Variations in the ionospheric dynamo current
The ionospheric dynamo is produced by movement of charged particles of the ionosphere across Earth’s main field. This motion is driven by the tidal effects of the Sun and the Moon and by solar heating. The ionospheric dynamo is thus controlled by two parameters: the distribution of winds and the distribution of electrical conductivity in the ionosphere. These parameters are influenced by several factors, including the orbital parameters of Earth, Moon, and Sun; the solar cycle; solar flares; and solar eclipses. Changes in the position of the Sun and the Moon relative to Earth as a result of orbital motions cause variations in distance. This alters the strength of the tides and of solar heating, thereby changing ionospheric wind patterns. These changes are apparent as a seasonal modulation of the winds and hence of the strength of the current.
The second parameter that controls the dynamo current is the electrical conductivity of the ionosphere. Any process that alters ionospheric conductivity changes the current. On the dayside of Earth the dominant source of ionization is sunlight. The amount of ionization depends on the angle at which sunlight enters the atmosphere. Vertical incidence produces more ionization per unit volume than slant entry. For a given hemisphere, normal incidence occurs in summer. Thus, this effect also causes a strong seasonal modulation of the dynamo current.
The degree of atmospheric ionization also depends on the phase of the solar cycle. This 11-year cycle of sunspot activity produces variations in the amount of ultraviolet radiation emitted by the Sun. More sunspots lead to more ultraviolet radiation and increased ionospheric conductivity and hence stronger currents. On a shorter timescale solar flares emit X-rays that penetrate deeper in the atmosphere, temporarily ionizing the D region, the lowest layer of the ionosphere. Dynamo currents are then produced in this layer by whatever winds are present there.
A solar eclipse produces the opposite effect on ionospheric conductivity. The shadow of the Moon as it crosses the ionosphere decreases ionization. Recombination of ionospheric electrons and ions in the absence of light quickly reduces the conductivity. Because the effect is localized and of short duration, its effect on the overall dynamo current is slight.
Magnetic storms—growth of the ring current
The ring current is produced by the drift around Earth of charged particles of the outer Van Allen radiation belt. During quiet conditions the effect of this current at Earth’s surface is negligible (about 20 nanoteslas). Once or twice a month there occurs a phenomenon known as a magnetic storm, during which the intensity of the ring current increases and produces disturbances that are typically on the order of 100 nanoteslas but can be as large as 500 nanoteslas. A variety of phenomena that affect humans occur during magnetic storms. A few of these include increased radiation doses for occupants of transpolar flights, distortion of compass readings in polar regions, disruption of shortwave radio communications, increased corrosion in long pipelines, failure of electrical transmission lines, anomalies in the operations of communications satellites, and potentially lethal doses of radiation for astronauts in interplanetary spacecraft. Efforts have been undertaken to mitigate such serious problems. In the United States, for example, the federal government operates a Space Disturbance Forecast Center in Boulder, Colorado, which monitors the state of the Sun and solar wind and attempts to predict the occurrence of such “space weather.”
Cause of magnetic storms
It is known that magnetic storms are produced by a change in the properties of the solar wind. Magnetically quiet times occur when the solar wind contains a magnetic field called the interplanetary magnetic field (IMF) that has the same direction as Earth’s field on the dayside. Magnetic disturbances occur when this field rotates toward an antiparallel orientation. Normally, the IMF lies in the ecliptic plane, which on the average is roughly parallel to Earth’s magnetic equator. Small departures from this average orientation are caused by rotation of the tilted dipole magnetic field once per day and by revolution of Earth around the Sun once per year. Large departures are caused by changes in the direction of the IMF relative to the ecliptic. Such changes are produced by several phenomena that originate on the Sun.
The most spectacular event that may cause a magnetic storm is a solar flare, which is an explosion in the corona of the Sun that releases an enormous amount of energy in the form of outward-streaming particles. The bulk of these particles takes approximately two days to arrive at Earth, where it begins to influence the magnetic field. During transit the solar flare particles catch up with slower particles emitted earlier. The subsequent interaction of the high- and low-speed solar wind components causes a high-pressure region to develop, and this region tilts the IMF out of the plane of the ecliptic. If the IMF is tilted antiparallel to Earth’s field, a magnetic storm results.
Another phenomenon responsible for magnetic storms is the existence of coronal holes around the Sun. X-ray images of the Sun made during the 1970s by the U.S. Skylab astronauts revealed that the corona of the Sun is not homogeneous but often exhibits “holes”—regions within the solar atmosphere in which the density of gas is lower than in adjacent regions and from which charged particles escape with relative ease. Particles from such holes reach higher velocities in their outward expansion than do normal solar wind particles and produce high-speed streams. These streams interact with the slower-speed solar wind emitted from regions without holes and produce the same tilting of the IMF described above. Coronal holes persist for many 27-day solar (equatorial) rotations and, as a consequence, produce recurrent magnetic storms. Coronal holes are the hypothetical “M regions” on the Sun proposed many decades ago to explain recurrent storms that could not be associated with particular solar flares.