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Magnetic tilt effect on externally driven electromagnetic ion cyclotron (EMIC) waves
  • Eun-Hwa Kim,
  • Jay Robert Johnson
Eun-Hwa Kim
Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory, Princeton University

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Jay Robert Johnson
Andrews University
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Abstract

We examine the wave coupling efficiency of solar wind to magnetospheric fluctuations in the ULF frequency range using an advanced full-wave simulation code, Petra-M. Earth’s magnetic field is tilted to the ecliptic plane; thus, compressional wave sources can be incident over a wide range of magnetic latitudes. When compressional waves are incident at a low latitude, very little wave power can reach the inner magnetosphere. On the other hand, waves incident from a high latitude source can propagate efficiently into the inner magnetosphere and reach the ground near the cusp region. The mode-conversion and polarization reversal at the crossover plays a critical role in compressional wave propagation. The mode-converted linearly polarized electromagnetic ion cyclotron waves also occur at the Alfvén and ion-ion hybrid resonances. Therefore, the results suggest that solar wind compression can drive the linearly polarized EMIC waves, and the wave occurrence can have seasonal and diurnal dependence.