMAGE) and Polar satellite images, we have constructed a new dataset of 63 substorm onsets observed in both hemispheres and their locations. We find that incorporating the history of the interplanetary magnetic field (IMF) improves the predictive power of IMF By in explaining conjugate displacement in Magnetic Local Time (MLT). Our dataset, approximately five times larger than in previous studies, enhances statistical power and focuses on the substorm onset feature. This allows for better correlation of IMF By with MLT conjugate displacement (ΔMLT), since it has been shown that IMF-induced By tends to diminish as substorms progress. In line with previous work, we find a linear relationship between IMF By and ΔMLT, though with a shallower gradient. Additionally, we analyse predictors of conjugate displacement in Magnetic Latitude (ΔMLat), showing that dipole tilt (ψ) is the strongest predictor. However, we find that this relationship is not strictly linear, and that a larger dataset and a better understanding of the physical mechanisms are needed to more accurately capture the exact functional relationship between ψ and ΔMLat.

The boundaries of the auroral oval and auroral electrojets are an important source of information for understanding the coupling between the solar wind and the near-earth plasma environment. Of these two types of boundaries the auroral electrojet boundaries have received comparatively little attention, and even less attention has been given to the connection between the two. Here we introduce a technique for estimating the electrojet boundaries, and other properties such as total current and peak current, from 1-D latitudinal profiles of the eastward component of equivalent current sheet density. We apply this technique to a preexisting database of such currents along the 105◦ magnetic meridian producing a total of eleven years of 1 minute resolution electrojet boundaries during the period 2000–2020. Using statistics and conjunction events we compare our electrojet boundary dataset with an existing electrojet boundary dataset, based on Swarm satellite measurements, and auroral oval proxies based on particle precipitation and field aligned currents. This allows us to validate our dataset and investigate the feasibility of an auroral oval proxy based on electrojet boundaries. Through this investigation we find the proton precipitation auroral oval is a closer match with the electrojet boundaries. However, the bimodal nature of the electrojet boundaries as we approach the noon and midnight discontinuities makes an average electrojet oval poorly defined. With this and the direct comparisons differing from the statistics, defining the proton auroral oval from electrojet boundaries across all local and universal times is challenging.

In most large-scale MHD models of Earth’s space environment, coupling between the magnetosphere and the ionosphere-thermosphere (IT) is addressed by representing the latter as a two-dimensional spherical shell. Similarly, most empirical models of IT electrodynamics are based on solving the height-integrated ionospheric Ohm’s law on a spherical shell. We show that there is in general no single suitable definition of the neutral wind term in high-latitude, height-integrated IT electrodynamics. Instead, two neutral wind terms weighted by Hall and Pedersen conductivities appear. We show that a commonly used expression for Joule heating in terms of height-integrated quantities is a lower bound of the actual Joule heating. Using neutral wind profiles derived from sounding rocket chemical release experiments near Poker Flat, Alaska, and Poker Flat Incoherent Scatter Radar (PFISR) measurements, we find differences of order 10–100 m/s between the two neutral wind terms.

The exchange of kinetic and electromagnetic energy by precipitation and/or outflow, and through field-aligned currents are two aspects of the ionosphere-magnetosphere coupling. A thorough investigation of these processes is required to better understand magnetospheric dynamics. Building on our previous study using DMSP spectrometer data, here we use Swarm vector field magnetometer data to describe the auroral oval morphology in terms of east-west magnetic field perturbations. We define a threshold for detecting magnetic fluctuations based on the power spectral density of ΔBEW and derive the disturbed magnetic field occurrence probability (dBOP) at low [0.1–1Hz] and high [2.5–5Hz] frequencies. High-frequency distributions of dBOP reveal a dayside-nightside asymmetry, whereas low-frequency dBOP exhibits a persistent morphological asymmetry between the dawn-to-noon and the dusk-to-midnight sectors, peaking at dawn. Notably, weak solar wind conditions are associated with an increase in the dBOP asymmetric patterns. At low frequency in particular, while the dBOP seems to be primarily constant at dawn, the dusk dBOP decreases during quiet times, inducing a relatively larger dawn-dusk asymmetry in such conditions. We find that the dBOP distributions at low frequencies exhibit features similar to those present in distributions of the auroral electron precipitation occurrence probability, suggesting that the low-frequency dBOP constitutes a reasonable proxy for the large-scale auroral oval. Our interpretation is that the dBOP at low frequencies reflects a quasi-steady state circulation of energy, while the high-frequency dBOP reflects the regions of rapid changes in the magnetosphere. The dBOP is therefore a crucial source of information regarding the magnetosphere-ionosphere coupling.

The auroral electrojet is traditionally measured remotely with magnetometers on ground or in low Earth orbit (LEO). The sparse distribution of measurements, combined with a vertical distance of some 100 km to ground and typically >300 km to LEO satellites, means that smaller scale sizes can not be detected. Because of this, our understanding of the spatiotemporal characteristics of the electrojet is incomplete. Recent advances in measurement technology give hope of overcoming these limitations by multi-point remote detections of the magnetic field in the mesosphere, very close to the electrojet. We present a prediction of the magnitude of these disturbances, inferred from the spatiotemporal characteristics of magnetic field-aligned currents. We also discuss how Zeeman magnetic field sensors (Yee et al., 2020) onboard the Electrojet Zeeman Imaging Explorer (EZIE) satellites will be used to essentially image the equivalent current at unprecedented spatial resolution. The electrojet imaging is demonstrated by combining carefully simulated measurements with a spherical elementary current representation using a novel inversion scheme.

Substorm onset location varies over a range of magnetic local times (MLTs) and magnetic latitudes (MLats). Different studies have shown that about 5${\%}$ of the variation in onset MLT can be explained by variations in interplanetary magnetic field orientation and seasonal variations. Both parameters introduce an azimuthal component to the magnetic field in the magnetosphere such that the projection of the onset MLT in the ionosphere is shifted. Recent studies have suggested that gradients in the ionospheric Hall conductance lead to a duskward shift of the magnetotail dynamics, which could also influence the location of substorm onset. In this paper, we quantify the dependence of the spatial variation of the onset location on the geomagnetic activity level prior to onset. We find that the dependence of onset location on prior conditions is as strong as the dependence on IMF By.

We present the implementation of an improved technique to coherently model the high-latitude ionospheric equivalent current. By using a favourable and fixed selection of 20 ground magnetometers in Fennoscandia, we present a method based on Spherical Elementary Current Systems (SECS) to model the currents coherently during 2000–2020. Due to the north-south extent of the ground stations used, we focus on the model output along the 105◦ magnetic meridian. In addition to the fixed data locations and SECS analysis grid, our improvements involve taking into account a priori knowledge of the large-scale current systems to improve the robustness of solving the underdetermined inverse problem. We account for contributions from ground induced currents assuming so-called mirror currents. An advantage of this data set over existing empirical models of ionospheric currents is the 1-min output resolution. High temporal resolution enables investigation of temporal changes in the magnetic field. We present an analysis of statistical properties of where (in magnetic latitude and local time) and at what rate (∂Br /∂t) the radial magnetic field component fluctuates. We show that ∂Br /∂t, which is equivalent to the radial component of the curl of the induced electric field, is dependent on latitude, local time, and solar cycle. Other applications of the presented data set are also highlighted, including investigations of how Ultra Low Frequency oscillations in ground magnetic perturbations vary in space and time.

An accurate description of the state of the ionosphere is crucial for understanding the physics of Earth’s coupling to space, including many potentially hazardous space weather phenomena. To support this effort, ground networks of magnetometer stations, optical instruments, and radars have been deployed. However, the spatial coverage of such networks is naturally restricted by the distribution of land mass and access to necessary infrastructure. We present a new technique for local mapping of polar ionospheric electrodynamics, for use in regions with high data density, such as Fennoscandia and North America. The technique is based on spherical elementary current systems (SECS), which were originally developed to map ionospheric currents. We expand their use by linking magnetic field perturbations in space and on ground, convection measurements from space and ground, and conductance measurements, via the ionospheric Ohm’s law. The result is a technique that is similar to the Assimilative Mapping of Ionospheric Electrodynamics (AMIE) technique, but tailored for regional analyses of arbitrary spatial extent and resolution. We demonstrate our technique on synthetic data, and with real data from three different regions. We also discuss limitations of the technique, and potential areas for improvement.