Effects of causally driven cusp O⁺ outflow on the storm time magnetosphere-ionosphere system using a multifluid global simulation

Abstract

It is widely accepted that the ionosphere is an important source of ions in the magnetosphere and until recently this population has largely been neglected from many global simulations. In this study, a causally regulated cusp O + outflow is added to the multifluid version of the Lyon-Fedder-Mobarry (LFM) global simulation. The cusp outflow algorithm uses empirical relationships to regulate the outflow flux with further conditioning to isolate the outflow spatially to a dynamic cusp. The impact cusp O + outflow has on the magnetosphere-ionosphere (MI) system is investigated for a moderate storm on 31 August 2005. It is found the MI system response depends upon the specification of the outflow velocity and temperature. More energetic outflow tends to flow downtail whilst colder, slower outflow fills the inner magnetosphere. High O + densities in the inner magnetosphere can increase the strength of the ring current, reducing Dst and inflating the magnetosphere. This effect is mostly found for the less energetic outflow specification. O + outflow is found to reduce the access of solar wind ions to the inner magnetosphere, which, through the MI coupling in LFM reduces the precipitating electron power, conductance and field-aligned currents. The effect outflow has on the cross polar cap potential (CPCP) depends upon two competing factors. The reduction in Region I currents when outflow is present appears to increase the CPCP whilst the inflation of the magnetosphere due to an enhanced ring current decreases the CPCP. Copyright 2010 by the American Geophysical Union.