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The aims of this paper are (1) briefly to describe the plasma devices onboard the MAGION-4 satellite, launched on 3 August 1995, of the INTERBALL project, and (2) to discuss first observations made near the magnetopause region. During the presented boundary crossings the MAGION-4 observed quasi-periodic pulses of magnetosheath-like plasma in a region of low plasma density. This region is located just earthwards of the magnetopause and is populated by a plasma which, except for the density, has the same parameters as in the magnetosheath. Deeper in the magnetosphere, the encounter of a layer of hot electrons and high-energy ions was interpreted as low-latitude boundary layer.
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The skewness of broad Type 2-like spectra has been studied using data collected by two orthogonal CW 50-MHz radio links with co-located scattering volumes. Geometrical aspect angles of observations were about 10°. One short event was considered. For this event, the electron flow direction was changing periodically (period about 9 minutes) presumably due to the passage of a magnetospheric MHD wave through the ionosphere. It was found that for the radar observations along the electrojet flow, the skewness had the same sign as the mean Doppler shift with average absolute values in between 0.5-1.0. For observations perpendicular to the electrojet flow, spectra were more symmetrical (average skewness was around 0) and the sign of the skewness was sometimes opposite to the sign of the mean Doppler shift. These observations are interpreted in terms of contribution from both the Farley-Buneman and gradient-drift instabilities to the resultant spectrum. Differences with radar observations at small aspect angles are discussed.
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The geomagnetic response to the passage of a coronal mass ejection (CME) is studied. The passage of the CME resulted in a storm sudden commencement (SSC) at 2243 UT on March 20 1990 with disturbed magnetic activity during the following 24 h. The auroral, sub-auroral and equatorial magnetic response to the southward turning at 1314 (±5) UT on March 21 and the equatorial response to the southward turning associated with the SSC on 20 March are discussed in terms of existing models. It is found that the auroral and sub-auroral response to the southward turning associated with the SSC is a factor 2 or more quicker than normal due to the shock in the solar wind dynamic pressure. The low-latitude response time to the southward turning, characterised by <i>Dst</i> and the magnetopause current corrected <i>Dst</i>*, is unaffected by the shock. <i>Dst</i> and <i>Dst</i>*, characteristic of the equatorial magnetic field, responded to the 1314 (±5) UT southward turning prior to the first observed substorm expansion phase onset, suggesting that a dayside loading process was responsible for the initial enhancement in the ring current rather than nightside particle injection. The response time of the auroral and sub-auroral magnetic field to the southward turning at 1314 (±5) UT on March 21 is measured at a variety of longitudes and latitudes. The azimuthal propagation velocity of the response to the southward turning varied considerably with latitude, ranging from ~8 km s<sup>–1</sup> at 67°N to ~4 km s<sup>–1</sup> at 55°N. The southward velocity of the equatorward boundary of the northern polar convection pattern has been measured. This velocity was ~1.2 km s<sup>–1</sup> at 1600 MLT, although there was evidence that this may vary at different local times.
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VHF atmospheric radar is used to measure the wind velocity and radar echo power related to long-period wind perturbations, including gravity waves, which are observed commonly in the lower stratosphere and tropopause region, and sometimes in the troposphere. These wind structures have been identified previously as either inertia-gravity waves, often associated with jet streams, or mountain waves. At heights of peak wind shear, imbalances are found between the echo powers of a symmetric pair of radar beams, which are expected to be equal. The largest of these power differences are found for conditions of simultaneous high wind shear and high aspect sensitivity. It is suggested that the effect might arise from tilted specular reflectors or anisotropic turbulent scatterers, a result of, for example, Kelvin-Helmholtz instabilities generated by the strong wind shears. This radar power-difference effect could offer information about the onset of saturation in long-period waves, and the formation of thin layers of turbulence.
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Comparisons are made between horizontal wind measurements carried out using a VHF-radar system at Aberystwyth (52.4°N, 4.1°W) and radiosondes launched from Aberporth, some 50 km to the south-west. The radar wind results are derived from Doppler wind measurements at zenith angles of 6° in two orthogonal planes and in the vertical direction. Measurements on a total of 398 days over a 2-year period are considered, but the major part of the study involves a statistical analysis of data collected during 75 radiosonde flights selected to minimise the spatial separation of the two sets of measurements. Whereas good agreement is found between the two sets of wind direction, radar-derived wind speeds show underestimates of 4–6% compared with radiosonde values over the height range 4–14 km. Studies of the characteristics of this discrepancy in wind speeds have concentrated on its directional dependence, the effects of the spatial separation of the two sets of measurements, and the influence of any uncertainty in the radar measurements of vertical velocities. The aspect sensitivity of radar echoes has previously been suggested as a cause of underestimates of wind speeds by VHF radar. The present statistical treatment and case-studies show that an appropriate correction can be applied using estimates of the effective radar beam angle derived from a comparison of echo powers at zenith angles of 4.2° and 8.5°.
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The spectral width observed by Doppler radars can be due to several effects including the atmospheric turbulence within the radar sample volume plus effects associated with the background flow and the radar geometry and configuration. This study re-examines simple models for the effects due to finite beamwidth and vertical shear of the horizontal wind. Analytic solutions of 1- and 2-dimensional models are presented. Comparisons of the simple 2-dimensional model with numerical integrations of a 3-dimensional model with a symmetrical Gaussian beam show that the 2-dimensional model is usually adequate. The solution of the 2-dimensional model gives a formula that can be applied easily to large data sets. Analysis of the analytic solutions of the 2-dimensional model for off-vertical beams reveals a term that has not been included in mathematical formulas for spectral broadening in the past. This term arises from the simultaneous effects of the changing geometry due to curvature within a finite beamwidth and the vertical wind shear. The magnitude of this effect can be comparable to that of the well-known effects of beam-broadening and wind shear, and since it can have either algebraic sign, it can significantly reduce (or increase) the expected spectral broadening, although under typical conditions it is smaller than the beam-broadening effect. The predictions of this simple model are found to be consistent with observations from the VHF radar at White Sands Missile Range, NM.
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A previous application of extreme-value statistics to the first, second and third largest geomagnetic storms per solar cycle for nine solar cycles is extended to fourteen solar cycles (1844–1993). The intensity of a geomagnetic storm is measured by the magnitude of the daily <i>aa</i> index, rather than the half-daily <i>aa</i> index used previously. Values of the conventional <i>aa</i> index (1868–1993), supplemented by the Helsinki <i>Ak</i> index (1844–1880), provide an almost continuous, and largely homogeneous, daily measure of geomagnetic activity over an interval of 150 years. As in the earlier investigation, analytic expressions giving the probabilities of the three greatest storms (extreme values) per solar cycle, as continuous functions of storm magnitude (<i>aa</i>), are obtained by least-squares fitting of the observations to the appropriate theoretical extreme-value probability functions. These expressions are used to obtain the statistical characteristics of the extreme values; namely, the mode, median, mean, standard deviation and relative dispersion. Since the <i>Ak</i> index may not provide an entirely homogeneous extension of the <i>aa</i> index, the statistical analysis is performed separately for twelve solar cycles (1868–1993), as well as nine solar cycles (1868–1967). The results are utilized to determine the expected ranges of the extreme values as a function of the number of solar cycles. For fourteen solar cycles, the expected ranges of the daily <i>aa</i> index for the first, second and third largest geomagnetic storms per solar cycle decrease monotonically in magnitude, contrary to the situation for the half-daily <i>aa</i> index over nine solar cycles. The observed range of the first extreme daily <i>aa</i> index for fourteen solar cycles is 159–352 nT and for twelve solar cycles is 215–352 nT. In a group of 100 solar cycles the expected ranges are expanded to 137–539 and 177–511 nT, which represent increases of 108% and 144% in the respective ranges. Thus there is at least a 99% probability that the daily <i>aa</i> index will satisfy the condition <i>aa</i> < 550 for the largest geomagnetic storm in the next 100 solar cycles. The statistical analysis is used to infer that remarkable conjugate auroral observations on the night of 16 September 1770, which were recorded during the first voyage of Captain Cook to Australia, occurred during an intense geomagnetic storm.
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The spectra of three series of simultaneous ground (Budkov Observatory) and satellite (Freja) ULF measurements have been processed. The following features were studied in the FFT spectra, power-spectra and cross-spectra of the six-minute samples, recorded during quasi-conjugate approaches of Freja to the local Budkov magnetic field line: (a) the Doppler frequency shift (about 1mHz and less) in the predominant and some particular spectral components on Freja; (b) the amplitude relations between the ground and satellite (ratios 0.3 to 0.8); (c) phase shifts between particular signal components on the spacecraft above the ionosphere (in the azimuthal <i>y</i>-direction on Freja) and on the ground (in the meridional <i>x</i>-direction at Budkov) have been estimated (phase lags on the ground ≤ 0.9rad) and (d) also dynamical characteristics of the fundamental wave modes in the (<i>x</i>,<i>y</i>)-plane, perpendicular to the magnetic field line, have been estimated for the predominant spectral components, considering standing oscillation along the field line. Azimuthal wave numbers were about 2.0, propagating northwest at ~400km/s.
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This study presents an experimental analysis from aircraft measurements above the Pyrenees chain during the PYREX experiment. The Pyrenees chain, roughly WE oriented, is a major barrier for northerly and southerly airflows. We present a case of southerly flow (15 October 1990) and three successive cases of northerly flows above the Pyrenees (14, 15 and 16 November 1990) documented by two aircraft. The aircraft have described a vertical cross section perpendicular to the Pyrenean ridge. This area is described via the thermodynamical and dynamical fields which have a horizontal resolution of 10 km. Three methods for computing the vertical velocity of the air are presented. The horizontal advection terms which play a role in the budget equations are also evaluated. The altitude turbulence zone of 15 October are shown via turbulent fluxes, turbulent kinetic energy (TKE), dissipation rate of TKE and inertial length-scale. A comparison of results obtained by eddy-correlation and inertial-dissipation method is presented. The experimental results show a warm and dry downdraft for the southerly flow with large values for advection terms. All the mountain wave cases are also shown to present an important dynamical perturbation just above the Pyrenees at upper altitudes.
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Nongyrotropic (gyrophase bunched) ion distributions in a magnetoplasma are studied by analytical methods and by two-dimensional hybrid code simulations. Nongyrotropy may not occur in a plasma being simultaneously homogeneous, stationary, and solenoidal in phase space. A detailed study is performed for a homogeneous and stationary plasma with sources and sinks in phase space. The analytical investigation cast in the framework of linearized Maxwell-Vlasov theory yields a coupling of low-frequency left-handed, right-handed, and longitudinal modes. Nongyrotropic ion distributions are unstable; they excite left-handed waves. The growth rate is comparable to that of the ion ring instability. The hybrid code simulation study confirms the expected propagation direction parallel to the background magnetic field. Three diffusion processes are studied: arc lengthening, arc broadening, and arc radius decreasing corresponding to particle energy diffusion. The characteristic diffusion time-scales are found to be of the order of 10<sup>1</sup> wave cycles.
