Engineering topics

Bargatze, L. F.

Publications and source records attributed to Bargatze, L. F..

7 records

NASA NTRS1993

Magnetic field signatures near Galileo's closest approach to Gaspra

Two large magnetic field rotations were recorded by the spacecraft Galileo 1 minute before and 2 minutes after its closest approach to the asteroid Gaspra. The timing and the geometry of the field changes suggest a connection with Gaspra, and the events can be interpreted as the result of the draping of the solar wind field around a magnetospheric obstacle. Gaspra's surface field is inferred to be within an order of magnitude of Earth's surface field, and its magnetic moment per unit mass is in the range observed for iron meteorites and highly magnetized chondrites. The location of the magnetic signatures suggests that perturbations are carried by waves in the magnetosonic-whistler mode with wavelengths between electron and ion gyro radii.

Kivelson, M. G.↗

NASA NTRS1991

Indications of low dimensionality in magnetospheric dynamics

Using three separate but related approaches, the question of whether the dynamic response of the magnetosphere to the solar wind input may be described by a low-order system of equations is examined. First, it is determined that the dimension of the subset (the attractor) in the high-dimensional magnetospheric phase space associated with the westward auroral electrojet (AL) index for some of the data sets compiled by Bargatze et al. (1985) is 4.0 + or - 0.2, seemingly independent of activity level. Second, direct modeling of the magnetosphere, considering the bulk properties of the tail plasma, leads to a system of equations that is similar to those previously reported as a dripping faucet model; here, the focus is specifically on the prediction of a natural frequency in this model. Finally, a peak is identified with the predicted frequency in power spectra of AL computed for intervals with both low and high activity. Peaks at other frequencies also appear in the spectra, and such resonances would be expected for a chaotic nonlinear oscillator. Combining these approaches it is concluded that at least some aspects of magnetospheric dynamics may be meaningfully modeled by low-dimensional sets of equations.

Roberts, D. A.↗

NASA NTRS1988

IMF control of geomagnetic activity

Recent work on the IMF control of geomagnetic activity is reviewed. The goal is to quantitatively express the temporal relation between the solar wind input and the ionospheric output from the magnetospheric system. Linear prediction filtering was used which treats the magnetosphere as a black box characterized by an impulse response. It is shown that an average impulse response can account for only about 40 percent of the variance in the AL index.

Mcpherron, R. L.↗

NASA NTRS1986

Prediction filters for the Dst index and the polar cap potential

The technique of linear prediction filtering is used to create filters relating solar wind parameters to the Dst index and to the polar cap potential. The square root of solar wind dynamic pressure and the solar wind electric field together are found to account for nearly 70 percent of the Dst variance. The prediction filter for the polar cap potential requires the square of the solar wind velocity and the solar wind electric field as inputs. The results suggest that both polar cap potential and ring current injection are primarily controlled by the solar wind, and that substorm expansions do not play a major role in ring current injection.

Fay, R. A.↗

NASA NTRS1985

Magnetospheric impulse response for many levels of geomagnetic activity

The temporal relationship between the solar wind and magnetospheric activity has been studied using 34 intervals of high time resolution IMP 8 solar wind data and the corresponding AL auroral activity index. The median values of the AL index for each interval were utilized to rank the intervals according to geomagnetic activity level. The linear prediction filtering technique was then applied to model magnetospheric response as measured by the AL index to the solar wind input function VB(s). The linear prediction filtering routine produces a filter of time-lagged response coefficients which estimates the most general linear relationship between the chosen input and output parameters of the magnetospheric system. It is found that the filters are composed of two response pulses speaking at time lags of 20 and 60 min. The amplitude of the 60-min pulse is the larger for moderate activity levels, while the 20-min pulse is the larger for strong activity levels. A possible interpretation is that the 20-min pulse represents magnetospheric activity driven directly by solar wind coupling and that the 60-min pulse represents magnetospheric activity driven by the release of energy previously stored in the magnetotail. If this interpretation is correct, the linear filtering results suggest that both the driven and the unloading models of magnetospheric response are important facets of a more comprehensive response model.

Bargatze, L. F.↗

NASA NTRS1984

The application of dimensional analysis to the problem of solar wind-magnetosphere energy coupling

The constraints imposed by dimensional analysis are used to find how the solar wind-magnetosphere energy transfer rate depends upon interplanetary parameters. The analyses assume that only magnetohydrodynamic processes are important in controlling the rate of energy transfer. The study utilizes ISEE-3 solar wind observations, the AE index, and UT from three 10-day intervals during the International Magnetospheric Study. Simple linear regression and histogram techniques are used to find the value of the magnetohydrodynamic coupling exponent, alpha, which is consistent with observations of magnetospheric response. Once alpha is estimated, the form of the solar wind energy transfer rate is obtained by substitution into an equation of the interplanetary variables whose exponents depend upon alpha.

Bargatze, L. F.↗

NASA NTRS1984

Coupling of the solar wind to measures of magnetic activity

Linear prediction filtering was used to generate empirical response functions relating the solar wind electric field to the magnetic indices, AL, AU, Dst and ASYM. The empirical response functions were convolved with solar wind observations obtained during the International Magnetospheric Study to predict the indices. The predictions are compared with the observed indices during two, 3-day intervals. Differences between the observed and predicted indices are discussed in terms of the linear assumption and in terms of physical processes other than direct solar wind-magnetosphere interaction.

Mcpherron, R. L.↗