Electric currents are fundamental to the structure and dynamics of space plasmas, including our own near-Earth space environment, or “geospace.”This volume takes an integrated approach to the subject of electric currents by incorporating their phenomenology and physics for many regions in one volume. It covers a broad range of topics from the pioneers of electric currents in outer space, to measurement and analysis techniques, and the many types of electric currents.
- First volume on electric currents in space in over a decade that provides authoritative up-to-date insight on the current status of research
- Reviews recent advances in observations, simulation, and theory of electric currents
- Provides comparative overviews of electric currents in the space environments of different astronomical bodies
Electric Currents in Geospace and Beyond serves as an excellent reference volume for a broad community of space scientists, astronomers, and astrophysicists who are studying space plasmas in the solar system.
Table of Contents
Dedication v
Contributors ix
Preface xiii
Part I: Introduction
1 Pioneers of Electric Currents in Geospace 3
Asgeir Brekke
2 Current Systems in Planetary Magnetospheres: A Comparative Overview 17
Krishan K. Khurana and Jiang Liu
3 Electric Currents in the Solar Atmosphere 43
Gregory D. Fleishman and Alexei A. Pevtsov
4 Multipoint Analysis of Electric Currents in Geospace Using the Curlometer Technique 67
M. W. Dunlop, S. Haaland, X‐C. Dong, H. R. Middleton, C. P. Escoubet, Y.-Y. Yang, Q.-H. Zhang, J‐K. Shi, and C. T. Russell
5 Inferring Currents from the Zeeman Effect at the Solar Surface 81
Graham Barnes and K. D. Leka
Part II: Ring Currents
6 ENA Imaging of Planetary Ring Currents 95
P. C. Brandt, S. Y. Hsieh, R. DeMajistre, and D. G. Mitchell
7 Terrestrial Ring Current: A Review of Cluster Results Based on the Curlometer Technique 115
I. Dandouras, S. Rochel‐Grimald, C. Vallat, and M. W. Dunlop
8 The Nature of Jupiter’s Magnetodisk Current System 127
N. Achilleos
9 The Ring Current of Saturn 139
N. Sergis, E. J. Bunce, J. F. Carbary, S. W. H. Cowley, X. Jia, D. C. Hamilton, S. M. Krimigis, D. G. Mitchell, and M. K. Dougherty
Part III: Current Sheets
10 Review on the Characteristics of the Current Sheet in the Earth’s Magnetotail 157
A. T. Y. Lui
11 Recent Advances Regarding the Mars Magnetotail Current Sheet 177
Michael W. Liemohn and Shaosui Xu
12 Current Sheets at the Giant Planets 191
Christopher S. Arridge and Carley J. Martin
13 Planetary Magnetopause and Heliopause Current Sheets 207
E. S. Belenkaya
14 MHS Models of Current Layers in the Solar Atmosphere 219
Clare E. Parnell
15 Large‐Scale Current Sheets in Flares and CMEs 239
Jun Lin and Lei Ni
Part IV: Field‐Aligned Currents
16 A Review of Birkeland Current Research Using AMPERE 259
John C. Coxon, Stephen E. Milan, and Brian J. Anderson
17 Birkeland Currents at Mercury: Review and Comparison With Earth 279
Brian J. Anderson, Catherine L. Johnson, Haje Korth, and Lydia C. Philpott
18 Recent Advances in the Study of Upward Field‐aligned Currents Generated Near the Earth’s Magnetopause Boundary 303
Simon Wing, Jay R. Johnson, and Marius Echim
19 The Current System of Dipolarizing Flux Bundles and Their Role as Wedgelets in the Substorm Current Wedge 323
Jiang Liu, V. Angelopoulos, Zhonghua Yao, Xiangning Chu, Xu‐Zhi Zhou, and A. Runov
20 Cusp Current System: An Energy Source View 339
M. Yamauchi and R. Slapak
21 Magnetospheric and Atmospheric Controls of Giant Planet Auroral Currents 359
L. C. Ray
22 The Ambivalent Role of Field‐Aligned Electric Currents in the Solar Atmosphere 371
Manolis K. Georgoulis
23 Solar Active Region Electric Currents Before and During Eruptive Flares 391
B. Schmieder and G. Aulanier
Part V: Ionospheric Currents
24 Review of Data Analysis Techniques for Estimating Ionospheric Currents Based on MIRACLE and Satellite Observations 409
H. Vanhamäki and L. Juusola
25 Earth’s Ionosphere: Theory and Phenomenology of Cowling Channels 427
Akimasa Yoshikawa and Ryoichi Fujii
26 Ionospheric Currents at Mars and Their Electrodynamic Effects 445
Matthew Fillingim
27 Ionospheric Currents due to Ionosphere‐Magnetosphere Coupling at Jupiter and Saturn 459
G. J. Hunt, S. W. H. Cowley, and J. D. Nichols
Part VI: Other Current Systems
28 The Bow Shock Current System 479
Ramon E. Lopez
29 Current Systems of Inert Moons 497
M. Holmström and S. Fatemi
30 Currents in Cometary Comae 513
Martin Volwerk
Index 535
