HR: 13:40h
AN: SM52D-01 INVITED     [PDF]
TI: Birkeland (Field-Aligned) Currents - Then and Now
AU: * Zanetti, L J
EM: Lawrence.Zanetti@jhuapl.edu
AF: The Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory, 11100 Johns Hopkins Road, Laurel, MD 20723-6099 United States
AB: (Take) Iijima and (Tom) Potemra pioneered the development of statistical, satellite-measured low altitude models of field-aligned currents that were proposed by Birkeland in 1908. The renowned Region 1 and Region 2 current systems that ring both northern and southern polar regions are still valid today and are still the standard against which geospace models and simulations are measured. Lesser known field-aligned current patterns were inferred from equatorial magnetic field measurements by this same group; the general location and sense of these equatorial patterns are consistent with the Birkeland currents globally connecting both the low and high altitudes. Variations and additions to the low altitude configuration as influenced by the IMF and it's merging with the magnetosphere (e.g. Region 0, IMF By, NBZ) will also be discussed. This presentation is a tribute to the above researchers and a status of their long-cited results.
DE: 2409 Current systems (2708)
DE: 2708 Current systems (2409)
SC: SPA - Magnetospheric Physics [SM]
MN: 2003 Fall Meeting