Discerning a linkage between solar wind turbulence and ionospheric dissipation by a method of confined multifractal motions

Abstract

We develop a theory of confined (mean reverting) multifractal processes in terms of stochastic equations with multifractal noise and varying drift terms. Within this framework we are able to describe the auroral electrojet index and the z component of the interplanetary magnetic field by stochastic equations with identical multifractal noise terms. This suggests the existence of a physical mechanism that links the intermittency of solar wind turbulence and the corresponding intermittency of fluctuations in the ionospheric dissipation rate on time scales 1-100 min. Copyright 2011 by the American Geophysical Union.