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The effect of the Earth’s magnetosphere on the solar wind energy dissipation in the ionosphere: Evolution over geological time scales

Authors

Maggiolo,  Romain
IUGG 2023, General Assemblies, 1 General, International Union of Geodesy and Geophysics (IUGG), External Organizations;

Maes,  Lukas
IUGG 2023, General Assemblies, 1 General, International Union of Geodesy and Geophysics (IUGG), External Organizations;

Alonso Tagle,  Maria Luisa
IUGG 2023, General Assemblies, 1 General, International Union of Geodesy and Geophysics (IUGG), External Organizations;

Cessateur,  Gaël
IUGG 2023, General Assemblies, 1 General, International Union of Geodesy and Geophysics (IUGG), External Organizations;

Darrouzet,  Fabien
IUGG 2023, General Assemblies, 1 General, International Union of Geodesy and Geophysics (IUGG), External Organizations;

De Keyser,  Johan
IUGG 2023, General Assemblies, 1 General, International Union of Geodesy and Geophysics (IUGG), External Organizations;

Gunell,  Herbert
IUGG 2023, General Assemblies, 1 General, International Union of Geodesy and Geophysics (IUGG), External Organizations;

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Citation

Maggiolo, R., Maes, L., Alonso Tagle, M. L., Cessateur, G., Darrouzet, F., De Keyser, J., Gunell, H. (2023): The effect of the Earth’s magnetosphere on the solar wind energy dissipation in the ionosphere: Evolution over geological time scales, XXVIII General Assembly of the International Union of Geodesy and Geophysics (IUGG) (Berlin 2023).
https://doi.org/10.57757/IUGG23-4267


Cite as: https://gfzpublic.gfz-potsdam.de/pubman/item/item_5021703
Abstract
The Sun is the dominant energy source for ionizing atmospheric material and energizing a fraction of it to energies above the gravitational binding energy. Maggiolo et al. (2022) recently showed that, for current conditions, the solar wind energy dissipated in the Earth’s upper atmosphere is higher than it would be if the Earth were not magnetized. Indeed, despite shielding the atmosphere from the solar wind, the Earth’s magnetosphere has a much larger cross section with the solar wind than the planet itself. It thus dramatically increases the size of the interaction region between the solar wind and the planetary environment and thus the amount of solar wind energy that can potentially be diverted toward the upper atmosphere.In this study, we investigate the effect of the Earth’s magnetosphere on the solar wind energy dissipation in the atmosphere during the last 4 billion years, when the Sun was more active. The solar wind density and velocity were higher in the past which has two opposite effects. On the one hand, the Earth’s magnetosphere was more compressed by the higher solar wind pressure, reducing its cross section with the solar wind. On the other hand the solar wind energy flux density was higher. We use physical considerations and extrapolate current measurements to constrain the role of the Earth’s magnetosphere on the energy coupling between the solar wind and the upper atmosphere for such conditions.