Convection surrounding mesoscale ionospheric flow channels

Abstract

We evaluate data from the European Incoherent Scatter (EISCAT) Svalbard radar (ESR) and Defense Meteorological Satellite Program (DMSP) spacecraft coupled with data from the Super Dual Auroral Radar Network (SuperDARN) polar cap convection patterns in order to study how the ionospheric convection evolves around a sequence of transient, mesoscale flow channel events in the duskside of the cusp inflow region. On a northwestward convection background for the interplanetary magnetic field (IMF) BY positive and BZ negative, a sequence of three eastward flow channels formed over the course of 1 hour in response to three sharp IMF rotations to IMF BY negative and IMF BZ positive. The first and third channels, due to IMF BY negative periods of ∼13 min and >30 min, respectively, develop in a similar manner: they span the entire ESR field of view and widen poleward with increasing time elapsed since their first appearance until the IMF rotates back. The convection patterns are consistent with the line-of-sight data from the ESR and DMSP within a 10 min adaption time. The flow lines form a twin-vortex flow, with the observed channel being the twin vortices' center flow. The fitting algorithm was pushed to its limits in terms of spatial resolution in this study. During portions of the channel events, the suggested twin-cell flow is not in agreement with our physical interpretation of the flow channels being reconnection events because cell closure is suggested across an anticipated nonreconnecting open-closed boundary. For these segments, we present simulated patterns which have been arrived at by a combination of looking at the raw data and examining the fitted convection patterns.