Transmission line model for the near-instantaneous transmission of the ionospheric electric field and currents to the equator

Abstract

The simultaneous onset of the preliminary impulse (PI) of the geomagnetic sudden commencement at high latitude and dayside dip equator is explained by means of the TM0 mode waves propagating at the speed of light in the Earth-ionosphere waveguide (EIW) [Kikuchi et al., 1978]. A couple of issues remain to be addressed in the EIW model: (1) How is the TM0 mode wave excited by the field-aligned currents (FACs) in the polar region? (2) How are the quasi-steady ionospheric currents achieved by the TM0 mode waves? (3) How simultaneous or delayed are the onset and peak of the equatorial PI with respect to the high-latitude PI? To address these issues, we examine the TEM (TM0) mode wave propagation in the finite-length transmission lines replacing the pair of FACs (magnetosphere-ionosphere (MI) transmission line) and the Earth-ionosphere waveguide (ionosphere-ground (IG) transmission line). The issue (1) is addressed by showing that a fraction of the TEM mode wave is transmitted from the MI to IG transmission lines through the polar ionosphere. To address the issues (2) and (3), we examine the properties of the finite-length IG transmission line with finite ionospheric conductivity. It is shown that the ionospheric currents start to grow instantaneously and continue to grow gradually with time constants of 1-10s depending on the ionospheric conductivity. The MIG transmission line enables us to explain the instantaneous onset and delayed peak time of the equatorial PI and quick electric field response of the low-latitude ionosphere and inner magnetosphere.