No abstract

International audienceThis paper presents the regular variations of terrestrial magnetic field recorded by a new magnetic observatory Medea, Algeria (geographic latitude: 36.85 • N, geographic longitude: 2.93 • E, geomagnetic latitude: 27.98 • N, geomagnetic longitude: 77.7 • E) during 2008-2011. The diurnal and seasonal variations of the solar quiet (Sq) variations are analyzed. The results show differences in the diurnal pattern of the northward-component Sq variation (SqX) at different seasons. The seasonal variation of SqX is similar in different years. The diurnal pattern of SqX from July through September cannot be explained by an equivalent current system that is symmetric about the noon time sector. The observations indicate that the major axis of the elliptic current system is tilted towards the equator in the morning hours during those months. The diurnal pattern of SqY indicates southward currents in the morning and northward currents in the afternoon, except during February-March 2009 when there is apparently no southward current during the morning. For the other months, the observations indicate that the maximum northward current intensity in the afternoon tends to be greater than the maximum southward current intensity in the morning. This is because of the UT variation of the Sq current system. That is, the pattern and strength of the Sq current system are different when SqY is measured in the morning around 8 UT and in the afternoon around 14 UT. The amplitude of these extreme varies linearly with the solar cycle. For the SqY component, the changes in the morning maximum have an annual variation while that of the afternoon minimum has a semi-annual variation. These variations are attributed to seasonal variations in the ionospheric E-region conductivity and atmospheric tidal winds. The field-aligned currents can also contribute to the seasonal variation of SqY. However, the two-dimensional approach used in this article does not allow us to quantitatively determine their influences

Global magnetospheric Ultra Low Frequency (ULF) pulsations with frequencies in the Pc 4-5 range (f = 1.0 -8 mHz) have been observed for decades in space and on Earth. ULF pulsations contribute to magnetospheric particle transport and diffusion and play an important role in magnetospheric dynamics. However, only a few studies have been performed on ionospheric observations of ULF wave-related perturbations in the vicinity of the equatorial region. In this paper we report on Pc5 wave related electric field and thus vertical drift velocity oscillations at the equator as observed by ground magnetometers and radar. We show that the magnetometer estimated equatorial B E  drift oscillate with the same frequency as ULF Pc5 waves, creating significant ionospheric density fluctuations. For independent confirmation of the vertical drift velocity fluctuation, we used JULIA 150 km radar drift velocities and found similar fluctuation with the period of 8-10 minutes. We also show ionospheric density fluctuations during the period when we observed ULF wave activities. All these demonstrate that the Pc5 wave can penetrate to the equatorial ionosphere and modulate the equatorial electrodynamics. Finally, in order to detect the ULF activities both on the ground and in space, we use groundbased magnetometer data from African Meridian B-field Education and Research (AMBER) and the South American Meridional B-field Array (SAMBA). From space, we use magnetic field observations from the GOES 12 and the Communication/Navigation Outage and Forecast System (C/NOFS) satellites. Using the WIND spacecraft as the upstream solar wind monitor, we present direct evidence that solar wind number density and ram pressure fluctuations observed far upstream from the terrestrial magnetosphere are the main drivers of ULF wave activity inside the magnetosphere. Finally, we show that the ULF waves in the same frequency range are observed in the magnetosphere by the geosynchronous GOES spacecraft, in the ionosphere by the equatorial C/NOFS satellite, and on the ground by ground-based magnetometers, indicating that the magnetospheric origin ULF wave can penetrate to the ground equatorial region and modulate the equatorial electrodynamics.

This paper presents the earth's magnetic field variations on quiet

The INTERMAGNET program publishes each year a CD-ROM containing homogeneous series from a number of magnetic observatories (76 in 1999). These series are definitive one-minute values of the three components of the geomagnetic field. We transform these series using a simple nonlinear analysis tool able to characterize the activity of a signal, and we obtain a remarkably simple activity field, whose space and time variables separate over a large part of the Earth. The time function is almost identical for all observatories, and might be interpreted as an activity index. The-almost stationary-field geometry exhibits a dipole-like structure everywhere except in high latitudes.