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The worldwide solar-driven wind results in the so-called Sq (solar quiet) current system in the E region of the Earth's ionosphere (ionospheric dynamo region) (100–130 km (60–80 mi) altitude). [citation needed] Resulting from this current is an electrostatic field directed west–east (dawn–dusk) in the equatorial day side of the ionosphere.
A Birkeland current (also known as field-aligned current, FAC) is a set of electrical currents that flow along geomagnetic field lines connecting the Earth's magnetosphere to the Earth's high latitude ionosphere. In the Earth's magnetosphere, the currents are driven by the solar wind and interplanetary magnetic field (IMF) and by bulk motions ...
In the height region between about 85 and 200 km altitude on Earth, the ionospheric plasma is electrically conducting. Atmospheric tidal winds due to differential solar heating or due to gravitational lunar forcing move the ionospheric plasma against the geomagnetic field lines thus generating electric fields and currents just like a dynamo coil moving against magnetic field lines.
The radiation emitted by solar wind only reaches the highest layers of the Earth's atmosphere, including the ionosphere. There are however reports of a possible impact on lower layers of the atmosphere. It is recorded that the increase of solar wind during March 2012 in the United States coincided with the heat waves that occurred at the time. [29]
Since the solar wind carries disturbances that affect the magnetosphere and ionosphere, IMP-8 demonstrated the utility of continuous solar wind monitoring. IMP-8 was followed by ISEE-3 , which was placed near the L 1 Sun-Earth Lagrangian point , 235 Earth radii above the surface (about 1.5 million km, or 924,000 miles) and continuously ...
Layers of the ionosphere.The Kennelly–Heaviside layer is the E region. The Heaviside layer, [1] [2] sometimes called the Kennelly–Heaviside layer, [3] [4] named after Arthur E. Kennelly and Oliver Heaviside, is a layer of ionised gas occurring roughly between 90km and 150 km (56 and 93 mi) above the ground — one of several layers in the Earth's ionosphere.
SpaceX’s rocket explosion in November 2023 created a massive hole in the Earth's ionosphere, providing scientists with a rare opportunity to study its effects.
This region begins at a height of 60 km, extends up to 3 or 4 Earth radii, and includes the ionosphere. This region rotates with the Earth. [28] There are also two concentric tire-shaped regions, called the Van Allen radiation belts, with high-energy ions (energies from 0.1 to 10 MeV). The inner belt is 1–2 Earth radii out while the outer ...