The Ionospheric Footprint of Antiparallel Merging

I J COLEMAN, M PINNOCK, G CHISHAM, M P FREEMAN, A S RODGER

British Antarctic Survey, UK

The antiparallel merging hypothesis states that reconnection occurs on the dayside magnetopause where the interplanetary and terrestrial magnetic fields are oppositely directed. We have mapped the merging sites predicted by this hypothesis to the ionosphere, using the Tsyganenko 96 magnetospheric field model. Under the appropriate conditions, the resulting ionospheric footprint can give rise to a characteristic signature which allows us to clearly discriminate between antiparallel and subsolar merging using SuperDARN HF radar data.

Session Index

Proceedings Index