Journal
GEOPHYSICAL RESEARCH LETTERS
Volume 30, Issue 6, Pages -Publisher
AMER GEOPHYSICAL UNION
DOI: 10.1029/2002GL015894
Keywords
polar ionosphere; cross polar cap potential; potential saturation; March 2001 storm; solar wind-magnetosphere-ionosphere coupling; DMSP data
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Theoretical arguments and MHD simulations have suggested that the potential drop across the polar-cap ionosphere approaches a constant value when the IMF is very large and southward. This idea has been difficult to test because the conditions producing this effect are extremely rare. During the 31 March 2001 storm the IMF was directed southward for over 6 hours with a magnitude of similar to36 nT to similar to20 nT while the DMSP-F13 satellite crossed the polar region, obtaining a good measure of the true polar cap potential drop. The observed potentials are compared with predictions from a theoretical model of the saturation process [Hill et al., 1976; Siscoe et al., 2002]. Clear evidence of a non-linear response consistent with the model predictions for height-integrated Pedersen conductivities in the range of 5-10 S are shown.
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